GIVEN WHAT HAS now happened since the value-for-signal/fee-for-carriage hearing, an alert reader reminded us of something CRTC commissioner Timothy Denton pondered as the folks from Shaw Communications appeared in front of the Commission panel.
Back on November 20th, the now infamous hearing visit by CEO Jim Shaw featured a lot of, well, interesting exchanges. In the official transcript the word “Laughter” appears 23 times, more than on any other day.
It also featured the word “woosa”, which we thought was something misheard by the official transcribers – until we looked it up. It means, according to urbandictionary.com, “to calm down and…
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CALGARY – Shaw has helped to deliver more than $900,000 to the on-going relief and recovery efforts of the Red Cross in Haiti.
In addition to a corporate donation of $100,000 immediately following January’s devastating earthquake, Shaw doubled its employees’ donations, which in turn were matched by the Canadian government.
"We are blown away by the generous contributions of our employees in providing relief to those affected by this disaster," said president Peter Bissonnette, in a statement. "The fact that many of our employees were able to donate $50 or $100 out of their paycheques demonstrates the incredible spirit and generosity of our employees."
Shaw…
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WINNIPEG – The founding family of Canwest Global Communications is officially gone from the executive suite.
With his brother and sister resigning from their board positions last month, Canwest Global Communications said this morning Leonard Asper has tendered his resignation as president and CEO and all other director and officer positions with the company his father Izzy founded in the 1970s “in order to pursue other business opportunities and to avoid any concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest,” reads the official press release. The announcement was not a surprise.
Asper will continue to provide the company with advice through a…
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DELTA, B.C. – With competitor Shaw Cable overbuilding in its territory, Delta Cable upped the competitive ante with the launch of Delta Cable Video On Demand for customers in North Delta, Tsawwassen and Ladner.
"Video on demand gives customers what they want, when they want it," said Craig Johnson, Delta’s regional manager. "There are no schedule constraints, so viewers get instant, automatic access with the ability to pause, rewind and fast forward putting them in control of their TV experience."
Delta’s VOD includes:
Free Zone and Subscription Channels; Movie Central and Super Channel On Demand; HD Movies and movie rentals; special…
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TORONTO – While an Ontario Superior Court judge on Friday gave Shaw Communications the green light to move ahead with its plan for CanWest Global, other companies have come forward to say, “hey, we would have liked to get in on the bidding, too.”
However, companies which wanted to take a close look at the troubled broadcaster and newspaper publisher had to first sign a non-disclosure agreement which prevented them from even talking to Goldman Sachs, which is the key creditor as the 65% equity holder of CW Media Holdings, the division which owns and operates CanWest’s specialty channels.
Canwest…
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CALGARY – The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved Shaw’s takeover bid of Canwest, despite a last minute rival bid lead by investment fund Catalyst Capital, the Asper family and two former Rogers execs.
The Calgary-based cable company has entered into agreements with Canwest and certain 8% senior subordinated noteholders for a minimum commitment to buy $95 million worth of Class A voting shares in a restructured Canwest, which represents 20% equity and an 80% voting interest.
Shaw’s initial equity interest will exceed 20% depending on the number of Canwest creditors that elect cash rather than shares in restructured…
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TORONTO – Goldman Sachs has thrown its support behind a new proposal to restructuring Canwest Global Communications and bring it out of bankruptcy protection.
A group led by Toronto-based investment fund Catalyst Capital which includes the Asper family, former Rogers Broadcasting chief Rael P. Merson and John Tory, announced today that they have submitted to the Canwest Special Committee a restructuring proposal to facilitate the company’s emergence from the CCAA process.
The proposal requires no material amendments to the original court filed plan and would maximize the value of the Canwest estate while expediting its exit from the CCAA process as…
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OTTAWA – CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said Friday the regulator had “made a mistake” in eliminating Canadian content spending requirements for over-the-air broadcasters back in 1999.
Speaking in conversation with broadcast veteran Trina McQueen during the CFTPA Prime Time in Ottawa conference, von Finckenstein added, “It doesn’t make sense.”
However, the chair noted that the system “can’t turn back.” While failing to confirm expenditures would be revived in upcoming regulation, it looks like the CRTC is heading that way.
McQueen noted that the CRTC should not want “to make the same mistake over again” (by not changing the rules).
Can’t the amount…
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OTTAWA – Comments filed on the CRTC’s reconsideration of speed matching strike a familiar refrain: Would-be competitors say Canadians will suffer if the CRTC doesn’t mandate speed matching and access to higher-speed local access facilities for them, while incumbent telcos tell the Commission that doing so will threaten future network investments.
Telcos were already required under CRTC regulations to provide speed matching (also referred to as service parity) to competitors over both legacy copper facilities as well as their faster fibre, or next-generation networks (NGNs). But the implementation of the rule was put on hold following appeals to the…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications will be the first provider in Canada to trial Gigabit Internet, which it says is capable of speeds of up to 1000 Mbps.
More than 10 times faster than Shaw’s fastest current Internet package, the new service will be delivered over fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) to support emerging Internet applications that require faster download speeds.
"This is game-changing technology," said president Peter Bissonnette, in the announcement. "We are on the leading edge of change with this trial – bringing blazing speeds and new network capabilities that will give us a springboard for future possibilities. It’s really exciting to think…
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