TORONTO – We don’t remember Shaw Communications COO Jay Mehr speaking before the telecom industry in such a forum before, so rather than try to weave a narrative from his 30-minute fireside chat with CTS organizer Mark Goldberg Tuesday afternoon, we thought we’d pick out a few bullet points from his Toronto talk.
On handling change in the media and network space
“It seems kind of counter-intuitive in a world of rapid-fire change, that our focus is on orderly, managed change – and I know (CEO) Brad (Shaw) has been clear to our company that he doesn’t want to defend our…
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TORONTO – Wind Mobile Canada has never been so candid, or detailed, about its numbers.
During his luncheon keynote Tuesday, Wind CEO Tony Lacavera released subscriber, ARPU and various other metrics that make Wind, now with about 740,000 Canadian customers, look like a growing, viable, business – despite the hundreds of millions in debt owed from 2008 spectrum purchases and its network build since then.
But there’s a method to that data dump. Wind needs investors. With its foreign backer Vimpelcom having written Wind Canada’s value down to zero, that gave license to pundits, analysts and competitors…
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TORONTO – Wind Mobile chairman and CEO Tony Lacavera was on the attack again today during a luncheon keynote at CTS in Toronto, going after what he says are continuing anti-competitive behaviours of the big three wireless companies and suggesting further policy changes to the federal government.
However, Lacavera lifted the veil off of a range of Wind Canada financial metrics, too, today. So many in fact, it made us believe he is casting as wide a net as possible for more investors, or even preparing the company for a public offering.
Wind, as Lacavera’s speech also pointed out, is trapped….
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TORONTO – It’s not too late to register for the 2014 Canadian Telecom Summit which will kick off Monday at the Toronto Congress Centre in Toronto.
Now in its 13th year, the event has grown to become Canada's most important annual telecommunications and IT event, attracting hundreds of attendees from around the world.
In addition to more than a dozen keynote addresses and some 50 panelists, the confab will include the popular Regulatory Blockbuster, moderated by Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O’Brien, plus keynotes from industry heavyweights such as Rogers’ president and CEO Guy Laurence, Shaw EVP and COO Jay Mehr,…
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BANFF – One in four Canadians is a 4 screen consumer; and Canada per capita is the number one user of Facebook. Close to 40% of us readily watch TV online and Millennial YouTube and iTunes stars are popping up everywhere, exploding the old definition of TV.
So these are unsettling times for conventional Banff World Media Fest summer camp types that remember the good old days of The Banff Park Lodge (and tube-TVs…)
But that needn't be the case.
Jennifer Dettman, executive director, studio and unscripted content for the CBC, tells us that the Mother Corp is on the cusp of great…
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TORONTO – Shaw Media announced a series of original digital initiatives designed to build on, and extend, its Global, History Canada, Food Network Canada, and HGTV Canada brands.
According to the news release, the cross-platform content expands its conventional and specialty brands to enhance fan engagement and provide richer viewer experiences.
The new digital initiatives include:
The Second City Project (fall 2014)- Global TV is bringing the next generation of legendary Second City comedy talent to Shaw Media screens in The Second City Project, led by Bob Martin. Designed to bring premium sketch comedy to Canadian television as well as meet the insatiable appetite…
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DENVER and TORONTO – World Fishing Network posted the highest single-month viewership in the history of the network during the month of April as part of its North American free preview.
Overall, WFN said that it experienced a 265% increase in average audience viewership in the U.S. during the preview period. Participating providers included Antietam Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision (Optimum), CenturyLink, Cox Communications, DISH, MetroNet and Verizon FiOS.
In Canada, Access, Bell, Cablevision du Nord du Quebec, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct, Source Cable, TBayTel, Telus, Videotron and Westman participated in the preview. While Canadian television…
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TORONTO – Last week the three largest private English language broadcasters all laid down their cards and showed their hands for the upcoming fall TV season.
While some of what we heard and saw was predictable (Rogers is hockey mad, Shaw’s Global is drama-happy and Bell took a shot or two at the amount of money Rogers spent on hockey…), there were some surprises, as well. The biggest is that Rogers has compressed what it considers Citytv’s prime time from 8 to 10 p.m. only, leaving the 10-11 hour primarily to CTV and Global (and CHCH, too).
What’s the deal at…
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BANFF – On Sunday, seven wise folk sat as a panel to road-map what the future holds for our business.
These were: moderator Peter Sussman, executive director of Aver Media Finance (part of BMO); Jeremy Butteriss of Google Canada; Walter Levitt the CMO of Comedy Central; Kirstine Stewart the managing director of Twitter Canada; John Morayniss the CEO at EOneTV; Peter Schube the president and CEO of Jim Henson Co.; and Barbara Williams, Shaw Media's content SVP.
Let's make it clear that Williams (right) was just kidding when she exclaimed she only needed a job for three more years, so could…
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TORONTO – TSN has inked a new multi-year deal with Woodbine Entertainment Group to broadcast every race from the Canadian Triple Crown series: the Queen's Plate, Prince Of Wales Stakes, and Breeders' Stakes – marking the first time the network has carried all three of these events.
With this new deal, TSN now becomes the exclusive home of the most prestigious thoroughbred horse races in North America, as the network will also air exclusive live coverage of the American Triple Crown: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, airing June 7 at 6:00 PM ET on TSN (pre-race…
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