And why CPE should be reduced for traditional media companies
GATINEAU – Saying online content platforms have radically altered the Canadian broadcasting system is as undeniable as it is now cliché. Netflix itself, has an estimated six million subscribers in Canada, an amount greater than half of all cable TV subscriptions here.
With Amazon Prime growing and the arrival of other online services in the future (BritBox arrived this week and CBS All Access is coming), the Canadian system needs to evolve with this new reality in mind, several have told the CRTC…
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VANCOUVER – “Robust customer growth” helped to lift fourth quarter revenues and profits at Telus, the company said Thursday.
For the period ended December 31, consolidated operating revenue increased by 4.9% to $3.5 billion over the same quarter a year ago, reflecting growth in wireless network revenue and wireline data services.
Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 46% to $1.1 billion due to higher revenue growth and lower restructuring and other costs year-over-year, partially offset by higher acquisition and retention costs. Adjusted EBITDA was up 4.7% when excluding certain costs, including restructuring and other costs, which…
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The big four have not become the content exporters they were supposed to
LAST WEEK, I RESPONDED to a Scotiabank report which said the success of Netflix in gaining subscribers, along with Google and Facebook’s dominance of the Canadian advertising market, meant a merger of Bell and Corus was a logical market response to ensure we remain competitive.
I question the strategy of further vertical integration in light of its obvious failure. My core argument is VI has failed because it did not properly take into account the competitive advantages of the vertically integrated companies. As their…
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LONDON, UK – Led by Telus, Canada now boasts some of the fastest LTE speeds in the world, says OpenSignal in its latest State of Mobile Networks: Canada report released Wednesday.
The wireless mapping coverage company examined over 405 million measurements collected from 20,474 mobile test devices between October 1 and December 30, 2017.
“In our 4G speed tests, Telus not only established a commanding lead over its competitors, it demonstrated some truly remarkable results”, reads the report. “Our average 4G download for Telus was 44.5 Mbps, which is among the fastest individual operator results we've measured on a nationwide…
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Company rebranded as Xavient Digital – powered by Telus International
LAS VEGAS and SIMI VALLEY, CA – Telus International has wrapped up its acquisition Xavient Information Systems and has rebranded the global IT consulting and software services company as Xavient Digital – powered by Telus International.
The US$250 million deal was first announced in October 2017. Telus International said Tuesday that with all conditions satisfied, it now holds a majority interest in Xavient and will purchase the remaining interest on or before December 31, 2020.
Xavient is headquartered in Simi Valley, California and has operations throughout the U.S. and in India,…
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STOCKHOLM – Tech maker Ericsson said Wednesday it has decided to sell 51% of its Media Solutions business to private equity firm One Equity Partners
Last March the company announced it was undertaking a strategic review of Media Solutions and its Red Bee Media division and would consider partnerships, divestments, and a continued in-house development. It has decided to hang on to Red Bee.
“Media Solutions and Red Bee Media are leading providers of media products and services, and with the performance improvements that are currently being implemented, we see future upsides to both businesses. We are confident that the…
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TORONTO – Discovery Velocity has opened up for a month-long national free preview, on now through February 8.
Billed as Canada’s only home for factual turbo programming, Discovery Velocity will serve up live coverage of the most spectacular classic car auction event of the year, Barrett-Jackson Live (pictured, from January 16 – 21), alongside new series Texas Metal (January 12), and the return of Wheeler Dealers on January 22.
The freeview is available through television service providers including Bell, Bell Aliant, Cogeco Connexion, Eastlink, BellMTS, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw, Shaw Direct, Telus, Videotron, and several CCSA partners including Access…
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MONTREAL — Five years after it finally added the American cable channel to its television service, Vidéotron is dropping AMC, refusing to renew its carriage contract. The channel will disappear on February 12.
"Because we operate in a regional and not national market, it's difficult for Vidéotron to meet the many demands and financial requirements of AMC," reads a statement from Vidéotron. "In addition, according to our observations, viewing of AMC dropped over the last year."
(Ed note: If there was ever a time to pull AMC from the lineup, it’s now, as there is no original first-run programming scheduled until…
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I WAS NOT SURPRISED to learn that one of Jim Shaw’s role models was former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
In his time, Churchill was considered a political outsider, a brash maverick, seemingly unwavering in his convictions, fiercely loyal to his homeland and someone who inspired similar loyalty in so many others. Along the way of course, Churchill was exactly what his country needed at the time and he found enormous successes – but his sometimes irascible nature also antagonized more than a few.
For those of us who have been in the cable industry for a while, there are many…
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A hard-nosed businessman, he made a brilliant cable territory swap, competed ferociously with Telus and pulled Global television from the Canwest inferno
FEW OCCASIONS BETTER illustrated the cultural divide between the world of the western bottom-up entrepreneur and that of Ottawa’s top-down public service bureaucracy than when Jim Shaw and Konrad von Finckenstein crossed swords in a hearing room.
There, front and centre of the raised platform bearing commissioners, would be the multilingual von Finckenstein, a six-foot-something-awesome lawyer who was chief legal adviser on the original North American Free Trade negotiations, served as head of the Competition Bureau, became a Federal…
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