GATINEAU – “Is this really the best deal we can get from a public interest point of view?” asked Alain Pineau of the Canadian Conference for the Arts this afternoon when facing the CRTC during the hearing into the purchase of Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting by CanWest Global and Goldman Sachs.
Pineau wondered whether there was a better, Canadian option, for the sale of Alliance Atlantis. In his speech this morning, CanWest CEO Leonard Asper characterized the deal as the “best possible under the circumstances.”
The CCA, along with the Council of Canadians, ACTRA, the Directors Guild of Canada, and…
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TORONTO – Nuevo Mundo TV, which bills itself as “the first Canadian 100% Spanish language channel,” was launched last week on Rogers Digital Cable.
After its 4 week free preview period, subscribers can get the channel for $4.99a month.
Nuevo Mundo TV’s programming is aimed at the Hispanic immigrant as well as Canadians attracted by the language and culture. For the productions made in Canada, Nuevo Mundo TV has a team of over a hundred people from different regions of Latin America, Spain and Canada delivering over 12 original hours of programming, weekly.
Its shows include a Spanish language…
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TORONTO – Late this afternoon, Rogers Media announced it had purchased 100% of Outdoor Life Network Canada in separate deals with co-owners CTVglobemedia and Versus.
The three media companies had each owned a third of the channel. Versus, which is owned by American cable behemoth Comcast, had been named OLN and concentrated on outdoor programming (sharing both its brand and programming with the Canadian operation) before switching to Versus in 2006 and refocusing its programming to more mainstream sports. It is the primary outlet for the National Hockey League in the U.S., for example.
It is not known at…
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ROGERS, THE ONLY Canadian GSM carrier, has been rather tight-lipped on when it will be able to offer the iPhone to Canadians – and Apple has said very little on the matter as well as it moves millions of them in the U.S. and Europe.
However, major hints have been dropping all over the place that the GSM-only phone/music handset will be coming soon to Rogers Wireless.
While many have blamed Rogers for dragging its feet on securing the iPhone as an option for its customers (and saying that Rogers data rates would make it impossible for it…
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TORONTO – Citytv’s national vice-president of news and local information programming, Stephen Hurlbut, has left the company.
In a note to staff yesterday, Leslie Sole, CEO of Rogers Media Television made the announcement. In the interim, Hurlbut’s duties in Toronto would be taken over by Citytv news director Tina Cortese.
Hurlbut spent over 30 years at City, starting as a camera operator. A Rogers spokesperson declined any comment as to why Hurlbut left.
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OTTAWA – Wireless phone customers in Canada numbered 19.3 million at the end of the third quarter of 2007, ended September 30, says the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association.
In the third quarter of the year, wireless service providers (Bell Mobility, Telus, Rogers Wireless, Virgin Mobile, MTS, SaskTel, Videotron, etc.) reported the addition of approximately 523,000 new subscribers, “which marks the first time that net new customer additions exceeded a half-million subscribers outside of a fourth quarter,” noted the association.
What that means is that now Canada’s national wireless penetration rate has surpassed the 60% benchmark.
And, recent CWTA research…
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MONTREAL – Advanced wireless spectrum auction rules that favour new entrants would certainly drop cellular prices in the short term – but such rules may also damage Canadian consumers in the long run, says a new paper published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Montreal.
The rules for the 2008 auction are expected to be released by Industry Canada before Christmas, with the auction to happen early in the new year.
The paper’s authors, University of Toronto economics professor Frank Mathewson, and associate principal at CRA International, Andrew Tepperman, say that any company wanting to…
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TORONTO – Join CTAM Canada and a panel of experts for a new seminar entitled: "How to Market Television Services in a Multi-product World."
When: Thursday, November 22, 2007
Time: 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Location: Velma Rogers Theatre, 333 Bloor St. E.
Cost: Free to all CTAM Canada Members (To become a CTAM Canada Member visit www.ctam.ca for details)
Registration: RSVP to Kirsten McKernan at kirsten.mckernan@chumtv.com or by calling 416-591-7400 ext. 2587
Moderator: Harris Boyd (Solaracom)
Panelists: David Purdy (Rogers Cable), Gary Pelletier (Cogeco Cable), John Piercy (Mountain Cablevision), Domenic Vivolo (Astral Television Networks), Chris Fuoco (Alliance Atlantis…
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By Laurel Hyatt OTTAWA – Rising copyright fees, onerous content regulations, declining youth listenership, and competition from the Internet and other digital media are just some of the things that may be keeping Canadian radio executives up at night. But there are a few positive developments, a group of top leaders said on Tuesday.
At a session of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention in Ottawa, radio leaders in a united front lamented the challenges the industry faces, including the “exploding copyright issues,” in the words of Elmer Hildebrand, president and CEO of Manitoba-based Golden West Broadcasting Ltd., who…
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TORONTO – Fido has announced that its third-generation, high-speed mobile service is now available to customers in 25 markets from Chicoutimi to Victoria.
Services include mobile and multimedia features such as wireless video calling, streaming video-on-demand, over 25 channels of mobile television and streaming radio-on-demand, including XM Satellite radio stations.
Fido customers using the 3G protocol will experience mobile download speeds similar to broadband high-speed Internet, the company said in a statement.
Customers can also use the “Out and About” application to look up listings for local restaurants, bars, concerts and shows on their handset.
“With features like video…
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