TORONTO – Growth in cable, Internet, and telephony subscribers has led Cogeco Cable to predict a 36% increase in net income in 2006, the company announced at its annual shareholders’ meeting.
And the company is exploring adding wireless, like competitor Vidéotron will do in Quebec when it launches mobile phone services through Rogers, CEO Louis Audet told reporters.
Net income in 2005 nearly tripled, to $28.7 million, compared with a net loss of $32 million in 2004. Cogeco predicts net income will rise to $39 million in fiscal 2006.
In 2005, the company lost 2,400 basic cable subscribers, but…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The outlook for Canada’s traditional fixed-line telecom industry in 2006 is poor, while things are looking better for wireless services and the cable industry, according to the latest credit ratings report by Standard and Poors.
Competition for wireline business will hurt incumbent telcos (Aliant, Bell Canada, Manitoba Telecom Services, and Telus) as the cable operators and other players enter the telephony market, the report says. Likewise, though, the cablecos (Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw, and Videotron) will face more competition from telephone operators providing video services via DSL. “The blurring of boundaries between wireline, wireless, and cable will continue,”…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Radio Marketing Bureau has announced its new board of directors, elected at the annual general meeting held on Dec. 1.
The new board members for the coming year are Jim Blundell (CHUM Radio), Brad Boechler (Newcap Radio), Glenn Chalmers (Standard Radio), Lesley Conway-Kelley, Vice Chair (CHUM Radio Sales), Victor Dann, Past Chair (Rogers Broadcasting), Patrick Grierson, Chair (Canadian Broadcast Sales), John Harding, President (Radio Marketing Bureau), John Hayes (Corus Radio Group), Elmer Hildebrand, Treasurer (Golden West Broadcasting Ltd.), Ron Hutchinson (imsradio), Mark Maheu (Newcap Broadcasting), Gary Miles (Rogers Broadcasting), Luc Sabbatini (Groupe Radio Astral), Gerry Siemens…
Continue Reading
By Laurel Hyatt
“Long live jocks,” Pete Townshend would sing if he knew how important announcers still were to radio.
The latest BBM ratings imply that stations with strong on-air personalities are still on top, while those that step back and let the music speak for itself are finding themselves with less of a voice.
The top two stations for share of hours tuned (adults 12 and over) for survey 4 of 2005 in Toronto (read: the media centre of Canada) were… drumroll please… CHUM FM, with 9.1 (double digits are unheard of these days in Tranna) and CHFI…
Continue Reading
LAST WEEK’S ANNOUNCEMENT of BCE’s divestiture of all but 20% of its ownership holding in Bell Globemedia left one enormous burning question.
What is the company going to do with the $1.3 billion in proceeds from its sale of control of one of Canada’s largest media companies? BCE CEO Michael Sabia told an analyst conference call last week that the company won’t be announcing what it plans to do with the money until February.
Here, in no particular order, is the www.cartt.ca Top 10 List of things BCE could do with its new pile of money, when it…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – CHUM Limited and the Waters family today announced the death of company founder and Canadian broadcasting pioneer Allan Waters. He was 84.
As chairman and president until 2002, Waters (right) laid the foundation for CHUM Limited’s growth to its current place as one of Canada’s premier media companies, with radio and television stations across the country. “His vision for CHUM was rooted in fostering strong connections with the communities it serves, while staying true to his own guiding principles of respect, honesty and fair dealing,” said the company’s press release.
“Allan Waters’ contribution to…
Continue Reading
IF YOU WANT AN EARLY look at what the communications infrastructure in Canada is going to look like, it might be worth studying Saskatchewan.
The incumbent telco, SaskTel, has embarked upon an ambitious, aggressive, costly push to modernize its network, driving fibre deep into its communities, taking dead aim at the two large cable companies in the province with its MAX high speed Internet and digital television service.
The reason why this might offer a glimpse into the future is that this is a province where the “normal” economic guidelines the rest of the communications companies in Canada are…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – What do HDTV set buyers want when they bring their big, bright, expensive new TV home?
HD content, of course. However, what those in the TV industry are finding is that consumers are often under-informed when it comes to what’s available in high definition when they plug that set in.
So, in co-operation with Rogers Cable and Cogeco Cable, Astral Media’s The Movie Network has partnered with Future Shop and Best Buy on a cross-promotional initiative designed to promote The Movie Network and High Definition at retail stores across Ontario beginning tomorrow (Thursday, December 1, 2005.)
Consumers…
Continue Reading
ALVISO, Calif. – TiVo customers trying to remember whether it’s Pontiac or Honda offering “3.9% financing for a limited time” will be able to turn to their PVR boxes to find the right commercial for them.
On Monday, digital/personal video recorder manufacturer TiVo announced plans for a television-based advertising search solution coming in Spring 2006. “Leveraging TiVo’s television search capabilities that enhance the TV viewing experience, the new product will deliver relevant, targeted advertising to subscribers that want to view particular advertising categories,” crows the press release.
(In Canada, Montreal company etc.tv, along with Videotron, Molson’s and TVA, is…
Continue Reading
YEARS BACK, IT WAS EASY to pick on VisionTV. Its programs were old, appearing only on the specialty channel in their second or third (or fourth!) window.
Much of its original “Mosaic” programming looked and sounded terrible – and violated the channel’s Canadian content requirements, it turns out, causing CRTC sanctions. Preachers and traditional religion dominated the channel. However, when current president and CEO Bill Roberts (left) came on board in 2000, he set out to drastically alter VisionTV. More original, interesting, programming – about faith and spirituality and not necessarily organized…
Continue Reading