AS THE DEADLINE APPROACHES for submissions in the CRTC's hearing to examine our plan to unite Astral and Bell Media, competitors are already revving up their rhetoric.
Last week in a blog post, Telus's director of regulatory affairs, Anne Mainville-Neeson, road-tested the company's lines on why "vertical integration in the broadcasting industry can be harmful.” This position conveniently overlooks the fact that the federal Competition Bureau has comprehensively reviewed and cleared the proposed Astral-Bell Media transaction, and that the CRTC is of course conducting its own comprehensive analysis.
It also ignores the fact that the CRTC already has a…
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TORONTO – Shaw Media has announced that Bounty and Tim Horton's have signed on as sponsors for a new competition series premiering next week on Shaw’s Food Network Canada.
Donut Showdown, which airs April 2 at 10 ET/PT, is a new 30-minute competition show that features donut makers from across North America testing their creativity in the kitchen. Each episode features three contestants whose first challenge is to create a batch of donuts that includes three unusual ingredients. The expert judge panel decides which competitor goes home and which remaining two contenders move on to the…
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TORONTO – Calling it a complete reinvention, Shaw and Global News announced it has revamped its website, GlobalNews.ca, with a new editorial strategy and design that supports the growth of mobile devices as a viewing platform.
“The new GlobalNews.ca represents Shaw’s continued investment in connecting Canadians with the most relevant and timely news and information,” says Troy Reeb, Global’s senior vice-president, news and station operations, in a release. “The focus on giving viewers the best possible experience, regardless of whether they are watching TV or browsing on their smartphone, is the reason Global News continues to…
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TORONTO – Seven digital entertainment companies, so-called graduates of the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab’s inaugural ideaBOOST accelerator program, will get to pitch their properties to a crowd of industry buyers today with hopes for a commercial launch.
Having massaged, fine-tuned, perfected and, in at least one case, overhauled the go-to-market strategy for their digital entertainment content products, each of the seven digital entertainment companies will be pitching their properties to a crowd of industry buyers, partners and investors – including key players from ideaBOOST’s three founders, Corus Entertainment, Google and Shaw Media – at…
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MARKHAM – The Ontario Association of Broadcasters presented what it’s calling its biggest and best annual Career Development Day on Monday, with more than 280 students and faculty from across Ontario registered for this year's event.
For the first time, the OAB webcast the event’s opening remarks, award presentation and opening panel discussion. Students were invited to use Twitter to ask the panelists questions. The roundtable discussions continued to be the most dynamic part of Career Day and included broadcasters from all areas of radio and television.
The 2013 Michael Monty Scholarship Award to Mohawk College…
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TORONTO – Shaw Media announced today it has added additional capabilities for Global TV’s video app that will provide advertisers with more data about how Global TV viewers interact with the content they watch on their smartphones and tablets.
First launched in 2011, Global TV’s video app for iPad and iPhone has been enhanced with what the company calls “tap-through technology” that provides smartphone and tablet viewers with the ability to drill deeper to learn more about the products and brands that are being advertised. All Global TV programs currently viewable on tablets and smartphones will have the technology…
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TORONTO – Corus Entertainment Inc. has received clearance from the Competition Bureau to proceed with its acquisition of the remaining ownership interest of Teletoon, as well as French-language specialty Historia and Séries+.
Corus will acquire the 50% remaining ownership interest in Teletoon, which includes Télétoon (French), Teletoon and Télétoon Retro and Cartoon Network, as well as the 50% ownership interests in the French-language specialty channels, Historia and Séries+, that Bell will acquire as part of the acquisition of Astral Media Inc., which was also recently approved by the Competition Bureau.
Corus…
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TORONTO – While the owners of Wind have announced control and executive changes they want to make, without Industry Canada approval of those shifts, someone still has to be at the wheel – and for now, it is a re-energized Tony Lacavera.
Lacavera, the normally ebullient driving force behind Wind in Canada, was seen by many over the last number of months to be the odd man out and in some of his public appearances, he seemed, well, glum. Plus, Wind’s primary financial backer, Egyptian wireless company Orascom (a part of the massive VimpelCom empire), has…
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TORONTO – Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) has announced two new appointments to the organization; Joanne Stanley as executive director, and Janice McDonald as new board chair.
Stanley brings more than a decade of experience leading not for profit organizations, most recently as co-founder and executive director of Canadian Women in Technology. Prior to that, Stanley held senior positions at the Ontario Centres of Excellence and Bell. For the past six months, she has been working with the CWC as special advisor, strategy and technology sectors, as the organization expands its focus in the technology and digital arena.
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HOURS BEFORE THE CMPA’s Prime Time in Ottawa convention assembled Canada's English and French producers, broadcasters, funders, regulators and digital platform experts, Bell Media made public its second application to the CRTC buy Astral Media, considered the last “independent” big Canadian broadcaster – and one with a long history of supporting Canadian film.
As it did when it reviewed and rejected Bell Media's first bid to purchase the Montreal-based TV, radio and outdoor ad company in 2012, the regulator will once again assess “the concentration of ownership and potential market dominance” that the larger company would…
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