Search Results for: shaw

Cable / Telecom News

Cogeco connects with TGV Net Mauricie

– SHAWINIGAN, QC – Cogeco Cable and TGV Net Mauricie have finalized a partnership aimed at providing businesses, organizations and residences in the Mauricie region with access to an inter-connected fibre-optic network and a range of related services. TGV Net Mauricie is a non-profit entity whose mission is to act as a ‘carrier’ providing broadband connectivity throughout the Mauricie region by having accredited service providers offer various telecommunications services to businesses, organizations and homes in the region.  This agreement allows Cogeco to offer high-speed Internet, telephone and digital television services, using the public network owned by TGV Net and its… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

Analysts doubt Rogers’ new NHL power play will produce big profits

TORONTO – Rogers’ new 12-year $5.2 billion broadcast and multimedia deal with the NHL may have grabbed headlines across the country, but will likely have little impact on the company’s bottom line, say industry analysts. Rogers Communications executives said Tuesday the deal will be immediately EBITDA-accretive to its Media division, predicting an influx of $25 – $35 million in the first year, rising to more than $60 million per year after that.  But Dvai Ghose, managing director/head of research for Canaccord Genuity, pointed out that Rogers Media only accounted for 4% of the parent company’s 2013 third quarter adjusted EBITDA. In… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

The Cartt.ca Interview: CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais talks #talktv, communicating, and outcomes

AT THE 2013 Canadian Telecom Summit, just a day after the CRTC released its Wireless Code of Conduct, Commission chairman Jean-Pierre Blais told delegates, essentially, what’s good for your business should be good for the customer – and vice versa. In his June 4 speech, he quoted Mary Kay Ash, the enormously successful founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics – a brand built on direct personal relationships who said: “Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, 'Make me feel important.' Never forget this message when working with people." Blais went on to note: “Mary Kay… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Bell can to launch more community VOD channels, says CRTC

OTTAWA – Bell has received CRTC approval to launch its own community channels via video-on-demand to select official language minority communities in Ontario and Quebec. The Commission said Friday that it will amend the broadcasting licences for Bell’s terrestrial BDUs so that it is authorized to redirect up to 2% of its gross annual revenues derived from broadcasting activities to each of its English- and French-language community VOD channels in Hamilton/Niagara, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Oshawa, Ottawa, Peterborough, Stratford, Toronto and Windsor, and their surrounding areas, in Ontario. In Quebec, the communities include Drummondville (region of Centre-du-Québec), Gatineau, Joliette (region of… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

CTAM CANADA: TV Everywhere challenges remain, but VOD shows new monetization promise

TORONTO – Call this a case of bad news, good news. The bad news is that TV Everywhere still faces some serious hurdles before it can really take off for cable operators, telcos and other video service providers. The good news is that video-on-demand (VOD) may be on the cusp of reaping significant ad revenues for Canadian pay TV providers. These twin assessments of the market for advanced video services emerged from the packed CTAM Canada Broadcaster Forum held Wednesday at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle Hotel. In back-to-back panel sessions, cable operators, programmers, equipment vendors, online experts, audience measurement specialists and… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CTAM CANADA: Pick-and-pay brings more choice, risk

TORONTO – What is the best way to offer choice to your customers when the very act of choosing is personal and subjective? That was the basis of a panel entitled ‘Packaging Flexibility: Customer Choice vs. Brand Investment’ at the CTAM Canada Broadcaster Forum held Wednesday in downtown Toronto.  And that panel, a mix of broadcasters and distributors moderated by Rogers’ senior vice-president of content David Purdy, all agreed that Canadians’ ability to choose their own television channels was inevitable, whether mandated by the government, the Regulator, or driven by consumer demand. “This… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

‘ET Canada’ goes musical

TORONTO – Global Television’s ET Canada has launched a new monthly music series that gets viewers up close and personal with top recording artists at The Orange Lounge Recording Studio in Toronto. Called ET Canada At The Orange Lounge, the show offers intimate interviews and performances with select musicians.  Music fans left wanting more may visit ETCanada.com for an extended version of the same session that also includes behind-the-scenes footage. Viewers can also join the Twitter conversation using #ETCanadaOrange. Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

The Cartt.ca Interview: Eric Boyko and Nic Savoie on Galaxie, the most popular Canadian specialty

DID THAT HEADLINE get your attention? I can already hear irritated e-mails disputing that claim being tapped out in response, but bear with us for a few paragraphs. “What!?” some of those running popular specialty video brands might be asking, “Isn’t Galaxie just that group of sleepy music channels which are a throw-in with everyone’s digital cable box?” Well, they may be a value-add which come automatically with most digital TV subscriptions, but some comprehensive recent measurement shows the suite of music channels (anywhere from 40 to 100, depending on the BDU) is anything but sleepy. This is… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Record IPTV subscriber growth curbs cord-cutting, but not by much and not for long, says new report

OTTAWA – In the third quarter of 2013, Canada’s publicly traded television service providers combined to add subscription TV customers, thanks to the record growth of IPTV, reversing a trend of cumulative losses in each of the previous three quarters. New research from Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services shows that the publicly traded TV service providers (cable satellite and telcoTV) added an estimated 14,145 TV subscribers combined in Q3 in what is traditionally a strong quarter for TV subscriber growth – and all of it was a result of record IPTV subscriber… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

HEARING: Calls for more safeguards on Corus ring loud in Gatineau

GATINEAU – Interveners continued to insist the CRTC impose strict safeguards on Corus Entertainment to ensure that its acquisition of Teletoon and other services don’t negatively affect independent producers, reduce diversity of voices or open the door to anti-competitive behaviour. On the second day of the hearing, the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) argued that Commission approval of Corus’ acquisition of Teletoon will eliminate the safeguard as it relates to programming investment decisions being made independently of the Teletoon’s shareholders. “As a result, this transaction will effectively close a door for independent producers of animation programming,” Gerry Barr,… Continue Reading