OTTAWA – Five of Canada’s biggest TV service providers and two set-top box manufacturers have signed a voluntary agreement to improve the energy efficiency of set-top boxes.
According to a Canadian GreenTech report, the agreement was signed by Bell Canada, Cogeco Communications, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, Videotron, ARRIS and EchoStar Technologies.
The Canadian Energy Efficiency Voluntary Agreement for Set-Top Boxes (CEEVA), along with complementary measures such as the Energy Star program, is expected to reduce the total annual energy consumption of Canadian set-top boxes from 3.4 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2016 to 2.7 TWh in 2021. The energy expected to be saved…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. is actively looking at more acquisitions in cable companies in the United States, but has ruled out acquisitions in the data services sector over the next year after a 2016 in which “our results have been disappointing” at subsidiary Peer 1, president Louis Audet said on Thursday at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Montreal.
The company’s year-end financial results were mostly positive, with earnings increasing and a higher dividend to shareholders, both from Cogeco Inc. and subsidiary Cogeco Communications Inc. But a $450-million writedown at Peer 1 technically put the company in the red…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – The demise of streaming service shomi weighed heavily on first quarter profits at Shaw Communications, which saw net income plunge by almost 60%.
For the three month period ended November 30, 2016, Shaw posted net income of $89 million, well below the $218 million reported in Q1 2016, due to a $107 million charge from the wind down of shomi, its joint venture with Rogers Communications. Net income this quarter also reflects a decrease in income from discontinued operations, net of tax, in the amount of $80 million due to the sale of its Corus Media division last…
Continue Reading
X1-powered, voice-controlled
CALGARY – Shaw Communications upped the ante in Canada’s television and broadband market Wednesday, launching a new voice-controlled platform it has dubbed BlueSky TV.
Using Comcast’s X1 platform, Shaw BlueSky TV includes a remote that follows viewers’ voice prompts to access content, whether live, recorded on their DVR, available on-demand or offered through an over-the-top service. Customers may also use the voice remote to search for content by actor, genre, or a famous movie quote, or may ask "what's trending?" to activate its database of popular selections and what's trending on social media.
Comcast's intuitive, user-friendly platform is quickly Continue Reading
TORONTO – Corus Entertainment’s acquisition of Shaw Media appears to paying off as the company reported a 72% lift in profits and a 105% jump in revenues for its first quarter ended November 30, 2016.
The company said Wednesday that net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter was $71.1 million, up from the $41.3 million posted in the same period last year, which includes business acquisition, integration and restructuring costs of $13.2 million. Adjusting for the impact of these items resulted in an adjusted net income attributable to shareholders of $80.8 million.
Consolidated revenues for the quarter of $468.0 million…
Continue Reading
LAS VEGAS – It’s taken nearly 30 years of development but artificial intelligence (AI), in the form of voice-enabled digital assistants, are poised to be the talk of the town when CES opens on Wednesday.
“Applications for hub devices are set to grow by 50% over the next four days,” says Dr. Shawn DuBravac, chief economist of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), speaking to journalists. Leading that growth is Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant platform, which debuted in November 2014 when Amazon unveiled its “smart speaker” called Echo. DuBravac says devices like the Echo are creating a new era of “faceless…
Continue Reading
GATINEU – The CRTC today declared that broadband access is now considered a basic telecommunications service for all Canadians, that it is setting new speed targets while also creating a new fund that will invest up to $750 million over and above existing government programs.
Further to its legislative mandate, the Commission has set the following targets for the basic telecommunications services that Canadians need to participate in the digital economy:
speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband Internet access services. In 2015, 82% of Canadians already had access to speeds of 50 Mbps download/10…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Support for community TV and media has been on the agenda in the House of Commons, with nearly a dozen MPs presenting a petition calling for the creation and ongoing support of community media centres in Canada.
According to Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS), the petition says that community media centres will ensure that Canadians have access to adequate news and information that reflects their communities, as well as offer skill development for Canadians' participation in the digital economy.
Liberal MP Will Amos, who represents the riding of Pontiac, north of Ottawa, said in a CACTUS statement that he supported…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The rumour mill in the TV business was spinning overtime on this one lately, but today Rogers Communications made it official – it is killing its long-awaited IPTV solution in favour of Comcast’s X1 platform.
The move means the company will take a pre-tax non-cash asset impairment charge in the range of C$475-$525 million in its fourth quarter.
Friday morning’s press saw Rogers tout a new “long-term strategic partnership” with Comcast to bring Rogers customers Comcast's X1 IP-based video platform. However, it will not launch until 2018.
As we have reported, Rogers was hoping to have its IPTV solution (built…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Bloomberg TV Canada’s first year of operation has been one of growth and expansion, with distribution and advertising levels increasing monthly, the first of several news bureaus across the country coming online, and an “A-list” of newsmakers having appeared on the channel.
Despite not having carriage on Bell TV nor Bell Fibe, Bloomberg TV Canada executives say it has achieved distribution parity with its main business channel competitor, Bell-owned Business News Network (BNN). “We’re very happy, 12 months in, with the progress that we’ve made and the expansion that we’ve seen,” said Chris Fuoco, vice-president of sales and…
Continue Reading
