by Steve Faguy
GATINEAU – With the recent, unexpected and much-publicized denial of Bell Canada’s purchase of Astral Media (because the players didn't prove the transaction to be a net benefit to Canadians) as a backdrop, the CRTC made it clear to Rogers Media Wednesday that its tough line isn't limited to Canada's largest media company.
At a hearing in Gatineau on Wednesday, the commission grilled Rogers, Channel Zero and a Montreal-based start-up on their multi-part plan to essentially convert ethnic television station CJNT Montreal (branded Metro 14) into two television stations, allowing Citytv to enter Canada's second-largest…
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TORONTO – The Connection 2012 conference attracted a record number of attendees reports the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB).
“ OAB Connection 2012 hit a new high level for our annual conference. Our six speakers presented a diverse set of perspectives on current trends affecting our industry through the eyes of marketers, programmes, an investment analyst, a sales professional, and a market researcher,” remarked OAB President, Doug Kirk.
The conference, at the Westin Bristol Place Hotel, featured an extensive line-up of industry speakers including Scott Cuthbertson, Sean Ross, Donald Cooper, Paul Weyland, and Alastair…
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MONTREAL – Henri Audet, the elder statesman of the Canadian cable and broadcast pioneers who built Cogeco from a single broadcast TV station, died November 3. He was 94.
With an electrical engineering degree from MIT, Audet joined the CBC in 1949 when it was just a radio broadcaster beginning to explore television. He and a few others led the public broadcaster’s push into the new medium, which saw the first station go live in Toronto in 1952 – and two years later the first French-language CBC TV station in Montreal.
However, the CBC’s television coverage was very limited then and…
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TORONTO – The Ontario Association of Broadcasters will be inducting two of the great entrepreneurs in Canadian history, Peter and Tony Viner, into the OAB Hall of Fame tomorrow at the Gala Awards Dinner following the Connections 2012 fall conference.
Peter, 67, helped the late Izzy Asper build Canwest Global into a multi-billion-dollar international media powerhouse before the company fell on hard, debt-burdened, times. Tony, 65, built Rogers Media from two Toronto radio stations (Ted Rogers’ famous first media asset, CHFI-FM, and CFTR-AM, now 680News) when he came on board in 1982 to a billion-dollar…
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OTTAWA – The launch of Telesat’s Nimiq 6 satellite and a stronger Canadian dollar helped propel its revenues up by about 10% in the third quarter to $220 million, compared to the same period in 2011 for the three month period ended September 30, 2012.
For the nine month period ended September 30, 2012, consolidated revenues were $618 million, an increase of approximately 2% ($14 million) compared to the same period in 2011. Telesat also attributed revenue growth to the beginning of commercial service of the Canadian payload on the ViaSat-1 satellite in December of…
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TORONTO – Telus has expanded its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) to customers in Newmarket and Aurora. Additional communities will be getting access to LTE in the coming months, as the carrier continues to bring the technology to more Ontarians by the end of 2012.
Today's announcement is part of the company's $280 million investment in the Greater Toronto Area over the next three years to further expand and enhance its wireless networks.
"Telus is committed to offering the best customer experience and launching our 4G LTE service in Newmarket and Aurora is an excellent…
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IQALUIT – Northwestel has launched its Supreme Internet package for residential and business customers in Iqaluit.
“It is clear that residents and business owners in Iqaluit want faster download speeds, higher usage caps, and more affordable Internet,” said Curtis Shaw, Northwestel Vice President of Marketing. “For those reasons and more, we have created the Supreme Internet package.”
With download speeds of up to 5 Mbps, and usage caps of 30 GB for Residential customers and 100 GB for Business customers, Northwestel Supreme Internet is currently the best option available in Iqaluit for value and…
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TORONTO – Launching today with a three-month free preview, Videotron subscribers in Quebec will get unlimited access to FX Canada. Programming includes American Horror Story: Asylum, Sons of Anarchy, Louie and The League, as well as late-night shows Brand X with Russell Brand and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. FX Canada is available to Videotron subscribers in SD on channel 210 and in HD on channel 810.
“There is a high demand for FX’s premium content across Canada, and Rogers is excited to bring this award-winning programming to the Quebec market, “ said Scott…
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TORONTO – TSN and Sportsnet have both reached an agreement with the Barclays Premier League to secure the media rights to a comprehensive soccer package over the next three seasons.
Beginning in the 2013-14 season, the agreement gives TSN, Sportsnet and French-language broadcaster RDS media rights to half of all Barclays Premier League games through to the 2015-2016 season – approximately 190 games per season. Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canadians need an “enforceable, comprehensive wireless code” in light of the number and type of complaints highlighted in the Annual Report of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS), according to telecommunications advocacy group Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
The CCTS Annual Report, released Thursday, indicated that 60% of all complaints received were from wireless service customers. The CCTS also handles internet and wireless service problems for Canadians after being given the mandate by the CRTC.
"The CCTS can only do so much: the wireless industry needs to step…
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