MONTREAL — Telefilm Canada announced Tuesday $4.7 million in funding for the production of 11 new Indigenous feature films in 2017-2018, following through on its commitment in February to increase financing available to Indigenous talent.
In fact, the support provided through the Telefilm Production Program’s Indigenous stream exceeds its original commitment of $4.2 million. Telefilm’s investment supports both established and emerging Indigenous talent from coast-to-coast-to-coast, with seven projects being led by women, Telefilm said in a press release.
“Telefilm Canada is a longstanding supporter of Indigenous creative talents and we are privileged to have the ongoing support of the…
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Bidding starts at $1.54 billion
OTTAWA – The auction of 600 MHz wireless spectrum, when it happens, will favour the smaller newcomers like Freedom Mobile and Vidéotron and looks to offer no payments to TV broadcasters which will be forced off the band.
While the Canadian bandwidth plan is to be harmonized with the United States (something we’ve known for a while), our auction for the valuable low frequency spectrum sure won’t be the same. In its consultation paper released late Friday (Ed note: right before the long weekend, so no questions, media!) Innovation, Science and…
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WINDSOR, ON — Collective agreement discussions have stalled between Freedom Mobile and the United Steelworkers (USW), which is negotiating on behalf of the wireless company’s customer care employees in its Windsor, Ont., call centre.
The 185 employees at Freedom Mobile’s call centre in Windsor joined the USW in January and bargaining talks for a first collective agreement for the employees began in late March.
Despite an intense last 19 hours of talks and the efforts of a federal labour conciliation officer, a settlement has not yet been reached, the USW announced in a press release late Thursday afternoon.
Freedom Mobile, previously…
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CALGARY — Shaw Communications has completed the sale of its wholly owned ViaWest subsidiary to GI Partners portfolio company Peak 10 Holding Corporation for US$1.675 billion, the company announced on Aug. 1.
ViaWest provides hybrid IT solutions, including colocation, cloud computing and security and compliance for North American enterprises.
Proceeds from the transaction were used for the repayment of ViaWest level indebtedness, repayment of Shaw credit facility borrowings associated with the original ViaWest investment in 2014 and subsequent INetU acquisition in 2015, as well as the previously announced closing of the spectrum purchase from Quebecor on July 24, 2017, payment of…
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CALGARY — Shaw Communications is teaming up with 20 Calgary-area golf courses to launch its first-ever Shaw Charity Classic Make Your Mark Day, benefiting the lives of children and youth across southern Alberta.
On Sunday, August 6, golfers in Calgary can attempt to make a birdie at the designated Make Your Mark par-3 hole at any one of the participating courses. For every birdie scored, Shaw will donate $100 to support children and youth charities across Alberta through the Shaw Charity Classic, up to $100,000. Every Make Your Mark Day participant will also be entered to win an exclusive, inside-the-ropes…
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CALGARY — Shaw Communications customers in western Canada can now wave goodbye to data caps as the company announced it is offering unlimited data to its WideOpen Internet 150 subscribers.
With download speeds of up to 150 megabits per second and available to more than 99% of western Canadians within Shaw’s footprint, WideOpen Internet 150 now lets customers stream, download and browse the Internet without fear of going over monthly data limits.
“Canadians love the Internet, and are using more data than ever before. At times though, they can be hindered by restrictive caps and costly overage fees that can curb…
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THE CORD-CUTTING ANALYSIS in Friday’s Summer Numbers: CRTC TV data dump highlights, lowlights says that 11.12 million households subscribed to cable, satellite or IPTV service in Canada in 2016, down only slightly – 3.5% – from 11.5 million in 2016.
I agree this doesn’t seem like a big drop over four years especially given the market changes in that period.
But when we look at the numbers relative to the total number of households in Canada, we see a different story emerge.
In 2011, there were 13.32 million occupied households in Canada per the census and 11.5 million…
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GATINEAU – Maybe it’s not so bad yet, after all…
The CRTC on Thursday released three different documents breaking down the 2016 results from conventional broadcast, discretionary and on demand, and broadcast distribution undertaking sectors of the Canadian TV business.
The numbers are all almost a year old (filed by the regulated companies at the end of the regulatory broadcast year, August 31, 2016) – so bear that in mind when perusing these highlights. Also, these figures do not include any revenue from broadband, telephony or wireless streams. (As well, the Commission told us the breakdown for…
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Plus, DAZN has a big job to do and very little time
VARIOUS ‘SUPER SPORTS’ PACKAGES have quietly been pulled or are being rendered anew by Canadian TV carriers with the announcement last week they will no longer contain NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Red Zone.
Both Sunday Ticket (every single NFL game, no matter what) and Red Zone (all the games’ action when the team are inside their opponent’s 20-yard line) have been on offer to NFL fanatics from TV carriers for years, since Rogers originally tried to bring it north as an exclusive more than a decade ago.
Since the…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications has held a significant stake in Cogeco Communications and Cogeco Inc. for quite some time, but it’s now time for Rogers to sell that stake, according to one Bay St. analyst. Proceeds from selling the stake could go towards share buybacks, paying down debt or upcoming wireless spectrum auctions.
In a research note to clients Monday, Scotiabank’s telecom and media analyst Jeff Fan recounted a long-ago plane ride with Rogers late founder Ted Rogers, in which the company creator made clear his frustration at not being able to buy Cogeco outright – so that the…
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