TORONTO — A new multi-year media rights extension will see TSN and RDS continuing to provide exclusive Canadian coverage of FIA Formula One (F1) Grand Prix events through the 2024 season, Bell Media announced Monday.
TSN and RDS will broadcast all F1 World Championship races, as well as qualifying and practice sessions and encore presentations. The 2020 Canadian Grand Prix takes place at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal on the weekend of June 12-14.
In addition, with the new agreement, F1 fans who subscribe to TSN or RDS will now have access to a multitude of all-new F1 live feeds, including…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Independent Internet and TV service provider VMedia Inc. has submitted an objection to cabinet (officially the Governor-in-Council) in response to Bell Canada’s and the major incumbent cablecos’ petitions in November, in which they asked cabinet to overturn the CRTC’s August decision concerning final rates for aggregated wholesale high-speed access (HSA) services.
VMedia filed its submission on February 14, the last day to do so, and has posted a copy on its website. On Thursday, the independent ISP issued a news release to publicize its submission to cabinet and to explain its arguments for why the Commission’s decision…
Continue Reading
EDMONTON — Allarco Entertainment’s pay-TV network Super Channel announced Wednesday its new six-part international spy thriller Mirage will make its Canadian English broadcast premiere on Sunday, March 8 at 8 p.m. on Super Channel Fuse.
Each one-hour episode will also be available on Super Channel On Demand the day following its weekly linear broadcast.
The series about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East tells the story of Claire (played by Quebec native Marie-Josée Croze, pictured), an expatriate starting over in Abu Dhabi with her son and husband Lukas (German actor Hannes Jaenicke). Claire is thrust into the shadowy world of espionage…
Continue Reading
CCSA says mandated access to 5G nets is a must for rural
GATINEAU – In advising the CRTC to mandate just one national MVNO to boost mobile wireless competition here, three former wireless and telecom executives said threats from the big national players about reduced investments and job cuts are not to be taken seriously.
“The market is so clearly dominated by the Big Three ,” Alek Krstajic, the former Freedom CEO and past executive at Bell and Rogers, told CRTC commissioners at the beginning of the second week of the Regulator’s review of the wireless industry.
“In fact,…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A hearing that culminated in an unprecedented federal court order forcing internet service providers to block certain websites was unbalanced and will likely fall by the wayside as more intervenors weigh in at the appeal level, according to emails from a CRTC lawyer.
“What I would like to see is a re-do of the Federal Court motion,” William Abbott said in an email to an address that is redacted in newly unveiled communications obtained through access to information law. Abbott is a former Bell lawyer who took a legal counsel role at the CRTC in…
Continue Reading
TORONTO and HAMILTON — Two of Corus Entertainment’s radio stations launched new morning shows on Monday.
Toronto’s alternative station 102.1 The Edge (CFNY-FM) debuted The B Team show, featuring Shawna, Chris Z and Jay Brody, former morning show hosts at sister rock station Y108 in Hamilton. The B Team airs weekdays from 5:30 to 10 a.m. on the Edge.
To fill the morning void at Hamilton’s Y108 (CJXY-FM), the Taz & Jim show made its debut on the station this morning. Taz and Jim Kelly have ranked as the number one morning team in the London, Ont., market for nearly a…
Continue Reading
MOOSE JAW — TSN and RDS will continue to be the exclusive English and French broadcasters of Curling Canada Season of Champions events for eight more years. The deal extension was announced during TSN’s Curling Day in Canada broadcast during the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Sask.
The agreement, which includes both broadcast and digital media rights, takes effect in the 2020-21 curling season and will carry through the 2027-28 season. Season of Champions curling is available to TSN, RDS, TSN Direct and RDS Direct subscribers, and at TSN.ca, RDS.ca and via the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — While Canadian tennis fans patiently await Bianca Andreescu’s return from injury to the WTA Tour, TSN announced Friday it is expanding its live court coverage with a new slate of marquee WTA Tour events, beginning February 23.
In addition to the Qatar Open starting this Sunday, TSN has acquired the broadcast rights to a multitude of the biggest events in women’s tennis, including the BNP Paribas Open, Miami Open, and culminating with the WTA Finals in November. The addition of marquee WTA Tour events complements TSN’s exclusive live coverage of all four Grand Slam tournaments and comprehensive coverage…
Continue Reading
By Greg O’Brien
GATINEAU – “Our initial capital budget for this coming year… was about $220 million. We’ve cut $60 million out of that. We’ve laid off people.”
This was part of the response from Eastlink CEO Lee Bragg when asked by CRTC commissioner Christopher MacDonald of the possible impact of a mandated mobile virtual network operator regime. Bragg said the fear of such a decision – coupled with the recent third party internet access decision on the wired side where Bragg says CRTC-set rates are below-cost and which it is fighting on many fronts – pushed the family-owned company…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The market should anticipate more of the same “me too” wireless plans across all large national carriers without mandated mobile virtual network operators, according to smaller telecoms.
While admitting Shaw’s Freedom has somewhat changed the dynamics of the market with its pursuit of higher data thresholds for customers at lower prices, representatives from the Canadian Network Operators Consortium and Distributel argued in front of the CRTC on Thursday these plans are often very similar to each other – which represents the limits of the current competitive environment.
“When Freedom introduced the Big Gig plan, it did lead to a…
Continue Reading
