Disney lands at Rogers on Demand

Shortly before the holidays, Rogers Cable Inc. delivered an early present to Canadian movie buffs and fans of family entertainment with a multi-year agreement to bring The Walt Disney Company’s collection of live action and animated films to the Rogers On Demand service.

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Corus’ Q1 revenue growth from TV hits double digits

Toronto-based Corus Entertainment Inc. weathered a corporate reorganization last September to grow its net income by 17% in the first quarter of its 2007 fiscal year.

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Shaw says there’s promise in business telephony

Calgary’s Shaw Communications Inc. kicked off the 2007 fiscal year with respectable revenue and earnings results for its first quarter. Consolidated revenue at the cable and DTH operator weighed in at $671 million, a 13.8% improvement over the $589.5 million in the first quarter of the previous year. Net income, meanwhile, was $81.1 million for the three months ended November 30, 2006, compared to $75.7 million for the same period last year.
However, subscriber growth slowed on a year-over-year basis in nearly every category except digital phone: new customer acquisitions in basic cable, digital cable, Internet and DTH all dipped, some more than 75%. "Throughout the remainder of this year we will continue to focus on our key priorities of customer service, the further expansion of the Digital Phone footprint, strengthening our video offering with new programming and HDTV services, and bundling strategies. We also plan to launch a business voice service," said CEO Jim Shaw in a release.

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JumpTV acquires Latino media portal

Toronto-based provider of international television programming over the Web JumpTV Inc. announced the acquisition of Miami-headquartered Sports International Group LLC last month for an unspecified sum. The US firm owns and operates the www.sportsya.com site, which primarily targets the Spanish-speaking market and boasted nearly 200,000 unique visitors and five million page views in November 2006.

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CCR Editorial — January 16, 2007

To an outsider, the current showdown between the CFTPA/APFTQ and ACTRA seems puzzling. One would think that both sides have more to lose through a strike than through meeting each other halfway.

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Newsmakers: Two broadcasting veterans return with lofty plans for local avails

A new company, Only Imagine Inc., has asked the CRTC for a relay distribution undertaking licence to monetize BDUs’ local availabilities on US satellite programming services. Drew Craig, ex-CEO of now-defunct Craig Media Inc., and Jeff Thiessen of Trinity Television fame are heading the venture. An excerpt from the summary of their application appears below; look for more on this story in the next issue of Canadian Communications Reports.

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CCR People — January 16, 2007

Kaleil Isaza Tuzman has taken over as president and chief operating officer of Toronto-based Internet rebroadcaster JumpTV Inc., adding to his pre-existing duties as president and chief executive officer of JumpTV International. He assumes the added responsibility to fill a vacancy that will left by the pending departure of Alex Blum, who will leave JumpTV at the end of January to head a New York-based social networking and user-generated content firm. The move means Isaza Tuzman will take over the day-to-day management of the company’s overall business operations, including marketing, network operations and product development, in addition to his duties at the head of JumpTV’s global operations.
Other executive changes were made recently at JumpTV, including: Sila Celik, COO of JumpTV International, is now head of global operations; Toronto-based Lucy Kupnicki assumes the position of head of program management, and; VP of engineering and media services Brian Adams, based in Toronto and New York, is appointed head of product development. Also, as mentioned on p.6, Daniel Canel will work as a paid consultant for JumpTV after the Canadian company’s acquisition of his Sports International Group LLC.

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Alliance Atlantis announces its suitor of choice

After weeks of speculation, it’s official: Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. confirmed on January 10 that it accepted a $2.3-billion takeover offer from CanWest Global Communications Corp. Nearly every big-name media empire in Canada had been bandied about as a potential suitor for Alliance Atlantis at one time or another, including Corus Entertainment Inc., Astral Media Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., and Quebecor Inc.

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Rogers analog adds new channels

Rogers Cable Inc. has once again announced changes to its analog cable service. Sometime around February 13, Rogers will replace CNN Headline News, CNBC, and SPEED Channel on the analog dial with BBC World, Turner Classic Movies and American Movie Classics.

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Bell’s IPTV aims to redefine home entertainment

Bell Canada continues to unveil details bit by bit of what it calls a next-generation wireline television service. During BCE Inc.’s annual business review conference on December 12, 2006, CEO Michael Sabia said development of Bell’s IPTV offering will be completed in 2007 – and it won’t be a "me-too" type of product.

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