OTTAWA – Bragg Communications, the parent company of Halifax-based MSO EastLink, has appealed to the CRTC to expand what can be shown in the two minutes of ad time U.S. cable channels make available for local ads.
CRTC regulations currently say that cable companies may only promote their video or audio services within that avail time. Cablecos can claim 25% of the time and must give the rest up, at cost, to Canadian broadcasters to promote their channels. Channels like CNN and the Golf Channel make two minutes per hour available to its carriers to sell advertising, which is…
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Worldwide cable telephony service revenues rose from US$4.5 billion in 2004 to US$5.6 billion in 2005, and are projected to reach US$10 billion by 2009, reports American research firm In-Stat.
"The widening availability of VOIP-based cable telephony services has resulted in thousands of new cable telephony subscribers for operators like Time Warner Cable and Cablevision in the United States, Videotron and Shaw Communications in Canada, and Liberty Global in Europe," says the In-Stat release.
"The key attraction for cable operators is the cost advantage that VOIP offers in comparison with circuit-switched service," says Michael Paxton, In-Stat analyst….
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TORONTO – Thanks to integration expenses (of Microcell and Call-Net), Rogers Communications posted a loss of $66.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2005, ended December 31st..
While that’s a far larger quarterly loss than in Q4 2004, the wireless, cable, telecom, and media giant’s annual loss was 33.5% lower than last year at $44.6 million.
Revenue in the quarter was $2.12 billion, a 35.4% increase over the same period last year and operating profit was $513 million, a 14% jump. Revenue for the full year was $7.48 billion, a 33.4% increase while OP was $2.14 billion, a 23.6%…
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TORONTO – Rogers Wireless customers now have access to more than 1,500 podcasts, covering a range of topics, thanks to a new arrangement announced this week by the wireless company and Melodeo.
The Rogers Podcast Service, North America’s first mobile podcast service, will feature news and sports, comedy and music. The catalogue of podcasts is updated throughout the day as new feeds are received, bringing fresh content to subscribers continually.
Rogers Podcast Service can be accessed on subscribers’ cell phones through the Rogers Wireless navigate mobile Internet portal, within the GET INFO category.
"Rogers Podcast Service allows our customers…
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THIS YEAR’S BANFF WORLD TELEVISION FESTIVAL, June 11-14, 2006 at the Fairmount Banff Springs in Banff, Alberta is about getting plugged into the industry.
From the opening day-long session led by Kit Readman and Micki Rogers on how to pitch an idea, to Rick Mercer’s town hall meeting on the landscape of Canadian television on the last day, the festival is all about getting in the know, getting known and well, getting a deal.
“The Festival provides unique opportunities to connect with the industry, create new business and help define future trends,” says the festival’s Director of Content Jennifer…
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OTTAWA – American radio host Don Imus earned a rebuke from the CRTC on Friday thanks to comments made during his show on MSNBC Canada in the fall of 2004.
MSNBC Canada no longer exists, however MSNBC is on the eligible satellite list and Imus in the Morning is MSNBC’s 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. morning program.
The CRTC says it received over 100 complaints about comments made on the November 12 and November 19, 2004 programs. Shaw, Rogers and MSNBC, which owned Canadian version of the channel, shut it down later that month for economic reasons.
Imus and his co-hosts…
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TORONTO – Both TSN and CBC today announced an enormous slate of Winter Olympic programming beginning February 10th at 1 p.m.
Keying this year’s coverage is 39 hours of HD programming out of over 1,000 hours of live and taped coverage. This will be disappointing for those with HD sets, who will likely tune into NBC, which is carrying far more of its Olympic coverage in high definition. NBC’s Olympic programming is being shot and produced in HD and downconverted to SD when required.
New this year, however, is CBC’s deal with Bell Canada, which will see results and…
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TORONTO – Counting donated air time, private Canadian radio stations contributed more than $238 million in the 2005 broadcast year to charitable initiatives.
Efforts ranged from a single station’s campaign in North Bay, Ont., to help raise money for a boy’s life-saving heart transplant, to international disasters such as Southeast Asian tsunami relief, says the press release from Canadian Broadcast Sales (CBS), a national sales firm owned by Rogers Communications and Corus Entertainment, representing approximately 60% of all national Canadian radio revenue.
In response to a request from CBS, 103 of its client stations responded with details of charitable…
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CABLE OPERATORS STILL (privately, mostly) grouse about the 10-cent fee increase the CRTC granted the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network last summer.
As reported by www.cartt.ca, the Commission granted APTN its license renewal on August 31st, and along with that, boosted the fee pass-through from 15 cents to 25 cents per sub per month. That’s a lot of extra money (over $12 million more).
While the distributors soft-pedaled their opposition somewhat and didn’t raise much of a stink when the decision was made public because it’s a bit of a political hot potato, their message was clear: They didn’t think…
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THOSE WORKING IN RADIO, or those covering it as journalists, are always preoccupied with what’s next technologically or what’s threatening radio’s future and how this old medium must change in order to persevere through the next century.
In our digitally-driven, iPod and sat rad world, we can get jaded when talking about plain ol’ radio. We take it for granted and it’s not often we stop and reflect on what radio is absolutely nailing and offering recognition for a job very, very well done. So, here goes.
Before Christmas, cartt.ca contacted all the major commercial radio groups in Canada…
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