MOST OF THE MEDIA coverage and blog writings and newsgroup postings and Facebook rantings are made up of ill-informed opinion masquerading as facts, driven by scare-mongering types who fear an invisible big brother looking to crush their Internet experience.
The reality is that most of the information the general public has been consuming on the topics of Internet traffic and network neutrality is, well, hooey.
To try and counterbalance that, we went to someone working in the trenches, as it were, to help explain what is actually going on inside that vast cloud we call the Internet.
Tom Donnelly…
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TORONTO – CBC and TSN each announced the details surrounding their respective coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics,, which begins August 8th.
In its final Olympics for a while (CTV owns the rights for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and the 2012 London Summer Games and will co-broadcast them with Rogers), CBC is pulling out all the stops, and will provide an unprecedented 2,400 hours of coverage.
Canadians will see the entire Games in high definition for first time ever
CBC’s broadcast of Beijing 2008 begins on Wednesday, August 6 at 4:45 a.m. ET on CBC Television and CBCSports.ca…
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TORONTO – It was one of the key topics under discussion during the CRTC hearing into new policies to govern broadcast distribution undertakings and CTAM Canada is about to hit the topic again for its members.
Advanced advertising, or targeted advertising, advertising within the VOD stream, or on PVRs, or split demographically, whatever you call it, it will all be on the table July 15th in Toronto.
The morning will begin with a presentation from David Downey, president and CEO of Invidi, a leader in the advanced cable advertising whose platform is being deployed by major American MSOs right…
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TORONTO – Top line results from the Canadian radio ratings across Canada won’t cause too many PDs to break into a sweat.
A few top line (A12+) ratings share highlights:
* Cogeco’s CJMF-FM 93.3 (Rock and Talk) saw a nice spike to a rating of 13.8, up from its S1 showing of 10.8 and well ahead of a year ago, when it came in with a 7.1 showing
* Astral’s English-language Montreal rock station, CHOM-FM rebounded in the ratings to an 11.8 in this book. That’s up from S1’s 9.9 rating but still well off S2 2007’s 14.
*…
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OTTAWA – A review of broadcasting in new media is utterly unnecessary, says an unprecedented joint submission to the CRTC by Canada’s largest Internet service providers.
Friday was the deadline for submissions on PN 2008-44, which only asked for comments on what the scope of any future proceeding on Canadian broadcasting in new media might be. The Commission wants advice on what questions it might ask when it decides to undertake a review of what new media is doing to broadcasting and what Canadian regulations might have to say about it. At this point, it doesn’t want to…
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TORONTO – It might be cold comfort to critics of the CBC’s decision earlier this year to disband its orchestra but CBC Radio 2 said today it will increase its commissions budget by $50,000, bringing 2008’s allocation up to $170,000 in total.
"We are excited to be putting more money towards the creation of original compositions from some of Canada’s most talented musicians. These funds will allow us to work with artists and orchestras throughout the country in creating original and engaging pieces of music for Canadian’s to enjoy," said Mark Steinmetz, director of music for CBC Radio, in…
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TORONTO – Sounding not unlike the advice sometimes given in its namesake magazine (er, not that we’d know for sure…) Corus Entertainment CEO John Cassaday said he isn’t willing to “settle” for an average distribution deal when it comes to the company’s youngest digi-net, Cosmopolitan TV.
While the channel is carried by corporate relative Shaw Communications as well as Bell ExpressVu, neither Rogers Cable nor Cogeco Cable in the east, for example, carries the channel, which was launched on Valentine’s Day this year, and was profiled by Cartt.ca.
While Cassaday wasn’t specific about the carriage terms Corus is demanding…
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OTTAWA – Claiming he has a duty to protect the public from new texting fees (!), Industry Minister Jim Prentice has called the CEOs of Bell and Telus to his office to explain an impending wireless pricing change which both companies recently announced.
Beginning in August, both telcos intend to begin charging 15 cents per incoming wireless text message received by customers who are not a part of a data plan and who choose to pay as they go. Rogers, Canada’s largest wireless company, charges no such fee and has not announced plans to do so.
(Ed query: Is…
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TORONTO – News Corp.-owned social network MySpace announced the hiring of Dave Stevens as general manager for MySpace Canada today.
In his new role, Stevens is responsible for overseeing strategy and operations for the MySpace Canada community, which is comprised of more than four million profiles. He will lead the development of content, product and marketing programs, create innovative advertising solutions for brand partners, and build out strategies for driving user engagement and strengthening brand awareness of MySpace Canada. He is based at MySpace Canada headquarters in Toronto and will report to Travis Katz, managing director of international operations…
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OTTAWA – Globalive Communications Corp., the Yak-led consortium, which had boasted of becoming Canada’s fourth national carrier, appears to have a gaping hole in the province of Quebec as bidding activity peters out in Canada’s auction for advanced wireless services in the 2 GHz range.
“Globalive has as close to a national license as anyone, but Quebec is a hole for them,’’ says Evan Kelly, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s national communications industry leader. “They’ve backed off. Quebec is one of the regions where there are no multiple parties going after licences anymore, so it seems to have settled.’’
With 135 rounds…
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