GATINEAU – It took more than a few hours but some sparks did fly at the CRTC’s flexible channel packaging hearing on Wednesday when commissioner Christopher MacDonald (right) questioned Bell on the timing of a company press release a day earlier which promised the company would offer Fibe TV service separate from its internet offering.
Cynics might have highlighted the coincidence of a Bell announcement, the day before the hearing kicked off, he noted, asking Bell “why now” when only four months ago the company suggested it was a monumental task to make a basic Fibe…
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TORONTO – Globalive Capital has sold off Yak Communications, OneConnect Services, and its hospitality communications provider Canopco in two separate transactions, as it eyes new ventures and plans for expansion.
Long-distance provider Yak Communications has been scooped up by independent telecom Distributel Communications, while OneConnect Services and Canopco were acquired by Accelerated Connections Inc. (ACI), a provider of private IP connectivity and public internet services to businesses in Canada. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
"Yak Communications, OneConnect Services and Canopco have been an important part of Globalive Capital's portfolio and brands that are an integral part of our…
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STARTING SEPTEMBER 7, BROADCAST distributors (a.k.a. cable, IPTV and satellite TV providers) will go before the CRTC trying to convince the regulator they are providing consumers with the choice required under rules adopted last year and that no further regulation is necessary.
Groups representing consumers will be there too, arguing, among other things, the way BDUs are offering the new so-called skinny basic package is inadequate. The Consumers Association of Canada (CAC) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) say the Commission needs to address the issue of unfair practices being employed by some BDUs.
The groups say that…
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TORONTO – Rogers' and Shaw's streaming service shomi celebrated the first anniversary of its national debut on August 20 by releasing a series of fun facts, but still no subscriber numbers.
One year after launching direct-to-consumers, the TV and movie streamer boasts 118 exclusive series, more than 143 million total video plays, and said that February 15, (which was Family Day in AB, SK, and ON), was its top viewing holiday, followed by Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Other highlights include:
– Peak consumption hours are 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM;
– Top 3 most popular genres are Comedy, Kids & Family,…
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TORONTO – Bell Media’s Discovery is gearing up for its first-ever nationwide free preview this fall which will include the debut of Frontier, its first original Canadian scripted drama.
Set against the raw backdrop of 1700s Canada, Frontier (pictured) stars Jason Momoa in a thrilling action-adventure series that revolves around warring factions vying for control of the fur trade in a ruthless game of wealth and power. The series will debut on November 6. Other programming highlights include the return of Canada’s Worst Driver and the premier of new original Canadian series Tougher Than It Looks? on October 24.
Discovery’s free preview…
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Shaw write-down, content pauses, fuel talk of new, or no, partnership
IN JULY, SHAW COMMUNICATIONS wrote down the value of its 50% stake in the shomi streaming service to nil. That move, plus the fact shomi emerged from spring’s annual Los Angeles TV screenings with no new content purchases, has led many in the industry to wonder aloud about the future of the Rogers-Shaw joint venture.
At the time of the write-down, Shaw CFO Vito Culmone told analysts the $51 million accounting charge taken after it had sold its traditional media assets to Corus Entertainment did not "say anything more about…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) said today it has received a letter from the CRTC indicating the Commission is deferring consideration of almost 60 complaints filed against community TV channels until their cable licence renewals this fall.
The complaints were filed by CACTUS in partnership with community groups earlier this year, and were concerned with cable community TV channels operated by Eastlink, Cogeco, Shaw and Rogers. According to CACTUS, the channels either fail to air adequate local content (generally 60% of the program schedule) or adequate citizen-generated content (generally 50% of the schedule)…
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VANCOUVER – Canadian fibre optic provider Dixon Networks is celebrating 50 years of helping Canadians connect and communicate.
The Vancouver-based company started in 1966 by connecting families in rural B.C. with basic telephone service. It now has offices in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario, and counts Telus, Rogers, Shaw, Delta Cable, the Province of Ontario, Alberta SuperNet and the City of Burnaby among its customers.
“Dixon has been a quiet leader in Canada’s tech industry for fifty years,” said CEO Brian Harris. “We laid the fibre that allowed people across British Columbia to first surf the Web. Now, we’re building…
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TORONTO – CTV has chosen Saturday, September 10, 2016 as the day when Canadians from across the country and around the world may share what it means to them to be Canadian for the crowd-sourced special Canada In A Day.
Using footage shot and submitted by Canadians, the two-hour special will capture one day in the life of our country, and will air on CTV as part of Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017. The broadcaster also confirmed Thursday that the project’s website, CanadaInADay.ca, is now live.
Canada In A Day is open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or…
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GATINEAU – In an unsurprising decision, the CRTC denied Bell Canada’s request to review and vary the decision which gives third party independent Internet service providers access to incumbent networks’ newest fibre infrastructure.
Bell had submitted a Part 1 application to the CRTC to review and vary Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-326 that states incumbent telecom providers must introduce a “disaggregated wholesale broadband access service” (DBS) so that independent ISPs gain access to FTTH (fibre to the home) facilities.
In a nutshell, Bell believes the CRTC’s decision has unfairly changed the rules governing fibre-to-the-home broadband networks by mandating…
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