MONT TREMBLANT – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance celebrated its 20th anniversary in grand style Monday with top notch seminars, a well-attended trade show, awards and a gala dinner which featured Canadian comic Sugar Sammy.
After an opening speech by CRTC vice-chairman telecom Peter Menzies, “unmarketing” pro Scott Stratten wowed the audience with an entertaining take on how in order to go viral, you have to give up control (and don’t sweat your logo too much). Then, with over 300 delegates at this year’s conference, the trade show floor was packed through mid-day then customer service…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Two of the country’s biggest unions say they’re happy that Verizon has decided against entering Canada’s wireless market, but stress that should not take public focus off the problems plaguing the telecommunications industry.
The newly merged Telecommunication Workers Union (TWU) and United Steelworkers (USW) said Monday that they support parliamentary hearings and on-going public debate about Canada’s telecommunications policy.
"We clearly and consistently pointed out that giving Verizon preferential access to Canada's wireless infrastructure and spectrum would be a bad deal for Canadian workers and consumers," said Lee Riggs, national president of the TWU, which represents 13,000 Telus, Shaw and other…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Broadcasters, distributors and special interests all took predictable stances on the CRTC's proposed framework for the distribution of national news services in interventions published this week.
The comment period for the framework, which launched from the Commission's August decision to deny mandatory distribution to Sun News Network, ended on Monday night. Last-minute submissions were posted to the CRTC site Tuesday and Wednesday. The Regulator’s proposals include rules on carriage, packaging and channel placement for national news services licensed as Category C, which would categorize all such services – new and…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – There simply is not a wireless services competition problem in Canada, according to a report released today by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.
Wireless Competition in Canada: An Assessment argues that it’s too simplistic to draw conclusions about the state of competition by comparing Canada’s high average revenue per user (APRU) and lower penetration rates with international carriers. For instance, many countries tend to have significantly higher prepaid subscribers than in Canada and have a calling-party-pays protocol, “both of which encourage inflated user counts.”
During a press conference on Parliament Hill Thursday morning, one of the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Shaw Media’s Global is jumping into the TV Everywhere market Thursday with an app called Global Go.
GlobaI Go will live stream the network 24/7 via web, iOS or Android platforms on smart phones, tablets and home computers anywhere in Canada, plus let viewers catch-up on entire seasons of more than 20 shows for up to 60 days after the finale (versus the 2-3 episodes which are currently available for catch-up). Those shows include the likes of Rookie Blue, NCIS, Elementary and Hawaii 5.0. It also includes a two week look-ahead schedule, and an interface with intuitive search and social…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Five major Canadian digital media funding organizations have hammered out a new framework designed to help international digital media co-productions access their respective funding programs.
The framework, developed by the Canada Media Fund, the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, the Independent Production Fund, the Quebecor Fund, and the Shaw Rocket Fund, addresses the need to facilitate international co-productions in digital media between Canada and other countries in order to access new opportunities and partnerships. Furthermore, existing audiovisual co-production treaties do not address digital media production, the announcement continues.
The framework is being implemented on a trial basis and applies…
Continue Reading
MARKHAM, ON – Shaw Communications founder JR Shaw will receive the 2013 Hall of Fame Award from the Ontario Association of Broadcasters at the organization’s fall conference in November.
A Board nominated honour, the OAB Hall of Fame is presented to individuals who spent most of their careers working for private broadcasters and demonstrated a commitment to the highest standards of broadcast excellence.
Shaw founded Capital Cable TV in 1966, a start-up cable television provider in Edmonton Alberta, which eventually blossomed into Shaw Communications Inc., a diversified communications company whose core business is providing broadband cable television, high-speed internet, digital phone,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Shaw Media appears to be gaining some traction with its live on screen integration initiative for advertisers, with news Wednesday of a partnership with Yellow Pages that features live overlay ads inserted into HGTV Canada and Food Network Canada programs.
The broadcaster has partnered with Starcom Media, Leo Burnett and their client Yellow Pages Group to create live, “show-specific content” links that provides viewers with a link from the show’s content to an Yellow Pages overlay ad.
For example, while viewing an episode of Food Network Canada’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives that…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The CRTC has decided November 5th is the day it will hear why Corus Entertainment should be able to purchase French specialty channels Historia and Series+, three Ottawa radio stations and the piece of Teletoon (including its other animation brands) it does not yet own.
In March, Corus agreed to purchase the assets in question as part of the divestitures required as conditions of the Bell Media purchase of Astral Media. While it already held 50% of Teletoon/Télétoon (as well as Teletoon Retro in English and French, and the Cartoon Network) with Astral, it…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Shaw Media is supporting today’s kickoff of its newest (read “TVTropolis rebranded”) lifestyle channel DTOUR with a national multi-platform marketing and advertising campaign.
Shaw's DTOUR specialty channel launched today with a national promo campaign that included blanketing Toronto's Bloor subway station (above) with images from various reality series, including this one from Continue Reading
