GRANTING BELL THE RIGHT to buy Astral Media will make an already big company that acts badly, enormous, add incentive for it act even worse, which in the end will crush competition and choice in Canada. Therefore, the deal needs to be quashed altogether or tough new rules applied to constrain the biggest player in Canadian media, say final replies to the CRTC’s public proceeding into Bell Canada’s quest to buy Astral Media.
Those last written rejoinders to the Commission’s public proceeding into Bell Canada’s purchase of Astral Media (CRTC 2012-370) from intervenors were due into the Commission on Friday,…
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MONTRÉAL – Rogers Communications in its $10.3 million proposal for Montréal’s CJNT-TV (Metro 14) says it has found the “optimal solution” that provides the city with a new English-language commercial TV station while also supporting a local plan for a new multilingual station. And even if the CRTC says no, it’s got a back-up plan to loosen CJNT’s current ethnic programming requirements.
Under Rogers’ optimal scenario the new station would be branded Citytv Montreal with programming and conditions of licence similar to the company's other Citytv…
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TORONTO – North American wireless carriers reported strong Q2 margins, with combined wireless EBITDA service margins for Rogers, Telus, Bell, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, LEAP and MetroPCS up 342 basis points and EBITDA growth up 14.5% over the previous year. This according to figures reported in Dvai Ghose’s Canaccord Genuity Daily Letter for September 17.
He says the improved margins were driven by reduced device subsidy pressure. Wireless equipment subsidies dropped an estimated 12% in Q2 due to a “dearth of iconic device launches.” He noted that with the Samsung Galaxy S III and the iPhone 5 recently launched “we…
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MONTREAL – Telus is another in the line of companies who want the purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada killed.
But, if it is approved, the industry needs better rules to govern the behaviour of it and other vertically integrated companies (but especially Bell…), Telus told the CRTC Thursday morning in Montreal.
The best example of Bell’s intransigence, said Telus executives, is its dealings on multiplatform content. “It has been mentioned by many parties in this proceeding that Olympic coverage on mobile was only available to Bell Mobility subscribers,” said Telus director of broadcast regulation and corporate affairs, Ann Mainville-Neeson….
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MONTREAL – Sometimes it’s hard to put a finger on the reasons why we decide to pull something out of the tens of thousands of words spoken at CRTC hearings and turn it into a story.
Other times, such as Cogeco Cable CEO Louis Audet’s focused, furious appearance Wednesday, it’s easy to figure out why we cover some submissions instead of others…
We know everyone works hard on their presentations and the job they all do is commendable. However, as I often tell people, we can’t write about everyone. That said, there are frequent portions in every CRTC hearing that stick…
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MONTREAL ? With a three-hour break mid-day (we were told someone had to go to a funeral, so quit complaining&), yesterday?s long hearing day featured a ton of back and forth between Bell executives and the panel of CRTC commissioners.
Long lovely narratives explaining each exchange would be nice but time restraints mean we?re going for the bullets only of some of the highlights. We think we?ve hit some of the main points with our bulleted rundown here.
* In his first public appearance as chair of the CRTC, Jean-Pierre Blais acquitted himself well, nailing a few biting comments throughout the…
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Bell Media named official sponsor for MAC Viva Glam Fashion Cares fundraiser
TORONTO – Bell Media has been named the official media sponsor and broadcaster of the 25th anniversary of MAC Viva Glam Fashion Cares taking place on Sunday, Sept. 9 in Toronto. In its final year, the event which benefits AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) and Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), features performances by Sir Elton John, Scissor Sisters, Janelle Monáe, Sky Ferreira, and Canadian artists Shawn Desman, Jully Back, and Kreesha Turner.
On World Aids Day, Saturday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. ET, MAC Viva Glam Fashion Cares honorary…
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WE DRILL DOWN into the analytics of our content quite a lot at Cartt.ca, studying what resonates with our valued readers and what doesn’t. We learn a lot and try adjust our coverage accordingly. So, to give you a peek at what the folks in the cable, radio, television and telecom business have been paying the most attention to for the past year, we publish the top 25 stories of the past 12 months on the day after Labour Day.
As those in the TV business will tell you, September is really the beginning of the year – and September…
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TORONTO – Showcase’s new fall advertising campaign, which kicked off this week, centres around its two new police dramas Copper and Common Law.
The four-week campaign will build awareness and drive tune-in for the shows, targeting adults 25-54 primarily in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. On-air teasers and spots began airing in July, while the out-of home campaign includes posters throughout Toronto and Vancouver transit systems.
Consumers also have the chance to sample Copper and Common Law with pre-roll video on cross-demographic pop culture websites determined by CPAX’s Real Time Bidding. A unique extension of the online buy is Youtube’s “First Watch”…
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TORONTO – Rogers has launched its LTE network in Moncton, its first market in New Brunswick.
The company said Tuesday that it plans to cover approximately 60% of Canada’s population by the end of the year with its new wireless network, with planned launches in Trois Rivières, Sherbrooke, Quebec City, Kingston, Ajax, Pickering, Oshawa, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Niagara, Windsor, Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, London, Barrie, Sudbury, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Kelowna, Whistler, Abbotsford and Victoria. More cities will be launched in 2013.
"Rogers is proud to be the first to launch LTE in Moncton," said Ken Marshall, Rogers’ regional…
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