CNM Short Takes

Early adopters lukewarm on rich cell phone contentFewer than 9% of respondents in an early-adopter consumer survey were very or extremely interested in buying a cell phone capable of playing MP3 or other music files, and less than 11% were very or extremely interested in broadcast TV functionality, according to research firm In-Stat. "Cell phone manufacturers, carriers and content providers face serious challenges in convincing these end-users of the benefits of music- or video-centric phones," says In-Stat analyst Neil Strother. The report, Warning: Early-Adopters Have Lukewarm Response to Multimedia Handsets, also noted that some mobile programming, such as news and weather, was popular. It also noted that payment schemes had to more flexible. Alliance numériQC has no issues with Quebec budgetThe Alliance numériQC’s Jean-Pierre Faucher tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the recent Quebec provincial budget heralds little change for the association’s members. Alliance was not seeking any changes to the current new media regime. Faucher notes that the only item in the budget that may have an impact is a new tax credit for companies generating 500 jobs or more. A Deloitte & Touche memo describes the measure as follows: "A temporary refundable tax credit will be introduced regarding major employment generating projects in the information technology sector. An eligible corporation may claim a refundable tax credit equal to 25% of the eligible salaries it incurs as of January 1, 2005, and pays to eligible employees working in the course of carrying out eligible contracts until December 31, 2016. The eligible salary is limited to an amount of $60,000 calculated on an annual basis, which results in a maximum credit of $15,000 per eligible employee. The number of eligible employees in a taxation year is limited to a maximum of 2,000. A corporation must obtain an initial eligibility certificate from Investissement Québec confirming that it operates in the information technology sector and that it is reasonable to consider that the carrying out of the eligible contract will lead to the creation of a minimum of 500 jobs within 24 months, beginning on the date the eligible contract was concluded." Fight Network engages ThinData for email marketingFirst Canadian American Holding Corp. has announced that its subsidiary The Fight Network Inc. has engaged ThinData to develop and execute the specialty channel’s monthly email newsletter. The Fight Network is preparing to launch into the Canadian market this year, and will be dedicated to boxing, wrestling, marital arts, and related movies and documentaries. The email newsletters will provide fight news and channel programming plans. IAB Canada creates new committeesThe Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada has officially launched several new committees dealing with different facets of online marketing. TheY include new councils for advertiser, research and marketing. These join a new working group examining the Canadian Universal Ad Package, as well as committees devoted to advertising and technology, and a new audio/video committee. The new committees and councils come in the wake of what the group is calling rapid growth in memberships that saw 15 new organizations joining over the past six months, including Alliance Atlantis, CHUM Interactive, eBay, Petro-Canada, Workopolis and the Yellow Pages Group. The association also announces that it is set to release before the end of this month a new Canadian Media Optimization Study involving Unilever. Commenting on the activity in a news release, IAB Canada chair Brent Lowe-Bernie notes: "IAB Board and Council members have worked very hard to speed up the pace of initiatives that will impact sales into the online channel both immediately and over the long term. It’s great to see the fruits of our labour realized. But, there is much, much more we can do and will. Stand by!" Dudley George group takes case onlineA group of family members of Dudley George, the Aboriginal Canadian killed at Ipperwash, has posted a web site to advise people of developments and evidence in the Ipperwash inquiry hearings. It will also feature a live webcast of the inquiry proceedings. The webcast, at WhoKilledDudleyGeorge.ca, is being provided by Interactive Netcasting Systems Inc. of Vancouver. Yellow Pages Group provides new access to business infoYellow Pages Group is offering an innovative way to access information about business services and products. The company has launched a service in which customers can type the phone number of any business they’re seeking information about into the address line of any browser, appending either yellowpages.ca or yp.ca to it, to access information about the shop. Even if a business has not set up a profile, the site will still return a map, driving directions, and a proximity search function. If the business advertises in a Yellow Pages directory, users will also be shown its print ad and any other information included in the merchant’s advertising program such as special promotions, restaurant menus, and direct links to advertisers’ web sites. Rogers introduces new mobile music phonesRogers Wireless has introduced a new line of MP3-capable wireless phones, a mobile music store, and bundled price plans to tie the services in with its high-speed cable Internet offering. The company is touting the offerings as the "first complete mobile music experience." Innovative services include polyphonic "ringtunes", music alerts, the ability to add songs to text messages, and celebrity voice mail greetings. Wireless dating subject of conference and trade showTiconderoga Ventures Inc. has announced that the Mobile Dating Conference and Expo will be held on July 21-22 in San Francisco as part of the Internet Dating Conference, iDate2005. Topics to be explored include mobile dating business development, future PDA and cell phone generations, mobile browsers, wireless carriers and business models for mobile social networking, content distribution for wireless personals and others. Representatives from companies such as Sprint, Sun Microsystems, Kyocera Wireless, PalmSource, AOL/Love.com, and others will be speaking at the conference. Shaw family buys additional shares in CorusThe Shaw family has upped its stake in Corus Entertainment with the purchase of 250,000 Class B non-voting shares of the company during the week of April 29.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | May 13, 2005

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