OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage today heard from several witnesses who warned that if the proposed merger between Rogers and Shaw were to go through, there would be serious consequences for local news in Canada.
The witnesses who appeared before the committee today included representatives from the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS), the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, Open Media and Quebecor Media Inc.
Witnesses from the CRTC (Scott Hutton, chief of consumer, research and communications and Daniel Pye, director of television programming) were also…
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TORONTO — Just in time for Family Day weekend, WildBrain Television announced it will premiere three new exclusive series during its upcoming free preview across WildBrain’s entire English network, which includes Family Channel and Family Jr.
The freeview runs from Feb. 18 to March 31 for all Bell, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw, Telus, Eastlink and Cogeco subscribers, and from March 1-31 for Videotron subscribers.
On Sunday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. ET/PT, The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy will premiere exclusively in Canada on Family Jr. Commissioned by WildBrain in July 2021, this 26-episode cabaret-style show is hosted by Toronto…
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VANCOUVER — Magnify Digital, a Vancouver-based digital marketing and audience analytics company, announced today it is renewing its Audience Development Pilot Project with Bell Fund, Shaw Rocket Fund and Telus Fund.
The three independent production funders first announced their support for Magnify Digital’s pilot project in April 2021.
“Using Magnify’s first-of-its-kind audience analytics platform ViewerCentric, the project will help Canadian producers collect data to increase discoverability of their content and drive success,” reads a press release.
“We are thrilled to advance this important collaboration to help producers and media businesses build audiences. ViewerCentric is growing in terms of its features, database…
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TORONTO – The Black Screen Office (BSO) today announced it has published Being Seen: Directives for Creating Authentic and Inclusive Content – the first of six reports to be released to support Canada’s television, digital media and film industries.
Being Seen: Directives for Creating Authentic and Inclusive Content “reveals how Canada’s screen industries are falling short in representing people from Black, People of Colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, and People with Disabilities communities, and also provides clear guidelines for industry leaders to meaningfully engage these underrepresented groups,” a press release explains.
“BSO formed out of the knowledge that underrepresentation of the Black community is a significant…
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TORONTO – In the wake of Tony Staffieri being made permanent president and CEO of Rogers Communications, there have been several major changes to the company’s leadership team.
To start, the role of chief legal and regulatory officer, which was held by Lisa Damiani since spring of 2021, is no longer listed on the company’s leadership page. (Update: Damiani is staying on as an advisor for the Shaw transaction.)
Instead, Ted Woodhead, who was the company’s senior vice-president of regulatory, is now listed as chief regulatory officer and government affairs and Marisa Wyse is listed as chief legal officer. Woodhead first…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications announced today Glenn Brandt (above) is the company’s new permanent chief financial officer, effective today.
Paulina Molnar has been the company’s interim CFO since Tony Staffieri left company abruptly last September. (Staffieri has since returned to the company and is now its president and CEO after a months-long power struggle you can read about here, here, and here.)
“I want to thank Paulina for her terrific work as Interim CFO and look forward to her continued leadership across our organization as SVP Controller and Risk Management,” Staffieri said, in a press release announcing…
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Reliant on service, member association may seek help from government or CRTC
By Ahmad Hathout
TELEVISION SERVICE PROVIDERS in remote parts of the country may see a disruption in television services at the end of the year due to an American company’s decision to end support for technology that distributes satellite TV signals.
U.S.-based network technology provider CommScope said late last year it is ending support for the Quick Take Plus (QT+) system used by Shaw Communications, which relays satellite TV signals to Canadian customers living in certain areas of the country that may lack traditional wired infrastructure.
Jay Thomson, CEO of the…
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WHITEHOUSE and YELLOWKNIFE – Northwestel announced today it received approval from the CRTC to lower its unlimited home Internet rates by $10 per month, with the rate changes being made effective immediately.
“Northwestel will also be upgrading all home Internet 125 and Internet 250 monthly data plans to unlimited Internet at no additional cost,” a press release explains.
The company currently has unlimited Internet plans available in the Northern communities of Carcross, Dawson City, Upper Liard, Watson Lake and Whitehorse in the Yukon as well as Behchokǫ̀, Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik, Norman Wells, and Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories and in Fort Nelson in B.C.
“We’re…
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Expects Shaw transaction to close in first half of 2022
TORONTO – Rogers Communications Inc. today reported its total revenue is up 6% to $3.9 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared to the same quarter the previous year.
Broken down by segment, wireless revenue increased 5% to $2.4 billion, media revenue increased 26% to $516 million and cable revenue was flat at $1 billion for the company’s fourth quarter of 2021.
For wireless, service revenue was up 6% to $1.7 billion and equipment revenue was up 4% to $680 million. Rogers reported 130,000 net postpaid wireless subscriber additions in…
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CALGARY — The National accessArts Centre (NaAC), which calls itself Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts organization, announced today Shaw Communications is providing funding support for NaAC’s development of a digital learning platform that will help connect artists living with disabilities across Canada.
A dollar value for Shaw’s funding was not disclosed in a press release. (A spokesperson for Shaw told Cartt.ca via email this is not something the company typically discloses.)
“Shaw’s funding for a new digital learning tool — featuring live broadcasts from the NaAC studio space in Calgary of interactive studio sessions, and workshops and learning modules…
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