GATINEAU – Bell TV and Shaw Direct used the rebuttal phase of the CRTC’s Direct-to-Home (DTH) policy hearing to make new proposals in hopes of showing good faith to the Commission and Canadian broadcasters that they are willing to do more to carry local over-the-air (OTA) signals.
On Thursday, Shaw proposed to add six virtual channels in MPEG4 by August 31, 2011. To do this, the company will upgrade a transponder to MPEG4, which requires it to drop eight full-time channels. The addition of virtual channels would require Commission approval.
Jean Brazeau, Shaw Communications’ senior VP of regulatory affairs, noted…
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GATINEAU – Canada’s DTH carriers must do a far better job of carrying French-language programming in all regions of Quebec, said the Bloc Québécois, the syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada (SCRC) and the CBC, who spoke in near unison at the CRTC’s Direct-to-Home policy hearing on Wednesday.
The three groups each took their turn on November 17, calling on the Commission to force the DTH companies to carry more French-language programming than they currently do. They noted that while the various regional TVA affiliates are carried by both DTH companies, the lack of Radio-Canada carriage is disconcerting.
Bloc MP Carole…
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OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage begins its study of “the impacts of private television ownership changes and the move towards new viewing platforms,” today in Ottawa and will hear first from CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein and a group of independent Canadian broadcasters this afternoon.
Watch for the CRTC chairman (who will be joined by acting vice-chair, broadcasting, Rita Cugini and executive director, broadcasting, Scott Hutton) to speak to the recent merger announcements as well as the proceeding just called into the very same topic about which MPs will be grilling the Regulator’s representatives this afternoon.
As for…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has announced that effective today (Wednesday), Brad Shaw is now its CEO.
The company said in an evening release: “Jim Shaw has advanced the company’s previously announced senior management changes to become effective today.”
"We are well underway in the integration of the Shaw Media assets and it became clear to Brad and I that it would be best for Brad to assume the role of CEO immediately so that he can move forward with the necessary decisions,” the release quotes Jim Shaw as saying.
The changeover from Jim to Brad was to occur during the company’s…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC kicked off hearings into the Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite TV policy yesterday with chair Konrad von Finckenstein questioning why Bell TV hasn’t yet started to transition to MPEG4, a move that would add more capacity to the company’s satellite distribution offering.
Under questioning from the chairman, Bell Canada acknowledged that it has yet to begin transitioning to the higher compression standard.
“We’re evaluating methods by which we may be able to stage that migration obviously because of the limited number of MPEG4 boxes that are in our installed base,” said Heather Tulk, senior VP of residential…
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OTTAWA – Mark your calendars for the hottest place to be this February – the CMPA’s Prime Time in Ottawa 2011.
Scheduled for February 16-18 at the Westin Ottawa, the conference is a national networking event for Canada’s business leaders, decision-makers and policy experts in the television, film and interactive media production industry.
The event will kick off with predictions from world-renowned keynote speaker Richard Tercek who has been dubbed one of the “Digital Dozen” to watch in new media. Delegates will also find out how consumers are consuming content. Are Netflix and YouTube the biggest game changers in Canada? What about…
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TORONTO – Bell Canada CEO George Cope couldn’t have been more blunt or matter of fact when asked about what the auction of 700 MHz wireless spectrum, which is expected in 2012. “It has to be a wide open auction,” he said. “There can be no discussion on this.”
Cope was speaking Tuesday afternoon at the Scotia Capital 2010 Telecom and Technology conference in downtown Toronto.
Cope spoke just after both Globalive (Wind Mobile) chairman Anthony Lacavera and Public Mobile CFO Jim Hardy had addressed the very same issue – albeit with different opinions than Cope, or earlier in the…
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CALGARY – Shaw’s home phone customers have topped the one million mark.
After launching Shaw Home Phone in February 2005, the company said that its number of customers “have been rapidly climbing” due in large part to “the reliability and exceptional value created through added features and competitive long distance rates”.
"Reaching a million customers in only five years is a remarkable achievement," said EVP Brad Shaw, in the announcement. "We thank our customers for choosing Shaw and we will continue to work hard every day to provide them with an exceptional customer experience. The million customer milestone is a testament to…
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TORONTO – Canada’s only television network devoted to the world of pets has secured distribution on Shaw Direct.
The Pet Network will be available in free preview on channel 556/187 (Classic/Advanced) before being offered as part of the ‘Smart Stuff’ bundle.
“We are delighted that, through Shaw Direct, The Pet Network will now reach more Canadian animal lovers than ever before”, said the channel’s president and CEO, Martha Fusca, in the announcement. “We are proud of this channel’s rich and varied programming lineup, and look forward to winning many enthusiastic new viewers.”
www.thepetnetwork.tvwww.shawdirect.ca
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A GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE designed to stop incumbent ISPs like Bell, Rogers and Shaw from implementing usage-based billing seems to be quietly gaining momentum.
Led by the consumer group OpenMedia.ca, the campaign launched a petition late last week which calls usage-based billing “a blow to consumer choice, to access, and to free expression” and “devastating not only for the user experience, but for all innovation and entrepreneurship online”.
Using an image of a parking meter whose red ‘expired’ tag reads “Too Much Internet”, the petition had over a thousand names in less than 24 hours. This prompted the OpenMedia.ca network to kick off an…
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