The federal government will hold a consultation on the Internet's effect on Canada’s media industry. According to a transcript, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said in question period Wednesday that the government would “launch a public consultation on the digital shift in order to… really understand the impact the Internet may have on users and creators in general.” Pierre Olivier-Herbert, spokesman for the minister, confirmed in an email Thursday afternoon...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s $24.99 skinny basic offer will include the U.S. "4+1” networks ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS, and its theme packages will cost between $3 and $18. Rogers spokeswoman Jennifer Kett sent details of the new offer, which will be available as of March 1, in an email Wednesday. TV providers are required to begin rolling out skinny basic packages by March 1. By that date, TV providers must also offer either pick-and-pay, or a choice of either self-built packages or small pre-assembled packages. Rogers’ theme packs priced at $3 will include packages...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. has bought Numedia, a company that provides technology used by retail stores to play in-store audio. The company said in a press release Wednesday that the deal is worth $2 million. According to...
OTTAWA — News quality came up as an issue at the first day of a study into the news media by the House of Commons heritage committee. Conservative MP Kevin Waugh, whose riding is in Saskatoon, brought up outsourcing of some...
Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.’s over-the-top service Shomi will be the new home for the American TV show Empire after it was dropped by Rogers’ conventional City network. Julie...
The CRTC said Tuesday it received 12 radio licence applications to serve urban indigenous Canadians through frequencies used by five aboriginal radio stations whose licences were revoked. The CRTC...
Shaw Communications Inc. told the CRTC that the sale of its media division to Corus Entertainment Inc. shouldn’t result in any tangible benefit payments, because “both entities are under the common effective control of JR Shaw." It said in a reply to interventions in the CRTC’s review of the proposed $2.65 billion acquisition that CRTC policy states that “tangible benefits will be provided for changes to the effective control of all radio and television programming services,” and that the “beneficial...
Blue Skye Entertainment, a joint venture between Blue Ant Media Inc. and Smithsonian Networks, announced Monday it has launched a 4K subscription video-on-demand app called Love Nature. It’s available in 32...
The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) asked the CRTC to put in place “competitive safeguards” as part of its approval of Shaw Communications Inc.’s sale of its media...
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) is launching an American sister network. The All Nations Network (ANN) will be headquartered in New Mexico, with network distribution represented by Castalia Communications, APTN said...
A new proposal from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) aims to free TV subscribers from their leased set-top box agreements with cable and satellite operators. In a 3-2 decision on...
Commercials aimed at Canadians had the biggest impact during this month's Super Bowl, according to a study commissioned by BCE Inc. According to a Bell press release issued Wednesday, 14 out of the 20 most-engaging ads in the...
OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly told a Senate committee Wednesday evening that the government aims to have a gender-balanced board of directors for CBC/Radio-Canada, as part of review of the governance...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said Wednesday the CRTC will stick to the course of action it has set despite disapproval by those who feel the CRTC’s direction “upsets their entitlements...
The House of Commons heritage committee will undertake a study on the news media. The committee will hold at least 10 meetings that will study how Canadians and “especially local communities, are informed about local and...
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Telefilm Canada announced Wednesday the CMF has appointed Dominique Lapierre as the national director of the CMF programs administrator. “Having served in the position on an interim basis for the past year, Ms. Lapierre manages the team responsible for ensuring the efficient administration of the CMF’s funding programs,” the press release said. CMF noted in the release that Telefilm has been in charge of program administration since 2006. Lapierre first joined Telefilm in 2002, and previously worked as the director for the French market of...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. announced Tuesday it is launching a TV app for Telus Corp.’s Optik TV subscribers, called Stingray Music Videos TV. It said in a press release that the app will be available to Optik TV...
In response to a media report suggesting privatization is in its future, Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. said Friday that nothing is confirmed and it has not received a “binding proposal.” Sirius XM said in a...
The CRTC denied a request from the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), along with several other parties, to have a public hearing on Shaw Communications Inc.’s sale of...
The Netflix Inc. crackdown on virtual-private-network (VPN) use could provide an opportunity for Canadian providers to carve out more of the over-the-top (OTT) market, though a lack of firm figures makes predictions difficult....
Alex Johnston is CBC/Radio-Canada’s new vice-president of strategy and public affairs, president and CEO Hubert Lacroix told employees in an internal memo. “Alex is a big thinker, and her energy and enthusiasm are what the public broadcaster needs as it builds its future and continues its transformation through Strategy 2020,” Lacroix said in the Jan. 29 memo. She will start the job on Feb. 29 and will be based in Toronto, he added. Johnston was previously executive director at Catalyst Canada, an advocacy group aimed at increasing the presence of women in business. She also held previous positions as executive director of policy for then-Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty and a corporate lawyer at Goodmans LLP, Lacroix wrote....
The CRTC has approved a municipal access agreement proposed by the City of Hamilton, ending a dispute between the municipality and BCE Inc. that began in 2012. The commission said in a decision Wednesday the two parties...
Canadian content development contributions owed by a Newcap Inc. station can be set aside while a CRTC decision is appealed in the courts, the commission said in a decision posted Wednesday on its website. In June, the...
The CRTC has approved Jessop & Proulx LLP’s application Wednesday to add Pac-12 Network to the list of non-Canadian services authorized for distribution. Pac-12 Network is a...
Seven radio stations will have to explain themselves and face public comment before the CRTC renews their licences. The licences, which expire on Aug. 31, were previously renewed on a short-term...
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) said in a press release Monday that it has teamed up with eight organizations, including the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the BCE...
The CRTC said Monday that BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc. should apply to renew their TV licences that will expire in...
Quebecor Inc.’s TVA division and BCE Inc.’s media subsidiary have shut down a website that was pirating the TVA Sports and RDS sports channels. The companies said in a press release...
There hasn’t been an increase in ad sales for Sunday’s upcoming Super Bowl, Perry MacDonald, senior vice-president of English television and local sales at BCE Inc.’s media division, said in a...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron announced Thursday it will be offering live sports in 4K quality to its Illico ultra-high-definition set-top-box customers. The company said in a press release that it will stream 12 games in total – four upcoming Ottawa Senators NHL games and eight Toronto Raptors NBA games. Videotron said in an email that these are the only games that will stream "for the moment," and will be produced by BCE Inc.’s TSN on channel 910. Videotron’s 4K set-top-box is priced at $399. In January, Rogers Communications...
While advertising will remain a key part of the TV ecosystem, the television industry will have to provide better audience data in order to keep up with digital competition, said Barbara Williams, president of Shaw Communications...
The CRTC has approved a request that releases Country Music Television Ltd. (CMT) from its obligation to broadcast country music videos. In a decision posted to its website on Thursday, the commission agreed with the majority of...
The majority of anglophone Canadians still subscribe to traditional television services, but an increasing number are taking an online-only approach, according to a new report on media technology adoption by the Media Technology...
According to the Conference Board of Canada, high debt levels and weak job prospects will make it difficult for Canadians to increase spending on telecom services in 2016, limiting industry growth. A...
The City of Quebec is suing Cogeco Inc., its CEO, Louis Audet, as well as Richard Renaud, director of Quebec’s CJMF FM-93 radio station, for defamation. The municipality said in a French press release Wednesday that it’s seeking $1 million in compensation for defamatory comments that were allegedly made against the city during a radio show. The comments, made during a morning broadcast on CJMF by Sylvain Bouchard on Nov. 25, were regarding a report published by the province’s Charbonneau commission on corruption in the construction sector, the press release said. The...
Canadians are less likely to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) if it changes Canadian copyright laws, suggested a survey on the free-trade agreement scheduled to be signed today in New...
The CRTC said in a notice Wednesday it has extended the deadline to submit final comments in the local and community TV hearing. The deadline for final observations and responses to some undertakings...
Heritage Minister Melanie Joly is refusing to specify that the CBC will receive the $150 million in extra funding the Liberal government promised during last year’s election, despite receiving questions on the subject from...
The CRTC should have more commissioners with a background in engineering, and fewer with backgrounds in law, broadcasting and news, former commissioner Timothy Denton said in a blog post. Denton...
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. launched its skinny-basic TV package Monday, priced at the $25 maximum mandated by the CRTC, SaskTel spokeswoman Michelle Englot said in an email. Customers can pay extra for...
DHX Media Ltd. said it will consolidate its operations, which employes 700 production personnel on the West Coast, in a new animation studio in Vancouver. The company said in a press release the new 600,000 square-foot studio is scheduled to be completed in December 2016. It also added it’s rebranding its content-creation arm as DHX...
Stornoway Communications LP has withdrawn a Part 1 complaint to the CRTC against BCE Inc. stemming from the removal of its iChannel offering from a Bell TV theme package. The CRTC confirmed it has...
The CRTC has approved a video-on-demand licence application by Gold Line Telemanagement Inc., a Markham, Ont.-based company that offers over-the-top (OTT) subscriptions to international TV and radio services. The commission...
CBC/Radio-Canada told the CRTC Friday that if it sets up a fund for local news, the public broadcaster should be able to participate, despite the Liberal government’s promise to increase its funding. “I would say that there is a huge pent-up demand on any new dollars that we might get. We have made significant cuts over the past 10 years,” executive vice-president of English services Heather Conway said on the fifth day of the CRTC’s eight-day hearing on local and community TV. CBC suggested a $68 million fund, which would be accessible to 65 stations, including five...
The Media Technology Monitor, a project of the CBC/Radio-Canada, reported Thursday that nearly 45 per cent of all TV viewers now use an over-the-top (OTT) service, an increase of 32 per cent from the previous year....
GATINEAU — Rogers Communications Inc. said on the fourth day of the CRTC’s hearing into local and community TV that it doesn’t think the creation of a fund for local news is the best...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron said Thursday that its over-the-top (OTT) service Club Illico’s original series Blue Moon reached 100,000 views in less than 48 hours within its launch....
The Governor in Council has declined a petition by the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) asking it to overturn a decision made by the CRTC to approve changes of licence conditions for OWN Inc., the Oprah Winfrey...
Rogers Communications Inc. said in its quarterly results that its revenues saw three per cent growth in the three months ended Dec. 31, from $3.36 billion a year earlier to $3.45 billion. Rogers said that increase was due to growth in its wireless services, which saw a four per cent change from $1.89 billion to $1.98 billion in the same period, and to a three per cent increase in its media segment, which it said was primarily due to growth at its Sportsnet specialty channel and the Toronto Blue Jays. It said Wednesday that its net income grew one per cent from a year earlier, from $297 million to $299 million. It said that was due primarily to “lower restructuring, acquisition and other costs, lower finance costs, and lower income taxes, partially offset by higher depreciation and amortization.” In wireless, postpaid...
Cogeco Communications Inc. told a CRTC hearing Wednesday that a plan the commission proposed to create a new fund for local TV news programming, to be funded by existing financial resources within the...
The CRTC issued Wednesday a call for comments on the market capacity for radio stations in Grimsby and Beamsville, Ont., both located about an hour south of Toronto. The regulator said in the notice...
Rogers Communications Inc. announced Wednesday that it has added more than a dozen countries to its Roam Like Home service including Russia, China, India, South Africa, Australia, Israel and Japan. Rogers spokesman Andrew Garas...
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting told the CRTC Tuesday that its position that there is enough money in the TV system to fund local programming “flies in the face of the evidence, a form of...
BlackBerry Ltd. announced Tuesday the release of a new suite of mobile security software for businesses. It said in a press release that the new software, called Good Secure EMM Suites, is "a comprehensive set of mobile...
GATINEAU — The first day of the CRTC’s hearing on local and community television painted a picture of traditional TV in flux, as operators of conventional stations said declining ad revenue is making local TV...
The privacy commissioner of Canada is asking Parliament to confirm the principles behind a Supreme Court decision that requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant in order to obtain customers’ personal information from Internet service providers (ISPs). In an opinion article in the Toronto Star Monday,...
A statement made Monday by International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed that Canada is going to sign onto the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) when the TPP group meets next...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s media division said Monday it is cutting about 200 jobs, primarily in "conventional TV, radio, publishing, and back-office positions." In an emailed statement, Andrea Goldstein, senior director of communications, said the company has “identified cost efficiencies in production, operations and procurement, and [has] made the difficult decision to reduce headcount.” The layoffs, which represent about four per cent of Rogers Media staff, will begin in February. She said in the email that "the media industry continues to experience significant pressures from a softening advertising market, fierce competition from global players, and shifting audience consumption habits." ...
The CRTC has grouped 61 complaints by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) into four Part 1 proceedings, giving Shaw Communications Inc., Cogeco Cable Inc., Rogers...
While Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. are getting the ball rolling on 4K broadcasting in Canada with a heavy emphasis on sports, others feel food, nature, music videos and outdoor adventure programming are also the kinds of content that would work well in ultra-high definition. Chris Knight, CEO at Ottawa-based Gusto TV, said in a phone...
The CRTC has told officials representing ADR.TV and Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron that the latter must maintain distribution of the former as the CRTC sorts through a dispute between the two parties....
NetTalk.com Inc. announced Wednesday evening that its VoIP service has been restored to all its customers in Canada. The Florida-based company said in a Facebook post that all Canadian telephone numbers and services are...
The CRTC on Thursday acknowledged receipt of an application from Shaw Communications Inc. to sell its media division to Corus Entertainment Inc., and said interested parties have until Feb. 15 to file submissions on the matter. The commission, in its notice, said no suggestion from the applicant was put forth regarding tangible benefits, the common practice of requiring a company applying for the transfer of broadcasting assets to contribute an amount of money — generally 10 per cent in television — to initiatives that benefit the domestic broadcasting sector. The CRTC...
BCE Inc.'s appeal against a CRTC decision banning the provision of mobile-TV services that are not subject to regular data charges was heard by the Federal Court of Appeal in Toronto on Tuesday, and the court is expected to render a decision some time in the coming months. Almost a year ago,...
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. said Wednesday it will not include the major U.S. conventional TV networks in its skinny-basic television package, which becomes mandatory in March. The CRTC ruled last year that TV-service providers would, as of March this year, have to offer customers a basic package at no more than $25 a month. It said...
Following last fall’s election, the government is set to boost CBC/Radio-Canada's funding, but when that will happen and under what conditions is unclear. It also remains to be seen whether...
The CRTC announced Wednesday it will host two one-day information sessions on costing principles and concepts for telecom services. “As more and more companies are filing cost studies in support of their proposed rates, the...
Canada's Gusto TV on Tuesday announced that has sold one of its original shows to a South Korean 4K channel. It said in a press release that 30 episodes of A is for Apple — a cooking-challenge program — had been...
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) said Wednesday that it has committed another $1 million to its community investment program, which helps fund projects that improve Internet access and knowledge about digital...
Iristel Inc., a Markham, Ont.- based telecom company, announced Tuesday it is working with the CRTC to resolve an ongoing dispute with Florida-based VoIP provider NetTalk.com Inc., in order to...
Corus Entertainment Inc. said Tuesday it intends to offer a round of "subscription receipts" as a way to raise money to partially fund its recently announced purchase of Shaw Communications Inc.'s media division....
Verizon Communication Inc. announced Tuesday it is introducing a new sponsored data service, called FreeBee Data, to help businesses drive better consumer engagement without cutting into customers' mobile data allotments. The U.S. carrier said in a press release that the service has two models. One is called FreeBee Data 360 and will allow content providers provide consumers with certain elements of mobile content — whether as apps or access to a website — and is based on a per gigabyte pricing model, and the data used is paid for by the company providing the content....
The CRTC said Tuesday that it has received 15,000 responses to a questionnaire in the public consultation it is holding as part of a proceeding on what basic telecom services should be available to...
TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. on Monday told a group of about 15 invited journalists that it sees a bright future in 4K television, while BCE Inc. announced that it was making a 4K set-top box available to customers of its Fibe TV service. Rogers, last week, began its involvement of 4K broadcasting with an NBA basketball game between the...
Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang said Monday that providers of telecommunications services in Canada will feel the effects of the struggling economy. He said in a research note that most of repercussions from things such as...
The CRTC has denied BCE Inc. applications to have eight Category A channels changed to Category B channels, which would have reduced the requirements for Canadian content on these channels. The...
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) said Monday that the amount of revenue it collected last year surpassed $300 million for the first time ever. It said in a press release that it collected about $310 million last year, according to an early analysis, up three per cent from $299 million in 2014. SOCAN said $275 million of what it collected last year is being distributed to its more than 130,000 members, up 15 per cent from a year before. It said its expense ratio was lowered to 9 per cent from 9.5 per cent, which is "likely" the lowest...
Rogers Communications Inc., the National Basketball Association and BT Group PLC’s BT Sport teamed up Thursday to produce the world's first live broadcast of an NBA basketball game in 4K, a Rogers spokesman confirmed...
The Kitchener, Ont., public library’s hotspot-device lending service has led it to win the Ontario Library Information Technology Association Project award from the Ontario Library Association....
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. announced Friday it has completed the sale of Allstream, its business communication division, to Boulder, Colo.-based Zayo Group Holdings Inc. MTS said in a news release that the deal, announced in...
Netflix Inc. said Thursday that it will soon be employing technology that stops users from bypassing conditions that restrict some content from being seen in certain locations. David Fullagar, its vice-president of...
Shaw Communications Inc. reported $1.42 billion in revenue in its first quarter, up from $1.39 billion in the same quarter last year. Shaw said Thursday that increase was due to growth in the consumer, business network...
According to a new report on media technology adoption of baby boomers released Wednesday by the Media Technology Monitor, a project of CBC/Radio Canada, 89 per cent of baby boomer anglophones aged 50 to 69 have a paid TV service...
MONTREAL — Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Wednesday that the company will prioritize its U.S. cable and Internet business over a potential wireless initiative in Canada. Speaking to reporters...
Regulatory approval of Corus Entertainment Inc.'s planned purchase of Shaw Communications Inc.'s media division shouldn't be a problem since there's no real change in who's controlling the assets, said one...
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. announced Wednesday it has expanded its HSPA and LTE network to Piney, Man., which is located about two hours driving south of Winnipeg. MTS CEO Jay Forbes said in a press release that the expansion was part of its $1-billion investment done over the past five years to ensure Manitoba has access to communication and information technology services. "The Piney expansion adds to the MTS wireless network which now covers 98 per cent of the population in Manitoba,” Forbes added in the release. "In those communities where it's not...
The availability and adoption of gigabit Internet in Canada is expected to grow this year, with almost three per cent of Canadians subscribing to the service by the end of 2016, according to Deloitte...
The CRTC denied Tuesday the application by Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) and Unifor Local 723M, both seeking to expedite a public hearing on the issue of Rogers Communications Inc....
The CRTC is proposing a new fund to support local TV news programming, which would be funded by existing financial resources within the broadcasting system. The proposal was included a paper released Tuesday, which will be used...
Cisco Systems Inc. on Tuesday announced the opening of its new innovation centre in Toronto. It said in a press release that it's one of nine Cisco Innovation Centres around the world, and it will focus on accelerating and...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) said Monday that Jens Richter, CEO of FremantleMedia Ltd.'s international division, will be part of a keynote conversation at this year's Prime Time in Ottawa event. He will be joined on on the morning Friday, Feb. 5, by Raja Khanna, CEO of Blue Ant Media Inc.'s television and digital operations. FremantleMedia is a global producer and distributor of TV content, including shows such as American Idol, The X Factor and Family Feud. Prime Time is happening from Feb. 3 to 5....
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Monday it has partnered with the University of Regina to deploy new wireless technology manufactured by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. It said in...
If industry and regulators spent much of 2014 talking about the future of TV in Canada, 2016 will provide the first glimpse of what that future might look like. “If 2015 was the year for announcing changes, I guess 2016 will be the year for actually making the changes and implementing them, because there are a lot of things that the CRTC had put...
The Toronto branch of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) announced Friday the appointment of Alistair Hepburn as the new director of independent and broadcast production. It said in the press...
The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) said in a press release Friday it will be responsible for administering the CRTC's new television service provider code of conduct. The new TV code, which...
Television service providers have another 20 months before they are forced to abide by a new code governing their relationship with customers. The CRTC on Thursday released a finalized version of its television service provider...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron announced Thursday it has acquired Fibrenoire, a company that provides fibre-optic connectivity services to businesses, for $125 million. It said in a press release that acquiring the company would help “meet the growing demand from business customers for...
Shaw Communications Inc. on Wednesday began publicizing the first phase in a transformation of its television service that it hopes gives consumers reason to choose its TV service over competitors and over the option of having no TV service at all. It announced the availability of an application called FreeRange TV, which...
Netflix Inc. announced Wednesday that its streaming service is now available to customers in more than 130 new countries, tripling its international availability. "Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global Internet...
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) announced Wednesday the appointment of Laurie McAllister as the new director of ACTRA's performers’ rights society and its recording artists’ collecting society. It said in a press release that McAllister joins ACTRA with experience in television development, production, distribution and business affairs. She was formerly with BCE Inc.'s Bell Media for five years as the director of business affairs for in-house productions, according to her LinkedIn profile. “Laurie brings a tremendous amount of experience and talent to this role. We’re fortunate to have her putting her insights and...
