TORONTO – In about 30 minutes, Omnicom Canada CEO Fred Forster put a good scare into a room of broadcasters and ad folks Monday afternoon when describing the impending near future for the TV advertising business.
In a speech to the Broadcast Executives Society lunch Forster, the head of Omnicom in Canada (Omnicom is a $14.5 billion global ad agency) painted a picture of how Big Data is taking over the media buying world, rendering the old metrics of CPMs (cost per thousand) and GRPs (gross ratings points) useless to agencies and their clients
“GRPs and the currency we see today…
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CALGARY – Shaw, Shaw Direct and Entertainment One (eOne) are teaming up to tackle bullying. For every rental of Bully on Shaw or Shaw Direct On Demand, Shaw Communications in conjunction with eOne will donate $1.00 to Kids Help Phone, Canada's leading youth counselling service, providing free, anonymous and professional support to kids, teens and young adults on any issue, either by phone or online.
Bully gives an intimate glimpse into the bullying crisis by taking its audience into the homes and schools of five kids and families. A reality check for…
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TORONTO – Big Brother Canada is getting some big sponsors for its inaugural season. In addition to the $100,000 grand prize, official series sponsors The Brick and Chevrolet are upping the stakes for houseguests by providing a $25,000 gift card to The Brick and an all-new 2013 Chevrolet Trax to the winner of Big Brother Canada. Ramada Worldwide has also signed on to provide the 24-hour live feed. Big Brother Canada premieres February 27th at 9pm ET/PT on Slice.
The U.S. version of Endemol’s international hit format, Big Brother, has been a top performing series throughout its past 14…
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OTTAWA – Telesat is blaming an insurance claim for a $210 million drop in annual profit as reported in its quarterly and full year financials. Revenues for 2012 were $846 million, a 5% increase over the $809 million it recorded in 2011, but net income was only $27 million compared to $237 million in 2011, a decrease of $210 million.
“The 2012 net income was lower than 2011 due in part to the recognition in 2011 of a $135 million gain from insurance proceeds received in connection with an insurance claim filed for the failure…
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MONTREAL – On Thursday, the Vidéotron announced the launch of Illico Club Unlimited, an online video subscription service that will have the largest collection of French-language movies, television series and other programming available in Canada.
The service, which launches on Saturday, will cost $9.99 a month, a bit higher than the $8 a month that Netflix Canada charges. It will be available to everyone in Quebec and Ontario, regardless of whether they live in an area served by Vidéotron or subscribe to a Vidéotron service. This may expand to other provinces as well. Quebecor executives say they have secured rights…
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TORONTO – Viewers tuning in to Global today will notice a new look designed to reflect the networks' top-rated programming and news lineup in a “big, bold and dynamic environment.”
"Global's identity refresh is part of the larger re-positioning of the Shaw Communications portfolio of brands designed to ensure our relevancy to both our customers and viewers across the country," said Jason Keown, Senior Director of Marketing, Global Entertainment. "Our creative is both fast and dynamic with a vibrant colour palette that unifies our entertainment and news brands across all platforms."
Global Entertainment introduces four…
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HALIFAX – Shaw and Global News have made a three-year commitment to offer financial and broadcast support to assist key community and youth-focused organizations in Halifax. This includes an immediate donation of $150,000 in monetary and in-kind broadcast support to help local youth at risk within Halifax’s north end.
Coinciding with today’s official opening of Global News’ new broadcast centre and studio at 2110 Gottingen Street, the initiative will continue throughout a three-year period with the goal of helping those in need within the organization’s new North End neighbourhood.
“When the decision was made…
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TORONTO – The future of cable is IP, and the CEO of Rogers says the company plans to take a similar leadership role in advancing its IP network offerings for customers that it did in introducing smartphones.
“Everyone is going IP, that is the future of cable,” said Rogers president and CEO Nadir Mohamed who also announced he will retire in January 2014, but will continue to lead the company through 2013. He was speaking at a media call this morning in Toronto. Late yesterday the company released its fourth quarter results of 2012 which beat…
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CALGARY – Shaw NBA fans can now unlock access to hundreds of out-of-market NBA games from across the continent with the NBA League Pass app on Shaw Go. Complimentary with an NBA League Pass subscription on Shaw or Shaw Direct, the app lets customers watch both live and playback games on the go with their mobile device up to 48 hours after the game. The league's schedule of games is also available to browse.
"Every shot, every pass, every moment is important in a game. That's why Shaw continues to innovate and offer customers great…
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TORONTO – Content company Blue Ant Media has appointed Sam Linton to Executive in Charge of Production. Linton comes with over 24 years of broadcast experience in production and programming and will be working out of the company’s head office in Toronto.
The company owns specialty channels Travel+Escape, Bite TV and AUX TV along with four premium, commercial-free channels Oasis HD, HIFI, eqhd, radX and their companion websites.
“Original Content is very important to Blue Ant Media and we couldn’t be happier to have Sam join us to help lead the development of our…
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