GATINEAU – It’s shades of 2002 as Rogers Media and MVBC Holdings (owner of Vancouver’s ethnic station channel m) are once again vying for the same thing out west.
Actually, the companies will go toe-to-toe for ethnic stations in two cities, Edmonton and Calgary, this time, as each has applied for ethnic TV broadcast licenses to serve the two cities. The hearing is set for February 12th in Calgary.
In 2002, Rogers wanted to launch OMNI TV in Vancouver, copying the business plan of its ethnic station in Toronto and applied for a license there. However, the Commission, citing…
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PHILADELPHIA – Former Rogers Cable vice-president engineering, Tony Werner was named chief technology officer at North America’s largest cable company, Comcast Cable, on Monday.
In this role, Werner will be responsible for developing and guiding the company’s technology strategy and evolving network architecture, including supporting next-generation consumer systems and technologies, infrastructure and engineering, network integration and management tools and technical standards.
Werner succeeds David Fellows, who announced his plans to step down and transition into a part-time executive fellow role with the company earlier this year.
"Tony’s wealth of engineering and technology experience will be crucial as we leverage…
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MONTREAL – Quebecers with an affinity to home-grown music can now download Quebecois music as ringtones.
The two brands (both owned by Rogers) are the first carriers to offer this option. Rogers and Fido customers can download the latest ring tunes by Audiogram and Tacca Musique recording artists, including Bran Van 3000, Bia, Anick Jean, Lhasa de Sela, Jean Leloup and Dumas. To purchase these ring tunes, all subscribers need to do is text message "QC" to 4755 from their wireless and a link to the Quebec music portal will be sent to them in the following seconds.
The…
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TORONTO – With holiday sales of HDTV sets expected to soar, Rogers Cable expects to come out of the Christmas season with far more than the 200,000 high definition television consumers it now supports.
Since November 2005, Rogers’ HD customers have more than doubled, the company said today. And one in three HD customers are also choosing to take a high definition PVR as their set top box of choice.
"HD is the future of television, and if the increase in sales of high definition Sharp AQUOS televisions this holiday season is any indication, there is definitely a growing demand…
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NEW YORK – Rogers Communications founder and CEO Ted Rogers told a pair of investor gatherings in New York this week what he thought of analog cable, how Internet usage metering is coming in 2007 and what succession at the top of his company could look like.
Rogers overviewed his company and its significant successes in 2006 for attendees at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference and Credit Suisse Media & Telecom Week, both held Tuesday in New York.
Eight billion dollars of revenue and $2.5 billion worth of EBITDA, 10,000 new local phone customers per week, ongoing…
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GATINEAU – As the seventh and final day of the 2006 CRTC TV Policy Review hearing wound down yesterday, a frustrated group got very wound up, and a broadcasting legend weighed in.
In a process that has sometimes gone into excruciating detail about how much more we may pay for our TV universe, how we’ll receive programs, how big a role advertising will play and what we’ll see between the ads – a big problem should have been hard to overlook. But on this day, James Roots, executive director of the Canadian Association of the Deaf, made a passionate…
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TORONTO – Never one for lengthy media sessions, Cogeco CEO Louis Audet practically demanded that reporters ask him about its newest purchase, Portuguese cable and telecom outfit Cabovisao, prior to the cable company’s annual general meeting in Toronto on Tuesday.
So, how is it going there? Audet was typically reserved in his remarks, saying "integration is going well," but his body language conveyed some excitement towards what he sees as a key strategic growth opportunity.
Admitting "not all of our shareholders were enthusiastic about the acquisition," Audet sings the praises of Cabovisao, it’s growth opportunities and employees, noting he…
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TORONTO – The Score has signed a three-season, $3.15 million contract for the exclusive Canadian TV rights to English Premier League soccer.
Broadcasts will start in the fall of 2007.
“We are thrilled to win the rights to such an incredible property, and to be able bring the EPL back to The Score” said John Levy, chairman and CEO of Score Media Inc., in a release. “EPL soccer is a great fit with The Score’s young and increasingly international audience.”
It’s also a blow to Rogers Sportsnet, which has carried the EPL for a number of years, with games…
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TORONTO – The fall 2006 BBM ratings book (officially called S4 2006) came out Monday and one of the more notable stories in Canada’s largest market is the boost in ratings at CHFI to a 9.1 share this fall, compared to an 8.6 in the S3 book and a 9.0 in S4 2005. All numbers are A12+.
The difference between the top line shares between periods isn’t all that large, but the talking point is that the Rogers-owned station is now at the top of the Toronto heap. It jumped over CHUM FM in Toronto, which recorded an S4…
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GATINEAU – Organizations representing many persistent voices opposed to Canada’s 1999 over-the-air television policy – along with a rare cameo by the Ontario Culture Minister – took the stage Monday for Day 6 of the CRTC’s review of this policy.
The unions and guilds appearing for English and French writers and actors, and for English directors and crew, almost all requested a mix of re-regulation and new rules for conventional broadcasters – a distinct contrast to many broadcasters, who last week called for fewer rules and greater access to revenues.
In what was described as the “first appearance in…
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