OTTAWA — On Tuesday, the same day it denied an application by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the National Pensioners Federation (NPF) to require Koodo Mobile and other wireless service providers to provide paper bills upon request, the CRTC announced a new proceeding looking into the issue of paper billing.
In its decision against PIAC and NPF, the Commission says it found “there was no existing legislature or regulatory obligation that mandated the provision of paper bills and, since the rationale and evidence on the record of this proceeding related largely to Koodo alone, it would not…
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TORONTO — Effective Tuesday, Corus Entertainment appointed three new independent members to its board of directors. Joining the board are Alex Carloss, Stephanie Coyles and Sameer Deen.
“We are thrilled to welcome such a high impact group of individuals to our board of directors,” said Heather Shaw, Corus’s executive chair of the board, in the news release. “They each bring decades of leadership and experience in key areas of opportunity for Corus. Their appointments increase the diversity, knowledge and experience of our board.”
Doug Murphy, president and CEO, added: “This is an exciting new chapter for Corus as we pursue…
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Bitrates will have to be lowered
By Steve Faguy
GATINEAU – Faced with escalating costs amid the coming 600 MHz repack of television stations, Corus Entertainment is proposing an “innovative solution” by using digital TV multiplexing to combine nearby Global TV over-the-air transmitters in eastern Ontario and the Okanagan region of B.C.
The CRTC published applications on Monday to remove seven retransmitters and instead put their programming as subchannels of another Global stations whose signal at least partially overlaps:
CIII-DT-6 Ottawa (Global Toronto) would carry CKWS-TV-2 Prescott (Global Kingston)
CHEX-DT Peterborough would carry CIII-DT-27 Peterborough (Global Toronto) and CKWS-DT-1 Brighton (Global Kingston)
…
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TORONTO — A new multi-year media rights extension will see TSN and RDS continuing to provide exclusive Canadian coverage of FIA Formula One (F1) Grand Prix events through the 2024 season, Bell Media announced Monday.
TSN and RDS will broadcast all F1 World Championship races, as well as qualifying and practice sessions and encore presentations. The 2020 Canadian Grand Prix takes place at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal on the weekend of June 12-14.
In addition, with the new agreement, F1 fans who subscribe to TSN or RDS will now have access to a multitude of all-new F1 live feeds, including…
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TORONTO — Independent Internet and TV service provider VMedia Inc. has submitted an objection to cabinet (officially the Governor-in-Council) in response to Bell Canada’s and the major incumbent cablecos’ petitions in November, in which they asked cabinet to overturn the CRTC’s August decision concerning final rates for aggregated wholesale high-speed access (HSA) services.
VMedia filed its submission on February 14, the last day to do so, and has posted a copy on its website. On Thursday, the independent ISP issued a news release to publicize its submission to cabinet and to explain its arguments for why the Commission’s decision…
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EDMONTON — Allarco Entertainment’s pay-TV network Super Channel announced Wednesday its new six-part international spy thriller Mirage will make its Canadian English broadcast premiere on Sunday, March 8 at 8 p.m. on Super Channel Fuse.
Each one-hour episode will also be available on Super Channel On Demand the day following its weekly linear broadcast.
The series about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East tells the story of Claire (played by Quebec native Marie-Josée Croze, pictured), an expatriate starting over in Abu Dhabi with her son and husband Lukas (German actor Hannes Jaenicke). Claire is thrust into the shadowy world of espionage…
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CCSA says mandated access to 5G nets is a must for rural
GATINEAU – In advising the CRTC to mandate just one national MVNO to boost mobile wireless competition here, three former wireless and telecom executives said threats from the big national players about reduced investments and job cuts are not to be taken seriously.
“The market is so clearly dominated by the Big Three ,” Alek Krstajic, the former Freedom CEO and past executive at Bell and Rogers, told CRTC commissioners at the beginning of the second week of the Regulator’s review of the wireless industry.
“In fact,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A hearing that culminated in an unprecedented federal court order forcing internet service providers to block certain websites was unbalanced and will likely fall by the wayside as more intervenors weigh in at the appeal level, according to emails from a CRTC lawyer.
“What I would like to see is a re-do of the Federal Court motion,” William Abbott said in an email to an address that is redacted in newly unveiled communications obtained through access to information law. Abbott is a former Bell lawyer who took a legal counsel role at the CRTC in…
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TORONTO and HAMILTON — Two of Corus Entertainment’s radio stations launched new morning shows on Monday.
Toronto’s alternative station 102.1 The Edge (CFNY-FM) debuted The B Team show, featuring Shawna, Chris Z and Jay Brody, former morning show hosts at sister rock station Y108 in Hamilton. The B Team airs weekdays from 5:30 to 10 a.m. on the Edge.
To fill the morning void at Hamilton’s Y108 (CJXY-FM), the Taz & Jim show made its debut on the station this morning. Taz and Jim Kelly have ranked as the number one morning team in the London, Ont., market for nearly a…
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MOOSE JAW — TSN and RDS will continue to be the exclusive English and French broadcasters of Curling Canada Season of Champions events for eight more years. The deal extension was announced during TSN’s Curling Day in Canada broadcast during the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Sask.
The agreement, which includes both broadcast and digital media rights, takes effect in the 2020-21 curling season and will carry through the 2027-28 season. Season of Champions curling is available to TSN, RDS, TSN Direct and RDS Direct subscribers, and at TSN.ca, RDS.ca and via the…
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