OTTAWA – The CRTC said in a letter Monday it expects wireless internet service providers, including current holdouts Bell, Rogers, Telus and Xplore, to participate in the commission’s data project with Innovation Canada to track fixed wireless internet performance.
The CRTC has previously asked wireless ISPs to contact their subscribers about participating in the third phase of its Measuring Broadband Canada project, which seeks to better understand how Canadians subscribing to fixed wireless internet services with the federal objective speeds of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps (or faster) upload are experiencing internet performance in their…
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By Connie Thiessen
Rogers Sports & Media is shuttering its CityNews radio operations in Ottawa, citing low audiences, revenue declines and a restrictive regulatory environment for AM radio.
CityNews will go off the air on both the AM and FM band at 1 p.m. ET today with a Rogers Sports & Media spokesperson telling Broadcast Dialogue that resulting layoffs were in the single digits.
The company will return the licence for 1310 (CIWW-AM) to the CRTC, and restore its Country format station to 101.1 on the dial, following a series of December 2020 moves that saw Country 92.3 debut on CJET-FM in…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC on Thursday is proposing to relax Corus Entertainment’s regulatory obligations on an “exceptional basis,” as the pure-play media company saw a dramatic decline in its financials over the year.
Corus sent an application to the regulator last Wednesday stating that high inflation, its sub-$1 share price, and its debt-to-liquid cash ratio reaching “unacceptable levels” after the content company saw a 61 per cent free cash decline over the previous year have put it in a precarious position with rapidly declining profitability. The company said it has had to halve its dividend since its November…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor is patting itself on the back as Statistics Canada’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, released Tuesday, indicates cellular phone service prices have fallen considerably since this time last year.
In a press release distributed Tuesday afternoon, Quebecor claims “the decisive factor in the decline of Canadian wireless service prices shown this morning in Statistics Canada’s monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) report is increased competition from Videotron, Fizz and Freedom Mobile.”
Quebecor notes in its release the overall CPI rose 3.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis between September 2022…
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TORONTO – Rogers Sports and Media said Monday casting has been announced for Citytv’s upcoming original series Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, a Canadian iteration of the longest-running scripted drama brand in TV history.
The all-Canadian ensemble cast includes Aden Young (Rectify, Black Robe) as Detective Sergeant Henry Graff, Kathleen Munroe (City on Fire, Patriot) as Detective Sergeant Frankie Bateman, Karen Robinson (Schitt’s Creek, Echoes) as Inspector Vivienne Holness, K.C. Collins (The Cleaning Lady, White Dog) as Deputy Crown Attorney Theo Forrester, Nicola Correia-Damude (Shadowhunters, Resident Alien) as Forensic Pathologist Dr. Lucy Da Silva, and Araya Mengesha…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Bell is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to review whether the CRTC was allowed to automatically renew its broadcasting licences without notice or consultation.
The CRTC approved all of the broadcaster’s 66 television and specialty channel licences until August 2026 on an administrative renewal basis. But Bell still had an outstanding appeal in the form of Part 1 applications to the CRTC asking it to reduce the regulatory burdens on it because the financial climate for broadcasters has changed from when the licences were last renewed for a five-year term in 2017.
“There…
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Regulator credits Quebecor for lowering prices in market
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Quebecor will need to use the rate proposed by Bell for access to the telco’s national wireless network, the CRTC ruled Tuesday.
The regulator selected Bell’s price per gigabyte of data after the two parties could not on their own agree to commercial terms for access by Quebecor’s mobile virtual network operator business to Bell’s national wireless network.
“That rate best meets the evaluation criteria, and will promote competition, affordability, and continued investment by both companies in their networks,” the regulator said in a statement.
“With access to larger networks, regional…
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TORONTO – Rogers Sports and Media’s Sportsnet is now available on Prime Video Channels in Canada, Amazon Canada announced Tuesday.
With a $19.99/month add-on subscription to the new Sportsnet Prime Video Channel, Prime Video users in Canada can watch all of Sportsnet’s linear programming on the Sportsnet (East, Ontario, West and Pacific), Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet 360 channels.
Prime members can subscribe without needing to download any extra apps beyond Prime Video by visiting PrimeVideo.com/Sportsnet.
Sportsnet is the official Canadian NHL rights holder, and is the regional broadcaster for the Vancouver Canucks,…
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OTTAWA – The Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) announced Tuesday a number of changes to its board of directors that include long-time board member Jim Deane assuming the role of chair.
Until his retirement from Regina-based Access Communications earlier this year, Deane had served as Access CEO since 2000. He has been a CPAC director for more than 20 years “and brings a wealth of institutional knowledge to the role” of board chair, says a press release announcing CPAC’s board changes.
Pam Dinsmore, vice-president of regulatory for cable at Rogers Communications, is joining the CPAC…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications said Monday it has turned on 5G service in the busiest sections of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway system for transit riders who are customers of all major Canadian wireless carriers.
Starting Oct. 2, subway riders who subscribe to any of the country’s major wireless providers are now able to connect to 5G and talk, text and stream in the core parts of the TTC’s underground system, including all stations and tunnels in the so-called “Downtown U” plus Spadina and Dupont stations on Line 1, and 13 stations on Line 2…
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