TO SAY 2007 HAS been a year of growth for EastLink is simply a colossal understatement.
So far, the company has acquired Amtelecom Communications, Persona Communications and RuSh Communications – meaning EastLink (or officially, its parent company, Bragg Communications) has more than doubled in size to around 500,000 customers.
No longer just a regional cable concern, Bragg/EastLink is a national force to be reckoned with, with cable and telecom services extending coast to coast.
The company is a pioneer, having launched phone service years before other North American cable companies – to much success – in Nova…
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WATERLOO — Research In Motion on Monday unveiled the BlackBerry Pearl 8130, the first BlackBerry Pearl smartphone to run on CDMA networks. The development means that Bell and Telus can offer the product in Canada, along with Sprint in the United States.
Previous versions of the Blackberry, based on GSM, could only be offered by Rogers.
The latest model comes with new features including a new software interface, rich multimedia capabilities, built-in GPS and support for high-speed EV-DO networks.
“With its unique blend of functionality and design, the BlackBerry Pearl smartphone has been turning heads and winning praise from business…
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TORONTO – National radio ad sales grew 6% in the fiscal 2007 broadcast year, and the first quarter of 2008 was also strong, according to data released Monday by the Canadian Broadcast Sales.
“This year’s growth of 6% built on last year’s growth of 6.4% clearly illustrates the continuing strength of radio,” said CBS president Patrick Grierson. “Results were largely driven by Ontario’s 15.3% growth, while British Columbia was up 7.4% and Alberta rose 6%.
The first quarter of fiscal 2008 registered a further 6.5% in bookings, according to CBS.
In 2007, the top six categories accounted for 62.5%…
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TORONTO – On Monday, Teletoon Retro will launch to the largest audience a digital specialty ever has – as it will be available to all Bell ExpressVu and Rogers Digital Cable subscribers.
As we originally reported on earlier this month, the launch the channel will feature classic cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and The Jetsons. Offering a nostalgic throwback to timeless cartoons, the new channel delivers fresh laughs with familiar friends like Fat Albert, Tom & Jerry, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Superfriends to adults aged 25 to 49
"It’s phenomenal to be in so many homes…
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TORONTO – Newstalk 1010 CFRB has announced that all four Ontario political party leaders will host their own one-hour talk show on CFRB and simulcast on CKTB in St. Catharines and CJBK in London.
Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty, PC Leader John Tory, NDP Leader Howard Hampton and Green Party Leader Frank de Jong will each host a talk show on different days from noon to one p.m., and take calls from listeners in Toronto, across Niagara and London.
The Green Party’s Frank de Jong will be the first to appear, on Thursday, Sept. 27. On Wednesday, Oct. 3, it…
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By Greg O’Brien
THE CANADIAN CABLE Systems Alliance annual general meeting is always a great time. Compared to some of the other events I attend through the year, it’s tiny. But it’s very useful and always well organized. I always come away from it having learned a lot – and finally having had some face-to-face time with people I normally only chat with via e-mail.
The “learnings” (not really a word, but it’s one everyone uses) this year were plentiful. From new technologies and services to future-gazing and concrete advice on how to approach video on demand.
But there was a bit…
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MONT TREMBLANT – When Cogeco Cable began rolling out video on demand about five years ago, “we thought we were building a virtual video store,” says the company’s director of affiliate relations JP Caveen.
Not any more, of course. VOD has moved leaps and bounds away from that.
Caveen was part of a video on demand panel organized by CTAM Canada held Monday afternoon during the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance 14th annual general meeting that included a programmer, an aggregator and three operators.
They were there to share their success stories and challenges with the independent cable companies who…
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ROGERS BELIEVES Bell Canada is less than two months away from launching its IPTV service in Toronto, beginning in the Yonge-Bloor region, according to David Purdy, Rogers Cable’s VP and GM television.
********** WTBS will change its name to PeachtreeTV as of October 1st, said Turner’s Matt Tolleson. The programming will remain much the same, however. Also – with CNN HD having launched in the States on September 1st – Tolleson says he wants to see that feed in Canada soon.
********** And speaking of HD, Speed is readying its high definition version, which it will have ready to…
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MONT TREMBLANT – Dean Prevost wasn’t speaking in front of the Canadian Club or the Empire Club like Ted Rogers and Pierre Karl Peladeau did last week, but his message today at the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance AGM followed the squabbling script:
Industry Canada’s advanced wireless spectrum auction rules have to favour newcomers somehow, so that Prevost’s company, MTS Allstream (like Peladeau’s Videotron), can become a national wireless provider.
Prevost, the chief corporate officer of the company, talked about wireless in other parts of the world, adding: “What’s different about the Canadian experience is the price is really,…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC today denied Shaw Communications’ request to add USA Network to the list of eligible foreign satellite services for digital distribution.
Shaw asked for the new addition in January, saying the general interest cable channel available to 90 million in the States, would be attractive to customers.
Shaw also wanted Commission to alter its approach to adding non-Canadian services to the digital lists. The company wants the Commission to automatically approve the addition of all general interest non-Canadian services, and that it permit broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) to distribute services on the eligible lists on…
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