TORONTO – As the Rogers-Shaw over-the-top viewing portal shomi is wound down by the end of November, many have wondered what the companies are going to do with the content they have under contract.
There were rampant rumours throughout the summer as the two companies pondered their commitment to shomi, and sources told Cartt.ca that Amazon was a player in trying to negotiate a content arrangement with Rogers and Shaw to launch its video streamer in Canada.
We asked Rogers Communications CEO Guy Laurence these questions yesterday during a press session announcing its…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC took matters in to its own hands Thursday, throwing out the wholesale high-speed access rates proposed by the country’s large cable and telephone companies in favour of its own.
In its decision, the Commission said that the proposed rates from incumbent carriers “were not just and reasonable” and that they were therefore revised downwards. It also expressed “significant concern” that that some of the companies have not conducted their cost studies in accordance with well-established costing principles and methodologies, and disregarded the CRTC provided Regulatory Economic Studies Manuals .
“Competitors that provide retail Internet services to Canadians using…
Continue Reading
CUSTOMERS OF Shaw Direct, Northwestel, Xplornet, and Bell Mobility experienced service disruptions Sunday due to a “technical anomaly” with Telesat’s Anik F2 satellite.
According to a CBC News report, the satellite cut out around 5:00 PM EDT Sunday, impacting customers in northern Quebec and Nunavut. The bird helps provide cellphone, television and Internet service, though the outage also impacted ATMs and aircraft in some communities.
Telesat had the problem fixed by early afternoon EDT on Monday.
“The satellite is performing normally and all of its subsystems appear healthy”, reads the company’s statement. “Satellite anomalies like the one that affected Telesat’s Anik F2 yesterday are highly…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The full results of a first-of-its-kind independent, national study on broadband performance in Canada shows that Internet service providers (ISPs) largely meet or exceed their advertised download and upload speeds.
Participating ISPs in the survey (announced last year and for which preliminary results were made public in the spring), conducted by SamKnows and which was commissioned by the CRTC, included all the main wireline service providers in Canada, with the exception of Sasktel, which declined to participate, said the CRTC in a press release this afternoon.
The data collected will…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Registration is now open for the 14th annual International Institute of Communication – Canadian chapter conference scheduled for November 16 -17 at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa.
Dubbed ‘Towards an Innovation Agenda for the Communications and Media Sector’, the confab will bring together leading communications sector players from government, industry and other areas to discuss the developments and policies that influence innovation. Highlights include:
– A keynote address from CRTC chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Blais;
– An expert panel will explore the positive ways in which big data is being harnessed to drive Canadian innovation and productivity, plus showcase digital…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Canada’s broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) say they are doing what is required of them to meet rules on an entry level small package of TV channels, and that calls from consumer groups for additional provisions on promotions and set top box prices are unwarranted.
Eastlink noted its in final reply that a request from the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) to include comparison charts explaining the differences between tiered services and the small basic package should be denied.
“As noted by other parties during the hearing, when one takes into account both…
Continue Reading
Without a major regulatory change, the traditional TV industry here faces a chilling future
IF THE CRTC DOESN’T, at long last, review the 1999 New Media Exemption Order, the Canadian TV industry as we know it may well perish in the next five years, at the cost of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs – all while production of Canadian content shrivels to whatever the CBC makes.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission reached a compromise deal with the subscription TV titans in the States over the American regulator’s so-called push to “unlock the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – CTV Two Atlantic may now be included as part of the basic television service to subscribers in the Atlantic provinces.
The CRTC said Thursday that the move, an exception to sections 16.1 and 45.1 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, recognizes that CTV Two Atlantic was licensed as a satellite-to-cable service mandated to provide regional programming.
“CTV Two Atlantic has a standard requirement to broadcast at least seven hours of local programming each broadcast week”, reads the decision. “Authorizing the inclusion of CTV Two Atlantic as part of the basic service would therefore allow all subscribers in the Atlantic provinces to…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Bell Media’s Investigation Discovery (ID) and Discovery Science will both be opening up for a four week free preview September 22 through October 19.
The timing will coincide with the launch of new ID series Las Vegas Law, Vanishing Women plus new special Adnan Syed: Innocent or Guilty? (pictured), featuring the convicted murderer and subject of the acclaimed Serial podcast. Highlights from Discovery Science include the debut of new series How To Build…Everything and Alaska Mega Machines.
The four-week preview is available through television service providers including Bell and Bell Aliant, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw, Shaw Direct, Telus,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO and HALIFAX – In the race to keep its cable customers from defecting to over the top providers, Bragg Communications’ Eastlink has announced a new live TV and on demand streaming service easy enough to use that instructions have been reduced to four screen swipes.
In a teleconference from Halifax with reporters on Thursday, CEO Lee Bragg called the new service “a transformative streaming experience, the only one of its kind in Canada.” (The photo is what it looks like on an iPad.)
“We know consumers are watching more video than ever before, discovering and subscribing to that content across…
Continue Reading
