By Ahmad Hathout
OUTtv is arguing that Rogers cannot have a choice in how it distributes its service if that choice means putting the channel in a television package with less penetration.
The LGBTQ+ service, which must be offered by broadcasters, said in a response filing provided to Cartt that Rogers’s interpretation of section 9 of the Wholesale Code – which appears to offer the cable giant the option of putting the discretionary service in either the “best available pre-assembled or theme package” – cannot be read without the full scope of the CRTC’s objectives when it comes to independent services,…
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Corus announced Thursday that Heather Shaw is retiring as executive chair, a position she held since the company was spun off from Shaw in 1999. She will remain on the board as a non-executive chair.
“Heather has been an important part of Corus’ history, helping to steward the company through significant milestones and an ever-changing industry,” Co-CEO Troy Reeb said in a press release. “We are appreciative of her commitment to Corus and of her long career in media leadership.”
Shaw was a director of Shaw Communications Inc. and Shawcor Ltd. She is a director of several private companies as well…
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No details yet as to what the alleged breaches are
By Ahmad Hathout
Videotron is suing Rogers for $91 million over alleged breaches of contract in the sale of Freedom Mobile.
The six-page notice of action, which mentions only the claimed breaches without detail, was filed in Ontario Superior Court last Thursday — the two-year anniversary of the closing of Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw and Videotron’s purchase of Freedom.
Videotron is asking the court to order Rogers to “perform their obligations under the Share Purchase Agreement dated August 12, 2022,” which lays out the terms for Videotron buying the outstanding shares of…
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By Connie Thiessen
John Meisel, who served as the chair of the CRTC from 1979 to 1983, has passed away at the age of 101.
According to an obituary published in the Kingston Whig Standard this week, the Queen’s University Professor Emeritus died peacefully on March 30.
Born in Vienna, Austria to Jewish Czech parents, the Meisel family was sent abroad by the Bata Shoe Company where Meisel’s father worked, as the Nazi occupation loomed. Jewish employees were dispatched to other Bata facilities, taking Meisel to the Netherlands, Morocco and Haiti before arriving in Canada in 1942.
He attended Ottershaw College in the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers announced Friday it has finalized an agreement to sell for $7 billion a 49.9 per cent stake in a portion of its wireless traffic transport infrastructure through a subsidiary to pay down debt.
The investors will be led by American asset manager Blackstone and include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. Blackstone will also hold a 20 per cent voting stake.
Rogers, which will hold the rest of the shares including voting control, will continue to have full…
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The Disability Screen Office (DSO) announced Wednesday it is leading Canada’s first-ever multi-year study on the participation of people with disabilities in the Canadian film and TV industry and the barriers they face in the labour market.
The DSO initiative is financially supported by Accessibility Standards Canada’s Advancing Accessibility Standards Research Program and the Canada Media Fund’s Sector Development Support program, as well as contributions from the Shaw Rocket Fund, Ontario Creates, Creative BC, Bell Fund and PictureNL. The DSO is partnering with Quebec-based equity organization Coalition MÉDIA and has commissioned creative industries research firm Nordicity to…
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Rogers says the complaint is ‘completely without merit’
By Ahmad Hathout
A national news channel is alleging Rogers is unjustly keeping it from distribution to a broader cable audience, but the cable giant is calling the complaint meritless.
The News Forum, which was granted mandatory distribution on cable in 2022, alleges that, unlike its competitors, it has been denied equal access by being excluded from Rogers’s legacy or grandfathered cable packages.
Before it received mandatory distribution under the Broadcasting Act’s 9.1(1)(h) rule, the independent news service negotiated its current distribution agreement with Rogers as an exempt undertaking the year before. But while it…
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By Connie Thiessen
Dina Pugliese has made her return to Citytv’s Breakfast Television (BT) after a two-year break from morning TV.
Pugliese, who previously ended a 16-year run with the show in February 2023, has been named co-host and co-executive producer. She returns following the network’s release of Sid Seixeiro and Meredith Shaw last month.
Pugliese will be joined by co-host Tim Bolen, who has been a host and anchor on the morning show on Hamilton’s CHCH-TV for the past 13 years, in addition to Devo Brown, Melanie Ng, Frank Ferragine (aka Frankie Flowers), Caryn Ceolin and Tammie Sutherland.
When she walked away…
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Northwestel announced Tuesday its high-speed fibre internet service is now available to customers in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald in northern Alberta.
Residential customers in both communities can access Northwestel’s unlimited internet packages offering download speeds of up to 700 Mbps, while businesses can benefit from speeds up to 750 Mbps.
The high-speed internet service is made possible by Northwestel’s construction of fibre-to-the-home infrastructure in the communities, which the far north telecom completed in December. Northwestel designed and installed the fibre network and will operate and maintain it.
This fibre project was initiated by the Smith’s Landing First Nation, who approached Northwestel…
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By Connie Thiessen
Sid Seixeiro and Meredith Shaw have been released as the hosts of the Citytv’s Breakfast Television (BT).
BT personality Devo Brown shared the news with viewers Monday morning that the hosting duo were no longer with the show.
“They brought us plenty of great conversations, laughs, and unforgettable moments. We’re grateful for everything they shared with all of us,” Brown told viewers. “We wish them the very best in what comes next. We know change is never easy, but for over 35 years Breakfast Television has grown and evolved to bring you the best to start your day. So stay tuned, we have some exciting plans in…
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