TORONTO – The CRTC is incorrectly interpreting the BBM statistics on television viewership numbers during its examination of community television policy, says Rogers.
As part of this proceeding, the Commission issued a report on April 8 which Rogers says has been used by some critics of cable-provided community television to "prove" that Rogers TV is not often watched. The report states that in the 2008-09 broadcast year, Rogers’ community television stations generated a 0.2% share of the Canadian English-language television market.
But according to a Canadian Media Research Inc. (CMRI) study commissioned by Rogers TV, that figure is deceptive because BBM share…
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GATINEAU – After watching day one of the CRTC’s hearing into its policies on community television, we settled on couple of key takeaways.
1) It would appear unlikely the Commission will adopt the CACTUS plan where the estimated $130 million already devoted to cable community channels via 2% of subscriber fees would be redirected to a new fund backing dozens of new independent, not-for-profit community channels/multimedia centres across the country.
2) The CRTC commissioners do seem to want a higher level of access, accountability and transparency from the cable companies who already offer their own community channels.
First into the live CPAC.ca…
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CALGARY – After confirming plans to offer the quadruple-play, Shaw is looking to hire staff for its Engineering and IT departments “to build trail-blazing products and services”.
Earlier this month, the Calgary-based cable company formally announced its plans to launch a next generation wireless service by late 2011.
"Next generation wireless encompasses much more than just cell-phones," said president Peter Bissonnette, in an announcement Monday. "We’re approaching wireless in an innovative, leading-edge way that will allow for a variety of exciting new mobile opportunities in and out-of-home for our customers."
www.shaw.ca/wirelesscareers
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Perry Hoffman
OTTAWA – It’s not very often the country’s telecommunications and cable firms agree with anything the regulator has to say, but on foreign ownership rules, they at least partially support the CRTC’s proposal to a Parliamentary committee studying the matter.
One after the other last week, they addressed the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology on the need to liberalize current foreign investment restrictions for both telecommunications and broadcasting companies. They echoed the CRTC’s position that regulations can protect Canadian content on television and radio.
“While we do not believe there is a problem today, given…
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TORONTO – By the end of 2014, new wireless entrants will capture 22% of the Canadian wireless market, says a study from Toronto’s Convergence Consulting.
And the effect of the newcomers is already being felt – and will continue to be. Despite wireless data’s 36% revenue growth in 2009, total wireless service ARPU declined, says the report. New wireless entrants will increasingly put pressure on both data & voice prices (the US has already seen major impact in this regard) leading to lower ARPU (at least over the next three years), regional (West, Quebec, Atlantic) bundle battles, a shift in…
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CALGARY and TORONTO – Shaw Communications has apologized to Globalive’s Wind Mobile after the new wireless provider accused it of making “a racial slur” during a conference call with Shaw’s investment analysts last week.
While discussing the company’s latest financial results, Shaw president Peter Bissonnette and CEO Jim Shaw joked about Toronto-based Wind, whose customers have complained of poor network coverage in Toronto and Calgary.
At one point during the call, the duo laughingly asked, "Is the wind blowing in here?”, followed by "Or is that a camel?" and "Oh, it’s a camel."
According to a Canadian Press report, Wind Mobile…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications’ hotly anticipated wireless service will launch in “late 2011” once the company has invested an additional $100 million, confirmed CEO and vice chair Jim Shaw on Friday.
“We are advancing our wireless strategy to offer a competitive offering, and we are planning an initial launch in late 2011”, Shaw said on a call with industry analysts. “Accordingly, we are accelerating our wireless capital expenditure and expect to invest approximately $100 million more in 2010. We are excited about this opportunity to enhance our products and offerings with wireless service.”
Shaw paid $189.5-million for wireless spectrum in B.C., Alberta,…
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OTTAWA – CRTC audits of the community channels operated by some of Canada’s biggest cable companies show “numerous abuses”, according to the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).
From 2002 through 2005 (the last year in which the CRTC monitored them), CACTUS said that the audits prove that cable companies “routinely” exceeded the maximum of two minutes per hour of promotional ads, and the 15-second limit for sponsorship messages.
Calling out Rogers in particular, CACTUS said that one of its OHL hockey programs contained 24 ads in one episode, plus another 41 ads two nights later, yet none of…
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CALGARY – Shaw Direct has become one of the first BDUs to offer Yoopa, the newly-launched French language children’s channel owned by TVA.
"Shaw is proud to offer new French programming to our customers across the country," said president Peter Bissonnette, in a statement. "We are delighted to provide our younger viewers with exceptional programming like the Yoopa network."
Yoopa is available on free preview through May 31. Shaw Direct also debuted three new French-language programming packages on April 1st called ‘Le Classique’, ‘Populaire Francais’ and ‘Parfait Bilingue Extra’.
www.shawdirect.ca
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AS OF YESTERDAY, there were 17 months left for Canada to make the transition from analog over-the-air TV broadcasting to digital. Given the lack of action so far, hitting the August 31, 2011 deadline for the shut off of analog TV is now nearly impossible.
Everyone in and around the industry knows it. Everyone. It was openly talked about during the two CRTC hearings in the fall. It was as if the deadline meant nothing. But few want to acknowledge the industry’s and the federal government’s failure to act. In fact, as you’ll read, the federal government still hasn’t even…
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