OTTAWA – That’s the question the entire industry is asking. With no direct experience in the cable, telecom, or TV fields, what does the eminently qualified career public servant have in mind for the CRTC as its new chairman?
At this point, no one really knows.
"He’s a bright guy and is certainly engaged in the dialogue a little bit from what we know about him in communications issues," said Rogers Communications vice-chair Phil Lind. "He could be good."
"Was I surprised it was him? Yes. But once the process got derailed and once Fern (Belisle, the front-runner…
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TORONTO – When Canadians are made aware of what a personal video recorder can do for them – specifically the convenience and simplicity of watching their programs on their own schedule – interest in the product grows and the likelihood of purchasing the technology increases, according to new research released today by CTAM Canada.
In contrast, in the U.S. TiVo and other Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) have been around since 1997 so awareness and adoption of PVRs in Canada is much lower. The research indicates that just five percent of Canadians own a PVR compared to 15% in the…
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TORONTO – The Movie Network said today it will launch MMore HD, it’s third 24/7 high definition channel, this Thursday, February 1, beginning with Rogers Cable.
MMore HD will feature select simulcasts of HD programming from The Movie Network’s multiplex channels MMore, MExcess, MFun! and MFest.
"HD is an absolute priority for us," said Domenic Vivolo, senior vice-president, marketing and sales, Astral Television Networks. "In fact, Astral Media has made an unparalleled commitment to HD and we can proudly claim that we have more HD channels and, justifiably, more HD content than any other broadcaster in Canada."
MMore HD…
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OTTAWA – It’s no increase (as producers, actors and broadcasters were hoping for) but the $200 million committed to the Canadian Television Fund by the federal government over two years is far more than two of CTF’s primary industry contributors are currently paying.
That is to say, zero.
Hot on the heels of Shaw Communications and Quebecor Media’s decisions to suspend monthly payments to the CTF, Heritage Minister Bev Oda said Friday the federal government is renewing its $100 million a year contribution to the fund through 2008-09.
"This announcement signifies this Government’s commitment to producing quality Canadian programming…
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TORONTO – The 2007 Canadian Digital Broadcasting Summit will be held January 29th and 30th at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre.
On the agenda are topics such as IP delivery of broadcasting, HD studio conversion, how the last mile (consumer premises) affects HD rollout, broadcast delivery capacity, IT infrastructure, subscriber rates and the recent trend towards the consumer as broadcaster.
Canadian comic Ron James will entertain at dinner on day one of the conference, which is organized every year by the Canadian Satellite Users Association. Cartt.ca is a media sponsor of the event.
Other speakers include: Paul Bush, Telesat;…
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TORONTO – A well-attended networking "President’s Reception" kicked off the new year in style for CTAM Canada at Flow Restaurant in Toronto Wednesday evening.
Over 70 CTAM Canada members were in attendance, including the folks in the pictures below.
CTV Specialty’s Ben Keyes and Insight Sports’ Sean Luxton.
Astral Media’s Mark Waschulzik and Alliance Atlantis’ Drew Robinson.
Mountain Cablevision’s John Piercy.
Rogers Cable’s Mark Lethbridge in the crowd.
Turner’s Matt Tolleson and Speed Channel’s Hawley Chester.
The Weather Network’s Paul Temple and High Fidelity…
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MONTREAL – With Shaw and now Videotron having stopped payment on their monthly cheques to the Canadian Television Fund, the CTF board of directors said late Wednesday it has retained legal counsel and warned the TV production community of a problematic year.
As the largest TV distributor, Shaw (which also owns Star Choice) is the largest private contributor to the CTF while Videotron would be the fourth-largest. Together, their contributions make up almost half of the $150 million contributed by the industry each year to the $250 million fund. The rest comes from the federal government.
Numbers two and…
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TORONTO – The CTAM Canada President’s Reception is taking place tomorrow, January 24th, in Toronto’s tony Yorkville District.
The event is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Flow Restaurant and Lounge at 133 Yorkville Ave. Admission to the networking event with cocktails, hors d’ouvres and prizes is free. www.flowrestaurant.com
RSVP today by e-mailing organizer Andrea Gagliardi at andrea.gagliardi@rci.rogers.com.
On March 1st, the next CTAM TeleSeminar will focus on the customer experience and is entitled: Hot Ideas to Keep your Customers Cool. It will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. ET and will be delivered via satellite…
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THE SMALL AND MEDIUM-sized business market has become a crowded place.
All of the big companies have said in the past months they see this market as a place to find big growth. Rogers, Bell, Shaw, Cogeco, Telus et al – all have talked about how well they hope to do in the SME space.
So is there room for small startups like Syntagma Network Services? CEO Theresa Carbonneau thinks so. The company’s small business plan offers a full suite of voice over IP-delivered services including broadband connectivity, voice services, e-mail and web hosting, exchange server hosting, virus scanning…
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DEREGULATING LOCAL PHONE in major urban centres in 2007 seems to me to be the right thing to do.
"The idea that somehow the cable guys are at a disadvantage to the telcos has not been proven so far in the entry of the cable industry in local voice," Lawson Hunter, Bell’s chief corporate officer said to me Wednesday. I agree with him. To a point.
Setting aside the unprecedented use of the provision in the Telecom Act that let’s the government issue policy directives to the CRTC (until 2006, it just hadn’t been done), it’s time to…
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