OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canada’s television services are back in business. CRTC figures released Thursday in a press release, (based largely on data from individual companies which we actually broke down here and here way back in January), show that the return of the advertising market translated into some, albeit modest, profits at conventional broadcasters, though the country’s specialty and pay broadcasters fared better.
According to the Commission’s count, revenue at the country’s private conventional television climbed 9% to approximately $2.15 billion in 2010 broadcast year, while expenses increased 1.7%. This resulted in profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) rebounding from a deficit of $116.6 million in…
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TORONTO – Robert Dépatie doesn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with Rob Bruce.
A day after Bruce, the president of the cable and wireless arm of Rogers Communications, called for no restrictions on the Canadian government’s upcoming auction of 700 MHz spectrum, Dépatie, the president and CEO of Videotron, called for definitive restrictions on the auction. Specifically, Dépatie made the case for an in-band spectrum cap for 700 MHz bidders while speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Wednesday morning.
As the company has spelled out for Industry Canada as it prepares to write the rules of the 700 MHz spectrum auction,…
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TORONTO – After unveiling the schedule of new shows for its Global TV network, Shaw Media patted itself on the back for what it described as its “continuing commitment to the Canadian television production industry”.
The company said Tuesday that it has 15 new scripted dramas planned for the next year, which it describes as more than any other Canadian broadcaster. Global TV plans to air Combat Hospital, a second season of Rookie Blue, The Firm, Bomb Girls and Titanic, while Showcase will air second seasons of Lost Girl, King and Haven, as well as World Without End, based on…
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TORONTO – Rob Bruce, the president of the cable and wireless arm of Rogers Communications, won’t be alone this week calling (as he did Tuesday opening the 2011 Canadian Telecom Summit) for a “fair and open auction” of the 700 MHz wireless spectrum.
We know enough of what the likes of Telus’ CFO Robert MacFarlane plans to say at lunch Wednesday and can hazard a guess that Bell CEO George Cope will follow up with a similar call on Thursday when he speaks to CTS delegates at the Toronto Congress Centre. The auction isn’t expected until 2012, but the…
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TORONTO – Global News shed some light on its plans for the new morning news shows that it committed to as part of Shaw Communication’s purchase of its former parent Canwest Broadcasting.
The broadcaster said Tuesday that it has hired former Breakfast Television anchor Liza Fromer to front the Toronto edition of The Morning Show, which will debut early this Fall from a new street-front studio currently under construction on Bloor Street East in downtown Toronto. She will be joined by Dave Gerry, Kris Reyes, and two cast members to be announced at a later date.
New morning shows will also…
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TORONTO – Bell Media ranked second in Canada for videos viewed in April, coming in only behind Google.
According to comScore’s April 2011 ranking, Bell Media was the only Canadian company in the top five highest-ranked companies by videos viewed. Video views to Bell Media sites were nearly 120 million, with more than 8.8 million hours of video consumed.
"Ranking up amongst the biggest on-line entities is a testament to the strength of Bell Media to compete not only as the #1 broadcaster in Canada, but as a powerful contender in the digital video marketplace," said Gary Anderson, head of Bell…
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TORONTO – In its effort to set universal broadband Internet speeds for all of Canada, the CRTC set far too low a target when it announced in early May in its "obligation to serve" proceeding decision it expects all Canadians to have access to 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds by 2015. That was the view expressed by at least two panel speakers at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Tuesday during the “Connecting Canadians” session.
“This is just my opinion, but I do think (the CRTC’s Internet speed target) is too low,” said Daniel O’Connell, president of…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has asked for comments as it ponders an exemption order respecting satellite relay distribution undertakings (SRDUs), and on the transport of Canadian pay and specialty services by SRDUs, whether licensed or exempt.
SRDUs are licensed undertakings that generally function as wholesalers by transporting broadcasting services and making those services available to broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), which then offer them to subscribers. Canada currently has two licensed SRDUs – Shaw Satellite Services Inc., and Bell ExpressVu.
The Commission said Friday that it would like industry feedback on the following questions:
– Should the Commission exempt SRDUs from licensing…
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CALGARY – This will shake things up among broadband providers and their customers.
On Wednesday evening, Shaw Communications met with customers in four cities – Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg – to show that the company has heard their complaints about usage-based billing and data caps by unveiling an expansive overhaul of its broadband plans.
Bit caps are up huge across the board for Shaw customers, including two unlimited broadband plans, others with 250 to 750 GB limits and another coming soon with a Terabyte limit.
The new broadband plans were created after the company listened to hundreds of its customers during…
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IN THE MIDST OF THE RECESSION, when big advertisers like carmakers were hardly spending and traditional media like television and newspapers were bearing the full brunt of the pullback, I remember a conversation I had with someone I’ll dub a new media “true believer”.
(This month, Cartt.ca INVESTIGATES is analyzing the myriad changes underway in television advertising. Three weeks ago, we found the appetite for new ways to reach consumers via the TV platform is growing rapidly. Two weeks ago we dove into the progress addressable ads are making (or not). Last week we analyzed interactive advertising,…
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