MONT TREMBLANT – While it may look like the direct, immediate threat of over-the-top video has hit a plateau, don’t be fooled, Clearcable’s Rob McCann told Canadian Cable Systems Alliance delegates this morning.
As the first speaker of the day at the CCSA’s annual Connect conference, McCann woke the independent TV, internet and telecom distributors to news that online video’s growth shows little sign of slowing and that constant network investment is required to keep up with what the likes of Google and Apple are doing.
When companies the size of those two (approximate combined market capitalization, $570 billion) decide to…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC’s decision on new policy for the country’s vertically integrated companies is expected this week, most likely on Wednesday after the markets close, Cartt.ca has learned.
After a five day long hearing in June, the primary issues that emerged were a potential code of conduct that the large companies – Bell Media, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Videotron – must abide by when negotiating for content and/or carriage; exclusive content allowances; the need for a skinny basic programming package; and protections for independent broadcasters and distributors.
Stay tuned – Cartt.ca will have a full report on the new…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has revised its guidelines for all production programs in its Convergent Stream.
The changes to the guidelines, described here, “address the current inconsistencies or conflicts” between the program guidelines and the terms of trade agreement that was reached last April by the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and private broadcasters Astral Television Networks, Bell Media, Rogers Broadcasting, Shaw Media and Corus Entertainment.
The CMF said that it will continue to monitor both the impact of the current changes to the program guidelines and the terms of trade negotiations…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Three month old Shaw Premium Audience Network (S.P.A.N.) has added CBS.com, TV.com and CNBC.com to its roster of partner sites, which also includes exclusive digital representation agreements with NBC and A+E Networks.
S.P.A.N. is built on Shaw Media’s own broadcast digital properties, including FoodNetwork.ca, GlobalTV.com, HGTV.ca and Showcase.ca, as well as a growing number of partner sites such as AccessHollywood.com, BravoTV.com, MyLifetime.com, and SyFy.com.
Wednesday’s announcement said that S.P.A.N has nearly tripled its on-line reach from 2.2 million to 6.2 million unique visitors since launch, offering advertisers an array of custom…
Continue Reading
CALGARY and SAN JOSE – Shaw Communications’ new Wi-Fi network will provide customers with a far better on-the-go-broadband option than cellular or the hotspot hodge-podge available at coffee shops far and wide, says its network equipment provider.
The big western broadband, cable and TV company announced today what many already knew, that it has chosen Cisco to deploy an “extensive and advanced Wi-Fi network” in Western Canada to provide broadband wireless access to its customers.
The broadband wireless network will be available to Shaw customers in various markets (beginning in the spring in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton) where Wi-Fi access…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Media said Thursday that it will not take part in any bidding for the Canadian broadcast rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games as it is pulling out of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.
The decision will not affect the company’s plans to help show more than 5,000 hours of coverage of London 2012, in conjunction with CTV. Under the current consortium agreement, which spans the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and 2012 London Summer Games, Rogers Media is a 20% stakeholder of the consortium while the remaining 80% interest is controlled by CTV.
The Olympic Games in…
Continue Reading
SINCE SEPTEMBER IS OFTEN viewed as the “new year” for those in the television business, we’ve used Labour Day week each year since Cartt.ca’s launch in 2005 to look back at the top stories of the past 12 months.
It’s good fun and very instructive for us at Cartt.ca to pause, study and see what resonated with readers among the approximately 2,000 stories we have published since September 1, 2010 (that’s almost eight per working day).
In examining our analytics to see just what stories were most-viewed between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011,, it’s not surprising to see the…
Continue Reading
KITCHENER, ON – CTV Southwestern Ontario is now available to more viewers after being added to the Shaw Direct lineup and to Rogers Cable’s high definition offering.
CTV Southwestern Ontario serves a huge portion of the south west part of the province from Hamilton to Windsor, and Lake Erie to Georgian Bay, including the Bruce Peninsula. In addition to three daily newscasts, the channel produces original local programs including entertainment and culture show The Beat and current affairs program Provincewide.
“CTV Southwestern Ontario strives to bring the best news, and entertainment programming to the community,” said station VP and GM, Dennis Watson,…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – While Shaw Communications’ decision to step back from spending what could have been a billion dollars on a traditional wireless build seems like a good idea to most, blanketing its cable footprint with Wi-Fi instead has left some perplexed.
Earlier this year, a combination of factors led executives at Shaw to drop anchor on its sail into the rough wireless waters. Buffeted by fast-blowing winds like the rapid development of LTE, the costs to build what was, at the start, an HSDPA net, and the trouble the other wireless newcomers like Wind, Videotron and Mobilicity were having…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – As reported by Cartt.ca, Shaw Communications today announced that after a months-long strategic review of the wireless business opportunity, it has decided to set aside a traditional wireless build and go Wi-Fi.
The Wi-Fi option was something discussed in a recent Scotia Captial research report which we detailed here in early August.
“We have now completed a thorough strategic review of the wireless business opportunity including the potential value of wireless in the traditional cable bundle, the rapid evolution of wireless technologies, the capital needed to build a competitive wireless network (including additional spectrum requirements), recent changes…
Continue Reading
