In a speech April 12 to during a luncheon of the Broadcast Executives Society and the Ontario Association of Broadcasters, CRTC chair Charles Dalfen said that the regulator would undergo a review of its commercial radio policy after it releases its decision on subscription radio, probably before the end of this quarter. He also spoke about the need to speed up the transition to high-definition (HD).

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Elizabeth Duncan and Helen Ray del Val have been appointed as CRTC commissioners. Duncan, of Dartmouth NS, will represent the Atlantic region, and Ray del Val, of North Vancouver BC, will represent the Pacific region. Since 2002, Duncan has been CFO and corporate secretary of software development company Navitrack International Corp., and was self employed as a consultant from 2000 to 2001. She served as senior VP and CFO of ACCESS Communications Inc. and from 1990 to 1996 as senior VP and general manager of Access Cable Television Ltd. She has also held several positions with Dartmouth Cable TV Ltd. Ray del Val is currently an associate with Koffman Kalef. From 2000 to 2004, she had her own practice, and from 1990 to 1999, she was with BC TEL as senior counsel.

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Cogeco anticipates more digital growth, raises prices
Cogeco Cable Inc. has revised upward the number of digital TV terminals it expects to roll out to between 55,000 and 60,000 from its previous estimate of 40,000 to 45,000, given the strong demand during the first six months of the year. Cogeco announced April 11 in releasing its financial results for the second quarter ended February 28 that it had acquired a total of 238,220 digital customers (157,273 in Ontario and 80,947 in Quebec) at the end of the quarter. It had 279,223 digital TV terminals (192,361 in Ontario and 86,862 in Quebec) at February 28. The stronger-than-expected growth in digital TV is mainly "attributable to the success of an attractive digital terminal rental plan launched in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 and the launch of subscription video-on-demand, free of charge, to most digital pay television customers last November and December," Cogeco states. As a result of the strong interest in digital TV, Cogeco Cable will purchase more digital TV terminals and is raising its capital expenditures guideline from $114 million to $119 million. In the second quarter, Cogeco’s basic TV customer base declined slightly from 830,847 to 823,855 at August 31. Still, Cogeco maintained its fiscal 2005 guideline of adding up to 2,500 basic service customers given that it acquired 6,992 customers in the first six months of the fiscal year.

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