OTTAWA – Two representatives from Rogers Communications appeared (virtually) before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage today to reassure committee members local news will not be worse off after Rogers merges with Shaw.
As Cartt.ca previously reported, there were concerns expressed during the CRTC’s recent hearing on the proposed merger about Rogers’s plan to redirect funding Shaw has previously allocated to Corus’s Global stations to its own City TV stations.
Colette Watson (above), president of Rogers Sports and Media, told the committee the deal will enhance City TV’s local news services.
“Our City TV news stations are located in Winnipeg, Calgary,…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Glenbow, an independent, non-profit museum, archive and gallery located in Calgary, announced today the Shaw Family Foundation has donated $35 million to help increase the accessibility of the museum and to celebrate the legacy of Shaw Communications founder JR Shaw.
The donation includes $25 million to establish the JR Shaw Free Admissions Endowment, which will allow Glenbow to “eliminate general admission in perpetuity, ensuring everyone has an opportunity to access its resources,” a press release says.
“At Glenbow, we have long believed that art is for everyone and have committed to increasing accessibility to arts and culture,” said Nicholas…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage today heard from several witnesses who warned that if the proposed merger between Rogers and Shaw were to go through, there would be serious consequences for local news in Canada.
The witnesses who appeared before the committee today included representatives from the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS), the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, Open Media and Quebecor Media Inc.
Witnesses from the CRTC (Scott Hutton, chief of consumer, research and communications and Daniel Pye, director of television programming) were also…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER — Magnify Digital, a Vancouver-based digital marketing and audience analytics company, announced today it is renewing its Audience Development Pilot Project with Bell Fund, Shaw Rocket Fund and Telus Fund.
The three independent production funders first announced their support for Magnify Digital’s pilot project in April 2021.
“Using Magnify’s first-of-its-kind audience analytics platform ViewerCentric, the project will help Canadian producers collect data to increase discoverability of their content and drive success,” reads a press release.
“We are thrilled to advance this important collaboration to help producers and media businesses build audiences. ViewerCentric is growing in terms of its features, database…
Continue Reading
CALGARY — The National accessArts Centre (NaAC), which calls itself Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts organization, announced today Shaw Communications is providing funding support for NaAC’s development of a digital learning platform that will help connect artists living with disabilities across Canada.
A dollar value for Shaw’s funding was not disclosed in a press release. (A spokesperson for Shaw told Cartt.ca via email this is not something the company typically discloses.)
“Shaw’s funding for a new digital learning tool — featuring live broadcasts from the NaAC studio space in Calgary of interactive studio sessions, and workshops and learning modules…
Continue Reading
CALGARY — Shaw Communications today announced its financial results for the first quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, which shows the company’s consolidated revenue increased year-over-year by 1.2% to $1.39 billion, adjusted EBITDA grew 4.3% to $633 million and net income increased 20.2% to $196 million.
For the quarter ended Nov. 30, 2021, Shaw added 55,582 new wireless customers, with postpaid net additions of 36,089 “driven by the continued momentum of Shaw Mobile,” says a press release announcing the company’s Q1 2022 results. The company had 19,493 prepaid net additions in the quarter.
Overall, Shaw’s wireless revenue in Q1 2022 increased…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Numerous intervenors in their final submissions to the CRTC continue to argue the merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications is not in the public interest and should be denied, despite the fact Rogers offered some concessions in its reply on day five of the recent hearing into the matter as well as in other documents since submitted by the company to the Commission.
(You can read Cartt.ca’s coverage of the CRTC hearing here, here, here, here and here.)
The final submissions, which were due Monday, point to several problems the intervenors argue remain…
Continue Reading
CALGARY — Shaw Communications announced today a new partnership with Canada Learning Code (CLC), a national charity that champions computer science education, that will support the advancement of CLC’s Teen Ambassador program, Girls Learning Code Program, Teens Learning Code program and its Code Squad through 2022 across Western Canada.
“As digital technologies play ever-more important roles in our lives, CLC is committed to providing engaging and practical digital education opportunities for youth in Canada,” says Melissa Sariffodeen, CEO and founder of Canada Learning Code, in a press release.
“Through the continued generous contributions from our partners like Shaw, we will…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The CRTC hearing into Rogers Communications’s proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications wrapped up Friday with a reply from Rogers during which the company argued the deal is good for Canadians and for the broadcasting system despite what interveners have said over the past week.
“As our panel highlighted on Monday, there is no question that this transaction is in the public interest,” said Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory at Rogers.
“It embraces the transformational moment we face, positioning Canada’s broadcasting system for a strong and sustainable future. With Shaw and Rogers joining forces, Canadian consumers will enjoy more…
Continue Reading
Bell says there are no safeguards that will fix the problems with the proposal
By Amanda OYE
GATINEAU – Intervenors delved deeper into concerns about the impact of Rogers Communications’s proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications on local news and competition Thursday, during day four of the CRTC hearing on the matter.
At the hearing Unifor, a union that represents 5,000 workers in the broadcasting and film industries, presented the Commission with a perspective on what the approval of the transaction could mean for employment and labour in local journalism.
The “broadcast sector in Canada is facing an employment crisis,” said Katha…
Continue Reading
