THERE CAN BE LITTLE DOUBT that local TV is in a difficult spot. Declining ad revenue, audience fragmentation and erosion, the challenges of digital platforms, a lack of a dual revenue stream and the list goes on. But what to do about it? Some argue for a complete revamp of the local TV funding approach, while others are saying the CRTC only need to give local broadcasters more flexibility to work within existing rules.
The state of local TV is black and white, at least when looking at the revenue picture. As Bell Canada notes in its intervention into the…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s publicly traded television service providers combined lost almost seven times more TV subscribers in the nine-month period ended August 31/September 30,2015 compared to the same period in 2014, according to new research released Monday.
Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services also found that BCE, Rogers, Shaw/Shaw Direct, Vidéotron, Cogeco, Telus, and MTS (IPTV subscribers only) combined lost a record 153,000 TV subscribers in their respective three fiscal 2015 quarters, up significantly from 22,000 lost in the same quarters in 2014.
In the three month period ended August 31/September 30 alone, which is traditionally a…
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SHENZHEN, CHINA – Huawei and Telus are teaming up to establish a 5G "Living Lab" in Vancouver.
Announced Friday from Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, in conjunction with BC premier Christy Clark’s visit, the new project will test approaches to deliver a next-generation converged fibre-wireless network in downtown Vancouver.
To support this "Living Lab", Huawei pledged to make “a significant investment” to design, test and deploy new technologies leading towards the development of next-generation 5G based telecommunications networks. Telus’ recent commitment to invest $1 billion to expand its fibre optic network in Vancouver will ultimately provide the backbone to support highly…
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VANCOUVER – Telus is cutting some 1,500 jobs in an effort to curb costs, amidst increases in third quarter revenues and profits.
The company said Thursday that it is increasing “efficiency initiatives” by an additional $125 million next quarter, which will include eliminating approximately 1,500 full-time positions, many of which are voluntary departures and early retirements.
“These are very difficult decisions to make but a necessary element of aligning our organization with the growth, customer service and capital allocation activities we are implementing", president and CEO Darren Entwistle said in a statement.
For the third quarter ended September 30, 2015, Telus’ consolidated operating…
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GATINEAU – The third day of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS) mandate review saw telecom providers in the West and East agree on a few changes to the complaints body. Quebecor Media and Shaw Communications noted in their respective testimony to the CRTC on Thursday they believe it’s natural for the CCTS to conduct some code interpretation.
They also believe that participation in the complaints body should be mandatory.
Peggy Tabet, senior director of regulatory affairs for telecommunications at Quebecor, noted under questioning that it’s about treating all players equally. In a world where the company is subjected…
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OTTAWA – Gusto TV is readying a new original series aimed at millennials that it says takes a fresh approach to the food challenge show genre.
A Is for Apple, set to premiere November 16 at 8:00 and 8:30 PM ET/5:00 and 5:30 pm PT, features three young chefs who base their recipes on letters of the alphabet. Each episode begins with one of the chefs randomly choosing a letter of the alphabet and then shopping for two ingredients that start with that letter, including intriguing combinations as apples and anchovies, bananas and bacon, and vanilla and vinegar. They then create…
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GATINEAU – The mandate review for the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS) kicked off on Tuesday with the body arguing that voluntary participation would make it much more difficult to resolve complaints – and that some consumers could find themselves on the short end of the complaints process.
In addition, the trigger-based system of participation is unruly and hasn’t proven effective in forcing telecom service providers (TSPs) to join the CCTS.
Josée Thibault, assistant CCTS commissioner, noted “there is a real risk that many providers would withdraw from CCTS, creating a situation in which some customers are entitled to…
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VANCOUVER – Telus, through its Optik Local community programming, is awarding more than $3.2 million in funding to support some 60 new local content projects in Western Canada this year.
Optik Local supports compelling, original storytelling in British Columbia and Alberta by providing funding and training to filmmakers, as well as a platform to share their content with new audiences. Content is distributed for free on Telus Optik On Demand as well as online.
"Optik Local is unique in the Canadian content funding space. It's an innovative model that enables diverse voices to be heard and local stories to be told,"…
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TORONTO – Hollywood Suite’s four HD movie channels are officially now known as Hollywood Suite 70s Movies, Hollywood Suite 80s Movies, Hollywood Suite 90s Movies and Hollywood Suite 2000s Movies, after being relaunched on Monday.
The independent broadcaster announced in September that the rebrand would include a streamlined look that brings a single Hollywood Suite identity to the four on-air HD channels, On Demand, the Hollywood Suite Go app, and its web and social media properties.
Subscribers can still find the big pre-1970 films with programming blocks dedicated to the essential classics from the golden age of Hollywood. All movies will remain uncut…
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TORONTO – Adding packet-switched voice calling to LTE networks (VoLTE) is in some ways the holy grail of true 4G wireless.
By enabling an all-IP based communications system, not only will it improve the quality of voice calls compared to legacy networks, VoLTE will ultimately also make network stacks simpler.
But on Wednesday a consultant warned Canadian carriers about to implement VoLTE they will need to work closely with older 2G and 3G networks – which will have to handle voice calls when users drift out of LTE coverage – to get the benefits of the new technology.
“The message here is…
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