MONTREAL – An American consortium of cable companies which have banded together to let their customers roam freely on each others’ Wi-Fi networks may soon gain a Canadian partner.
Earlier this year (as reported on by Cartt.ca from the Cable Show in Boston), a number of U.S. MSOs forged a new partnership to let their respective customers share 50,000 wireless hotspots for free when they travel. When traveling outside their home markets, high-speed Internet subscribers of the participating companies (Cablevision, Comcast, Cox, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House) will look for the “CableWiFi” network and through…
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MONTRÉAL – Rogers Communications in its $10.3 million proposal for Montréal’s CJNT-TV (Metro 14) says it has found the “optimal solution” that provides the city with a new English-language commercial TV station while also supporting a local plan for a new multilingual station. And even if the CRTC says no, it’s got a back-up plan to loosen CJNT’s current ethnic programming requirements.
Under Rogers’ optimal scenario the new station would be branded Citytv Montreal with programming and conditions of licence similar to the company's other Citytv…
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TORONTO – North American wireless carriers reported strong Q2 margins, with combined wireless EBITDA service margins for Rogers, Telus, Bell, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, LEAP and MetroPCS up 342 basis points and EBITDA growth up 14.5% over the previous year. This according to figures reported in Dvai Ghose’s Canaccord Genuity Daily Letter for September 17.
He says the improved margins were driven by reduced device subsidy pressure. Wireless equipment subsidies dropped an estimated 12% in Q2 due to a “dearth of iconic device launches.” He noted that with the Samsung Galaxy S III and the iPhone 5 recently launched “we…
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MONTREAL – Telus is another in the line of companies who want the purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada killed.
But, if it is approved, the industry needs better rules to govern the behaviour of it and other vertically integrated companies (but especially Bell…), Telus told the CRTC Thursday morning in Montreal.
The best example of Bell’s intransigence, said Telus executives, is its dealings on multiplatform content. “It has been mentioned by many parties in this proceeding that Olympic coverage on mobile was only available to Bell Mobility subscribers,” said Telus director of broadcast regulation and corporate affairs, Ann Mainville-Neeson….
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MONTREAL – Sometimes it’s hard to put a finger on the reasons why we decide to pull something out of the tens of thousands of words spoken at CRTC hearings and turn it into a story.
Other times, such as Cogeco Cable CEO Louis Audet’s focused, furious appearance Wednesday, it’s easy to figure out why we cover some submissions instead of others…
We know everyone works hard on their presentations and the job they all do is commendable. However, as I often tell people, we can’t write about everyone. That said, there are frequent portions in every CRTC hearing that stick…
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MONTREAL – While one large, vertically integrated Canadian media and distribution company vehemently told commissioners why it opposes Bell’s Astral purchase another, Shaw Communications, went before the CRTC right after Quebecor to say it did not see any reason why the deal should be denied.
“Strong, efficient and diversified operators will enhance the system by providing consumer choice, value and innovation,” Shaw Communications president Peter Bissonnette told the panel Tuesday morning.
Vice-chair broadcasting Tom Pentefountas, however, wondered if a combined Bell-Astral was too big for Shaw – big enough to allow it to corner the market on movies and the top-rated…
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MONTREAL ? With a three-hour break mid-day (we were told someone had to go to a funeral, so quit complaining&), yesterday?s long hearing day featured a ton of back and forth between Bell executives and the panel of CRTC commissioners.
Long lovely narratives explaining each exchange would be nice but time restraints mean we?re going for the bullets only of some of the highlights. We think we?ve hit some of the main points with our bulleted rundown here.
* In his first public appearance as chair of the CRTC, Jean-Pierre Blais acquitted himself well, nailing a few biting comments throughout the…
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TORONTO – Travel+Escape has announced an expansion into 1.8 million Shaw homes across Canada beginning this September through Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct carriers.
Beginning September 5 with Shaw Cable and September 6 with Shaw Direct, the new deal will increase the number of total Travel+Escape subscribers nationally to 2.7 million.
“We’re thrilled to bring Travel+Escape's new slate of original and exclusive travel-themed programming to so many more Shaw customers,” said Raja Khanna, CEO, Television & Digital, Blue Ant Media.
Travel+Escape is the destination for travel themed programming including hit series The Lonely Planet, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and The Layover, Scam…
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WE DRILL DOWN into the analytics of our content quite a lot at Cartt.ca, studying what resonates with our valued readers and what doesn’t. We learn a lot and try adjust our coverage accordingly. So, to give you a peek at what the folks in the cable, radio, television and telecom business have been paying the most attention to for the past year, we publish the top 25 stories of the past 12 months on the day after Labour Day.
As those in the TV business will tell you, September is really the beginning of the year – and September…
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TORONTO – Showcase’s new fall advertising campaign, which kicked off this week, centres around its two new police dramas Copper and Common Law.
The four-week campaign will build awareness and drive tune-in for the shows, targeting adults 25-54 primarily in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. On-air teasers and spots began airing in July, while the out-of home campaign includes posters throughout Toronto and Vancouver transit systems.
Consumers also have the chance to sample Copper and Common Law with pre-roll video on cross-demographic pop culture websites determined by CPAX’s Real Time Bidding. A unique extension of the online buy is Youtube’s “First Watch”…
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