LOUISVILLE, Colo. – CableLabs announced today that it has released a family of specifications that defines a common set of interfaces for converged video and broadband services in a modular cable network headend.
The Modular Headend Architecture (MHA) specifications include the existing DOCSIS Modular CMTS specifications as well as a series of new specifications that define interfaces for narrowcast MPEG digital video services such as video-on-demand (VOD) and switched-digital-video (SDV).
The new digital video specifications result from an effort involving headend equipment manufacturers and cable operators. The specifications provide “a point of harmonization” between the Time Warner Cable-led Interactive Services…
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CALGARY – The Shaw family, the controlling shareholders of broadcaster and animator Corus Entertainment recently purchased 820,000 class B non-voting shares of the company.
Given Wednesday’s closing price of $13.11, the shares would be valued at $10.75 million.
The Shaw Family, and entities owned or controlled by them, holds 7,283,014 shares of the company, now valued at about $95.5 million.
A year ago, that stake would have been worth $189.4 million (when Corus’ share price was $26).
“The Shaw family also advised the company it would continue its practice of purchasing shares on a regular basis,” reads the press…
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ON THE SURFACE, the 2008 Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention went off with nary a hitch.
Speeches and panels were mostly interesting, attendance was stable compared to last year and the country’s broadcasters did their usual good job in celebrating their best and brightest while we were all entertained by various musical acts over about a 42-hour span at the Westin Hotel.
Behind the scenes though, it’s a much different story. Now, while no one would go on the record with me about any of this, it became quite clear while talking to many people on the show floor…
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GATINEAU – Shaw Cable must change the way it treats and markets Canada’s gay and lesbian category one digital specialty service Outtv, the CRTC ruled today.
The specialty service and Shaw have had a long and rocky history, dating to its launch in 2001 as Pridevision, back when it was owned by Score Media. Ownership of the channel has changed a couple of times since and the most recent owners, extremely frustrated at how the big western cableco has treated the channel, went to the Commission earlier this year for help.
Tuesday’s decision found that Shaw has subjected the…
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TORONTO – Facing a "moderate recession" in Canada, our cable and media companies seem well positioned to weather a deteriorating economy, says a recent analyst’s research report.
BMO Capital Markets financial analyst Tim Casey – who covers cable and media in Canada – admitted that while he was lowering his overall earnings forecasts “for the second time in three weeks” based on an “underlying thesis” of a “moderate recession in Canada” like the one we endured in the early 1990s, most companies seem well positioned to ride it out.
On the radio side, which is of course tied to…
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CALGARY – Cable, Internet and satellite giant Shaw Communications today announced that its consolidated service revenue for the three and twelve month periods ended August 31, 2008 was $806 million and $3.10 billion, respectively, improved 13% and 12% over the same periods last year.
Total service operating income before amortization of $370 million and $1.41 billion was up 13% and 14%, respectively, over the comparable periods. Funds flow from operations increased to $321 million and $1.22 billion for the quarter and year, respectively, compared to $273 million and $1.03 billion in the same periods last year, said the company….
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GATINEAU – The CRTC said Tuesday it will publicly disclose the aggregate financial data of large broadcast distribution undertakings (cable and satellite companies) and large conventional television and radio broadcasters.
“Although it was set out in Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-6 as its preliminary view, the Commission is now convinced, based on the comments received at the proceedings on the Diversity of Voices and the BDU regulatory frameworks, that the public disclosure of the aggregate financial data of both large BDUs and/or MSOs and large OTA television and radio broadcasters by ownership group would serve the public interest and would…
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EXTON, Pa. – Organization for the inaugural SCTE Canadian Summit is well under way and registration is now open for the event which will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 3-4, 2009, at the Toronto Congress Centre.
SCTE Canadian Summit 2009 is designed to facilitate an exchange of technical information for Canadian engineering professionals to help them maximize opportunities and overcome challenges specific to the cable telecommunications industry in Canada both now and in the near future.
The program committee organizing it are senior technical executives from the big five multiple system operators in Canada. SCTE board of directors…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today denied a request by Shaw Communications to add American cable specialty The Sportsman Channel to the eligible satellite list.
Shaw made the request back in January and the Commission denied it today, siding with those who intervened (WildTV, World Fishing Network, CTVglobemedia, CFTPA, the CAB) saying The Sportsman Channel’s programming overlapped far too much with Wild and WFN. Canadian channels are generally protected from the entry of foreign channels in their genres thanks to CRTC policy promoting Canadian broadcasting.
(Ed note: With 10 days to the delivery of the new BDU and specialty regulations…
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THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Municipally-owned telco Thunder Bay Telecom was granted cable TV and video on demand licenses by the CRTC today.
The small telco becomes the latest in a line of traditional Canadian telephone companies, large or small, to be granted such a license.
While it’s not known when the new service will launch, TBayTel will go up against incumbent MSO Shaw Communications in its northwestern Ontario properties, which include Thunder Bay and the surrounding area, as well as some other smaller communities.
www.crtc.gc.ca www.tbaytel.net
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