WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE highest profile issue CRTC commissioners will tackle beginning next week’s policy hearings on broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services is fee-for-carriage. That is, paying a new subscription fee for over-the-air broadcast stations.
As the rules now stand the regulatory bargain is such that cable and satellite and telco TV must carry conventional local TV stations low in their channel lineups and must substitute Canadian signals over top of American ones when the programming is the same. We’ve come to know that part as simultaneous substitution. In return, distributors have not ever had to pay the…
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It has been argued in the media that “Cable companies have built profitable businesses based on the exploitation of free programming supplied by local broadcasters without giving any of the proceeds back to the stations.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Over-the-air television stations receive advertising revenue and they need cable to get to more eyeballs with better pictures. Cable’s capital investment to provide the bandwidth that carries local stations costs literally billions of dollars and the broadcasters do not pay a cent for the use of this network. In addition, cable gives the broadcasters a low…
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TORONTO – Telus Corp. has launched a new low-cost, no-frills mobile service, called Koodo Mobile, that offers talk and text options.
Koodo Mobile’s cheapest plan costs $15 a month for 50 minutes at any time of the day, and 50 text messages. Voicemail, call display, and an unlimited text messaging cost $5 a month or $10 a month for all three.
A media release refers to the service as “fat-free mobility” because it doesn’t feature more bandwidth intensive features such as television, video calling and satellite radio. There is no activation fee and no fixed-term contract. Billing is per…
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INVIDI TECHNOLOGIES CEO DAVID DOWNEY has been long been dining out on John Wanamaker’s now ancient and clichéd quote: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
It’s been a key portion of Downey’s presentations to investors and industry folks for years. Now Wanamaker, the innovative American department store pioneer (he’s said to have invented the price tag and the “sale”) died in the 1920s, so one would think that we have progressed beyond the late retailer’s ad spend calculations over the century or so since he spoke those words….
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OTTAWA – Niagara Networks isn’t on the list of 27 companies that qualified to participate in the auction for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum that Industry Canada released Monday.
Niagara Networks, which acquired wireless spectrum in a May auction, had the highest deposit of $881.4 million when Industry Canada issued on March 14 its list of participants intending to participate in the auction.
But added to the list was Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, a financial backer of a planned bid by entrepreneur John Bitove to acquire wireless spectrum. The group is bidding under the name Data &…
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TORONTO – It’s true the Toronto Maple Leafs are out of the NHL play-offs once again. And it’s true the team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since deep into the last century.
But for the loyal, some might say delusional, fans of the blue-and-white, there is always hope. So to reward these poor, long-suffering supporters, THE FAN 590 radio station in Toronto is putting up a million dollars.
The Rogers Broadcasting-owned station announced today, the morning after the Leafs’ mathematical elimination from this year’s play-offs, that it’s launching a “Million Dollar Cup Contest”.
Crazy?
“Even I’d pay a million…
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TORONTO – Seven broadcast journalists will be honoured this spring with lifetime achievement awards presented by RTNDA Canada – The Association of Electronic Journalists.
The seven are Doug Collins, Vicki Gabereau, Vern Coop, Mike McCourt, Tom Young, Dan McLean, and Gord Harris.
The awards will be presented at the RTNDA Regional Pro Dev Seminars in Kamloops on April 26th, in Calgary on May 10th, Fredericton on May 31st, and at the Central Awards Banquet June 19th during the RTNDA National Conference in Ottawa.
“On behalf of RTNDA Canada, let me congratulate these exceptional broadcasters,” said Bob McLaughlin, President of…
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TORONTO – The grand old game is back for another season, and Rogers Sportsnet has released a schedule to please the most demanding baseball fan.
Sportsnet will present 307 regular-season games this year, including 100 Toronto Blue Jays games, and most will be in high definition. The network is also the exclusive Canadian home to the All-Star Game and the MLB playoffs, including the World Series.
The regular season began early Tuesday morning with the first game from Japan, featuring the World Series champion Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics. Sportsnet will feature the two teams again Wednesday….
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TORONTO – Rogers Wireless has teamed up with music company Live Nation to offer its wireless customers the chance to get the first jump on tickets to certain concerts.
It has created the Wireless Box Office, allowing clients to buy tickets and get into concerts directly through their handset. To kick it off, Rogers announced it’s sponsoring the upcoming Simple Plan tour, and as of today, Rogers customers have the chance to get first crack at tickets.
“We are very excited to offer our customers access to some of the hottest live music performances on earth, exclusive engagements and…
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TORONTO – It’s all about the users. That’s the underlying theme to this year’s Canadian Telecom Summit, taking place June 16-18 in Toronto.
Bringing together the people who are transforming Canada’s telecommunications industry, the 2008 Summit will feature 20 keynote speakers and 50 panelists discussing the theme “Maintaining relevance for the customer”.
Leaders of some of the major players in the mobile wireless auction will share their perspectives, including Nadir Mohamed, President and COO of Rogers Communications, who will open the conference on June 16, Pierre Blouin, CEO of MTS Allstream, and Robert Depatie, President and CEO of Videotron….
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