WHILE WE HAVE NO inside information to give you, we have covered enough CRTC hearings featuring the current crop of Bell executives and regulatory folks to guess at what the thrust of their presentation will be when they face the panel of CRTC commissioners in Montreal come September 10th.
They are probably going to ask what all the fuss is about. The media industry has consolidated at a rapid pace with the likes of Bell, Rogers, Shaw, and Quebecor owning significant carrier as well as media assets. With one more company, Astral Media, assimilated into Bell…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor's Videotron is making its first step toward eliminating analog cable television service throughout its network.
Last Friday, the company issued a stop-sell order for new analog television subscriptions. The end goal is the transition of its approximately 412,000 remaining analog TV customers (many of which are hotel rooms or other business customers) to the company's illico digital service.
"We need more space in the network," said Videotron vice-president Isabelle Dessureault. In areas like western Montreal, where analog cable is still prevalent, Videotron devotes about 55 of its 135 6-MHz television channels to analog service. Ending analog service completely…
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TORONTO – With less than two weeks to go until its Canadian debut, Shaw Media has kicked off a national advertising campaign to introduce Lifetime to Canadian women.
Targeting women 25-54, the off-air campaign highlights series Dance Moms and The Client List, plus layers in a third image piece featuring A-list talent including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Queen Latifah, Lindsay Lohan and Heidi Klum. Together, the campaign aims to promote the brand’s breadth of programming including scripted drama, unscripted series and movies.
Out-of-home executions include a “subway domination” at Toronto’s St. George station, plus large-scale billboards in the high-traffic Toronto Eaton Centre…
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SO IT?S NOT JUST Quebecor, Cogeco and EastLink demanding the CRTC say no to Bell Canada'?s $3.38 billion purchase of Astral Media after all. Telus, Rogers, MTS Allstream, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and others want this latest edition of the ongoing vertical integration story erased.
(An earlier version of this story said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting were also opposed to the merger. That us not the case and Cartt.ca regrets the error.)
Still, other groups such as ACTRA, the Writers Guild, the CMPA and Directors Guild, while not ultimately opposing the…
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WHILE LISTENING, PERPLEXED, to Tuesday’s “Say No To Bell” press conference led by Quebecor Inc. Cogeco Inc. and Bragg Communications, I tweeted “Horse is out of the barn, is lost in the woods and the barn is on fire.”
Many of us are fond of using the “horse is out of the barn” cliché when it comes to big media mergers, noting it’s far too late now to close the door on any of it. That is undeniable, and the proposed Bell Media purchase of Astral Media is just about the last of them. The Canadian barn…
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IQALUIT – Northwestel has launched its new satellite Internet service in Nunavut, offering residents of six communities faster Internet speeds, unlimited long distance calling and more customer choice.
As part of the new service package, customers in Arviat, Baker Lake, Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Kugluktuk and Rankin Inlet may now bundle their long distance telephone and Internet services together on one bill, subscribe to unlimited Nunavut calling for $1 per month, or unlimited North American long distance for $10.95 per month.
For a limited time, Northwestel will provide and install the small satellite dish needed to access the new services for…
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MONTREAL – Second quarter profits at Quebecor’s TVA Group almost doubled, helped by the sale of its interests in two English-language specialty channels late last year.
The Montreal-based television and magazine company reported net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter ended June 30 of $23.7 million, up from $13.8 million in the same quarter of 2011. TVA said Tuesday that it realized a $12.9 million gain after selling its 51% interest in The Cave and its 50% interest in Mystery TV to Shaw Media.
Its television sector's operating income dropped by more than $2 million to $17.04 million…
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TORONTO – Corus Entertainment said Tuesday that it will join CBC/Radio-Canada, Rogers Media and Shaw Media in the Canadian Premium Audience Exchange (CPAX).
Unveiled in April, CPAX is an online, real-time bidding exchange service that provides advertisers and agencies with access to premium digital inventory.
With the addition of Corus, CPAX now provides buyers with a central gateway to premium Canadian digital advertising inventory across more than 150 domains in both English and French, reaching an audience of more than 16 million Canadians. Each media company maintains their unique, direct sales operations with a portion of their inventory flowing directly into…
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TORONTO – Calling all future reality TV stars, Big Brother Canada kicks off its national casting call Wednesday for the first Canadian edition of the show.
Shaw Media is offering Canadians 19 years and older the option to apply online and in person at open casting calls at select cities across Canada between August 1 and October 16. The show will air on Slice during the winter of 2013.
"Big Brother has been a top performer on Global for over a decade. Canadians love this format and we are so excited to offer them the chance to participate in the newest…
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TORONTO – Shaw Media said Wednesday that it will launch its new female-focused channel Lifetime on August 27.
Lifetime, which replaces Showcase Diva, will include series like Dance Moms, The Client List, Drop Dead Diva and The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet, plus original movies featuring A-list stars including Lindsay Lohan and Grant Bowler in Liz & Dick, acclaimed singer, songwriter and actress Jewel in Ring of Fire, and Queen Latifah in Steel Magnolias.
"Lifetime is one of the strongest female centred cable networks in the U.S., and will augment our domination of the most desirable female targeted channels in Canada,"…
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