The CRTC denied an application by Groupe Média TFO, Ontario’s French-language public broadcaster, for a must-offer order that would have required TV providers to offer its French-language educational TV service in English-language and French-language markets across the country. TFO had argued in its application that “maintaining and expanding its reach were issues of concern,” given it had difficulties reaching distribution agreements with TV providers in several francophone communities in the West. TFO stated that “it would be in the interest of these communities to have access to TFO’s educational television service,” and added that “its service plays a unique educational role, encourages the development of Canadian expression and...
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. said Thursday that all of its TV customers will have access to BCE Inc.’s TSN GO and CTV GO mobile apps for free. MTS said in a press release that the apps are available through Apple Inc.’s iTunes or Google Inc.’s Google Play Store, and said that its customers can also log in through a web browser to get access. “Enhancing the customer experience is our top priority,” Heather Tulk, chief customer officer for MTS, said in the release. “With the addition of TSN GO and CTV GO along with the current MTS TV to Go app, our...
TORONTO — The newly elected Liberal government has indicated infrastructure will be a priority, and that could include telecom infrastructure, said lawyer Chris Tacit during a panel...
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan told a group of broadcasting professionals this week that radio operators should look at how they can become a bigger presence on smartphones in order to hold their own against an increasing number of...
Cisco Systems Inc. announced Tuesday it is partnering with Carleton University and providing a $1.8-million grant over the next nine years to establish a research chair in sensor technology for the...
The Television Bureau of Canada (TVB) announced Wednesday it has appointed Kathy Gardner to the newly created position of vice-president of media insights. TVB said in a press release that Gardner will oversee research and...
T-Mobile US Inc. announced Tuesday it will be launching a new service for its Simple Choice mobile plan customers that allows free video streaming from several services without it cutting into their LTE-data limits. It said in a press release that the new service, called Binge On, will allow users unlimited access to video from services such as Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, HBO Now, Sling TV, Starz and WatchESPN. It added that Verizon Communication Inc.’s GO90 and AT&T’s DirecTV streaming services — owned by companies that operate competing wireless services — will also...
Apple Inc. has made its music-streaming app available for Android devices. The Apple Music website now includes a link, that takes users to the Google Play store, to download what it calls a "beta" version of the app...
The Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) announced Tuesday that Catherine Cano will become its new president and general manager. The privately-owned, not-for-profit television service said in a press release that Cano’s...
A majority of Canadians reported in a survey this year they are users of Google Inc.'s YouTube video-streaming service, with the likelihood increasing among those further up on the income and...
A report from independent consultant and lawyer Peter Miller and research company Nordicity says that 50 per cent of Canada’s small- and medium-market local TV stations could...
An Ottawa-based subscription news website covering federal matters has been awarded $13,400 plus interest after the subject of one its articles was found to have breached copyright by obtaining a copy of the story without paying a...
Ontario residents are not moving as fast toward newer ways of getting TV content, such as IPTV and Netflix, as other parts of the Canada, according to newly released figures. Survey results released last week from Media...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) has reached an agreement with online TV and film rights marketplace RightsTrade that will give CMPA members “preferred access” to RightsTrade sales tools, marketplace...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media said Monday that its streaming service, CraveTV, will debut its first original series — a comedy called Letterkenny — on Feb. 7. Bell Media noted in a press release that this happens to be...
Cisco Systems Inc. and Ericsson AB announced Monday they are combining efforts to develop networking technology in areas such as mobile, routing, cloud and data centres. The companies said in a news release that this represents "a global business and technology partnership to create the networks of the future." The release said the two technology giants will combine their efforts to accelerate the pace of technology development and provide "end-to-end leadership across network architectures including 5G, cloud, IP and the Internet of Things — from devices and sensors to access and core networks to the enterprise IT cloud." The partnership is expected to boost...
Corus Entertainment Inc. said Monday that its version of kids' specialty channel Disney XD will start broadcasting in Canada in December. It will join its other Disney-branded stations, such as Disney Channel and Disney...
The number of Canadian households abandoning TV-service subscriptions from Canada’s biggest providers during the first nine months of this year was almost seven times higher than during the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by consulting company Boon Dog Professional Services Inc. Boon Dog said...
The CRTC on Friday made certain clarifications about the policy implemented early this year to prohibit providers of telecommunications services from requiring 30-days' notice of subscription...
The CRTC announced Friday that the second of two En Route events leading up to its Discoverability Summit will be held in Montreal on Dec. 3 with discussions focusing on French-language markets. The CRTC announced Tuesday...
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. said Friday that it has partnered with Telus Corp. to create a lab to help develop 5G technology. It said in a press release that the project, called the 5G Living Lab, will design, test and deploy new technology in order to “deliver a next-generation converged fibre-wireless network in downtown Vancouver.” “Working with Huawei, our efforts will lay the groundwork for delivering a converged fibre-wireless network with the potential to deliver dramatically faster wireless speeds, thereby improving citizens’ lives and generating significant...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media will cut 380 jobs in Toronto and Montreal this month, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. There will be 270 jobs axed in Toronto, with 220 in production, editorial and operations, 45 in...
The full text of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, published Thursday by the government of New Zealand, shows that the agreement will place limits on rules around blocking Internet...
Sylvain Lake, Alta., will remain without any dedicated local radio service after the CRTC denied two applications on the grounds they would hurt stations in other communities — in particular, Red Deer, Alta. The CRTC said...
BCE Inc. reported net earnings of $791 million in the three months ending on Sept. 30, up 12.5 per cent from the same time period a year earlier. Its revenues were up 2.9 per cent, from $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion. The company...
Rogers Communications Inc. said Thursday it will launch a new 24-hour specialty channel aimed at millennials next year as part of its partnership with Vice Media Inc. It said in a press release that the new channel, called...
Quebecor Inc.'s third-quarter financial report showed the company is seeing strong gains in the areas of mobile service and its over-the-top streaming service, Club Ilico. The company said in a press release Thursday that...
Navdeep Bains, MP for the Ontario riding of Mississauga-Malton, was named minister of innovation, science and economic development on Wednesday, a post intended to replace what was previously the...
Quebecor Inc. announced Wednesday that its music division will now be headed by Lyne Robitaille, who will become the senior vice-president of newspapers, books and music. It said in a press release that Distribution Select,...
BCE Inc. announced Wednesday that the popularity of its Fibe TV service has made its the largest TV provider in Canada for the first time with more than 2.7 million customers across the country. Bell said in a press release that its broadband Fibe and FibreOP TV services provide customers with features that other TV providers do not offer, and noted that “product innovation has been the key to Fibe TV’s popularity." The release also indicated that according to a study from research company, Nielsen Co., Fibe TV and FibreOp TV were the top two services recommended by...
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said Tuesday that it has shut down the Canadian-based video-streaming site Popcorn Time through a court injunction. The MPAA said in a news release Tuesday that it has obtained an...
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is asking that the affidavit of John Traversy, outgoing secretary general of the commission, be struck from the record in a Federal Court case — in which he's fighting a finding that he...
Rogers Communications Inc. announced Tuesday that its Sportsnet network had its highest viewership ever in October, highlighting that 21.1 million Canadians watched some part of the Major League...
The notion that "content is king" is challenged in a new report that points out that connectivity services take in significantly more revenue than content providers in Canada and have seen...
The CRTC announced Tuesday it is partnering with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) to host two events that will lead to a large summit, in order to start a discussion on discovering content across Canada, the U.S. and other countries around the world. The regulator said in a press release that there will be two half-day events, called En Route, which will lead up to the Discoverability Summit: Content in the Age of Abundance that will take place in May of next year. It added that the summit will “be a forum for learning and creative discussions with respect to new strategies,...
Mascon, a small telecom service provider in British Columbia, announced Monday that it is now offering a skinny-basic TV package for $20 a month, getting a head-start on the CRTC requirement that packages for no more than $25 a...
The Canadian Media Fund (CMF) announced Tuesday it is funding five productions that are part of its francophone minority program with $2.6 million. CMF said in a press release that the funding is part of the second...
The idea of a merger between Canada's two biggest cable providers — Shaw Communications Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. — is on the radar again, with at least two market analysts saying the conditions are right...
Tom Pentefountas, the CRTC vice-chairman of broadcasting, will wrap up his five-year term with the commission on Nov. 20, he said in an email to staff Monday. Pentefunas was appointed vice-chairman of broadcasting in 2011....
Telus Corp. announced Monday it is providing more than $3.2 million in funding for more than 60 new local content projects in Western Canada this year through its Optik Local community programming. It said in a press release that...
Rhapsody International Inc.’s music subscription service, Napster, announced Monday that its subscription service is now available in Canada. It said in a press release that, for a limited...
BlackBerry Ltd. announced Monday it has completed its acquisition of Good Technology Corp. and will begin integrating its software security solutions to its mobile enterprise platform. It said in a press release that the...
Global cloud traffic will be four times higher than what it was in 2014 by 2019, Cisco Systems Inc. said this week, rising to 8.6 zettabytes from 2.1 zettabytes. Cisco said in a press release Wednesday that its fifth annual...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division has asked the CRTC to approve the disaffiliation of two TV stations it owns in British Columbia from CBC/Radio-Canada. Bell Media filed applications with the commission, which appeared online this week, that indicated that CJDC-TV in Dawson Creek and CFTK-TV in Terrace were properties of Astral Media, operating as CBC affiliates, that came under the control of Bell as a result of its 2013 acquisition of Astral. It said in a note to the commission that it reached an agreement with CBC for the disaffiliation of these channels to take effect Feb. 22, and now...
CBS Corp. has picked up CBC/Radio-Canada sitcom Mr. D and will be creating a U.S.-based version, according to an online report by Postmedia Network. Postmedia reported that Gerry Dee, the creator and star of the show that is...
The Canadian Media Fund (CMF) said Friday that a fund it manages in partnership with Belgium-based production financing company Wallimage SA has awarded $400,000 to a multimedia project called Riftwood: Heroes. The project was...
Global smartwatch shipments were up 510 per cent in this year's third quarter from a year earlier, with 6.1 million units shipped compared to one million during the same period the previous year,...
The CRTC said in the final installment of its communications monitoring report Thursday that the percentage of households subscribing to TV services fell to 82 per cent in 2014 from 83.7 per cent a...
A union representing French-language employees of CBC/Radio-Canada is demanding the resignation of the public broadcaster's CEO, Hubert Lacroix, and its entire board. The Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada (SCRC) cited last week's federal election that saw the Liberal party led by Justin Trudeau defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives as the basis for such action. "In a context of changing the federal government, we believe (current CBC) management has no legitimacy," SCRC chairwoman Isabelle Montpetit said in a French press release. "While the new government has promised to reinvest in culture and in CBC/Radio Canada, Hubert T. Lacroix and his team stubbornly implement its 2020 plan. Their interest is not that of maintaining public radio...
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has released a new touch-screen device, powered by Android software and suitable for web browsing and video streaming, but it is "not a tablet," according to a company spokesman. Samsung and BCE Inc. said in a joint press release Thursday that the new Galaxy View, with its 18.4-inch...
Juniper Research Ltd. said Thursday that global smartphone shipments in this year's third quarter totalled 342.5 million, representing growth of 8.4 per cent. It said in the press release that Apple Inc.’s iPhones...
Cogeco Cable Inc. announced Wednesday that Tony Ciciretto, CEO of its business unit Cogeco Peer 1, will be stepping down and replaced by chief technology and strategy officer Philippe Jette. “It is with regret that we are...
The CRTC approved Wednesday an application from Corus Entertainment Inc. on behalf of OWN Inc., the Oprah Winfrey Network, to amend certain conditions of its broadcasting licence as well as its terms-of-trade agreement. The...
Worldwide smartphone shipments grew 6.8 per cent from a year earlier in the third quarter to 355.2 million units, up from 332.6 million units in the same period the previous year, according to a new report from International...
The Competition Bureau said Wednesday that it has determined that Rogers Communications Inc.'s 12-year deal that gives it national rights to NHL content in Canada has not "resulted in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition." It said in a press release that it considered the deal's effect on prices TV-service providers...
Apple Inc.'s mobile payment system is coming to Canada but will be, at least initially, limited to holders of credit cards from American Express Co. Apple CEO Tim Cook, during a conference call Tuesday to discuss the...
The European Commission voted Tuesday to set net neutrality rules for the first time in the European Union law. The new law, which was detailed in a fact sheet on the commission’s website, will include no blocking or...
BCE Inc.’s advertising division, Astral Out of Home, announced Tuesday it is launching new interactive advertisement panels to be featured in transit shelters in Toronto. It said in a press release that 10 interactive screens, called TSA Interactive, will launch in November and will provide video and audio to engage with consumers. The release added that this will be the first time these screens will be installed and are “designed to bring advertising campaigns to life.” The release also noted that the system will provide ad content such as movie trailers, new car features,...
BCE Inc. is again turning to the courts over a CRTC decision, this time asking the Federal Court of Appeal for leave to appeal the CRTC’s Wholesale Code. In documents filed Thursday, Bell...
BCE Inc.’s media division has launched a TV-everywhere app for five Discovery Canada channels, and said Discovery GO would soon begin offering 4K content. The company said in a press release Monday that programming from...
Yahoo Inc. said in its third quarter financial results that it incurred a $42 million US loss on its original TV video content. Ken Goldman, chief financial officer for Yahoo, said during an earnings conference call with analysts...
Canadian Netflix Inc. subscribers will be the only ones able to stream Walt Disney Co.'s Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2016. A Netflix representative confirmed in a phone call that the seventh installment, and latest...
Commissioner Raj Shoan has brought another case against the CRTC to court, asking the Federal Court of Appeal to limit the ability of the CRTC chairman to assign commissioners to panels that make decisions on issues before the regulator. A document submitted to the court by Shoan’s lawyers asked the court to prohibit CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais from “convening and naming panels of Commissioners where the authority to do so in respect of an application, complaint, review or representation is not explicitly granted to him” by the Telecommunications Act, Broadcasting Act or...
The CRTC announced Friday that all telecom service providers (TSPs) that fall under the purview of the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) will remain CCTS members on an interim basis until final...
Canadians spent 14.1 per cent more on wireless services in 2014 than they did in 2013, while last year also marked the first time there were more Canadian households that relied exclusively on mobile phone service than households...
The Commissioner for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) said Thursday that VOIS! Inc., an Alberta-based telecom provider, has breached its regulatory obligations towards its customers. CCTS said in a press release that after an...
The CRTC denied Thursday a transfer of ownership application submitted by NMTV Inc., a national third-language general interest ethnic specialty channel. The application, which was filed on Aug. 1, requested the commission change...
Rogers Communications Inc. announced Thursday in its third quarter results it saw a 40 per cent increase in net income to $464 million, up from $332 million the previous year. It said that there was an increase in revenues for its wireless, cable and media divisions in the three months ending Sept....
Shaw Communications Inc. announced Thursday a 43.8 per cent increase in its fourth quarter profits. It said in its quarterly results that its net income for the three months ending Aug. 31 was up 43.8 per cent to $276 million, up...
Google Inc.’s Youtube announced Wednesday it will launch a new paid video subscription service that will have ad-free original content. It said in a blog post that the service, called Youtube Red, will be available on all...
CRTC announced Wednesday that the Hamilton, Ont. and Burlington, Ont. radio market cannot add any more commercial radio stations, turning away an application filed by Byrnes Communications...
The CRTC has renewed the broadcasting licence for radio station CICR-FM in Parrsboro, N.S., located about two hours north of Halifax, for a shorter 20-month term after finding the station in non-compliance with its regulatory requirements. The regulator said Wednesday the issues of non-compliance included not providing complete logs and records and logger tapes, as well as regulations "relating to the obligation to provide all information relevant to the Commission’s...
The CRTC granted Radio Humsafar Inc. a broadcasting licence to operate a new ethnic commercial AM radio station in Brampton, Ont. while denying two other applications. The regulator said in the...
Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.’s Shomi announced Wednesday that it is partnering with Facebook Inc. to show the first episode of a three-part horror TV show on the social media site the same day it...
CBC/Radio-Canada said in a press release that it has secured the broadcasting rights for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and the 2024 Olympic Games. CBC will become the official broadcaster for the next five Olympic Games...
Canaccord Genuity analysts Aravinda Galappatthige and Sanford Lee said Tuesday that they expect a Liberal majority government, as elected Monday, to take a “softer pro-wireless new entrant...
Forty per cent of Canadians are aware of mobile-payment methods, up from 35 per cent a year earlier, but only 10 per cent are using their mobile phones to make payments on a weekly basis, according to survey results released Tuesday by consulting firm Accenture Inc. It said in a press release that in the U.S., Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay is the most popular app to make payments and the lack of mobile payments being made in Canada could be because it has not yet been introduced in Canada. The release added that 11 per cent of Canadians would use Apple Pay if it was made available....
OTTAWA — Concern about the equal treatment of all data transmitted over the Internet is going to have to take a backseat with the Internet of Things (IoT), a California-based technology-security expert said at the Government Technology Exhibition and Conference (GTEC) in Ottawa on Tuesday. Tyson Macaulay, chief...
The CRTC said Tuesday it will consult on its policies regarding certified independent production funds. It said the primary objective of the consultation would be “that these funds contribute to the development of a robust...
A telecom-market analyst says incumbent telecommunications-service providers would benefit under a Liberal government. Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan said in a research note released the Friday before Monday's election:...
Yellow Pages Ltd. announced Monday that data from its online digital platform that provides information on Canadian businesses will be directly linked and offered on Apple Inc.’s Apple Maps. It...
Amid reports that text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will not be released before Monday's federal election, the office for International Trade Minister Ed Fast says Canada is pressing its partners in the trade pact for the immediate finalization and release of the agreement. "There are 11 other TPP...
An undue-preference complaint against a music streaming service offered by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has Rogers Communications Inc. arguing that zero-rating the service is a net-neutrality...
The Supreme Court on Thursday denied BCE Inc.'s appeal of damages it was ordered to pay Quebecor Inc. subsidiaries for the hacking of Bell's satellite-TV service a decade or more ago and the lost revenue that resulted...
Most French-speaking Canadians watch some English television and film, and most of those do so at least once a week, according to a newly released survey. CBC/Radio-Canada's Media Technology Monitor said in a report released...
Telus Corp. on Thursday said customers of its Internet of Things commercial vehicle-tracking service can now access a data-based insurance product helps them save costs and encourage safe driving. Telus said in a press release that Fleet Complete, its partner in the IoT-based service called Fleet Tracker, has teamed with Intact Insurance Co. to create an application called Fleet Solution, which existing customers of the tracking service could be eligible for. The technology will track metrics such as braking, acceleration and speed in real time, adding to the service Telus has offered since...
Netflix Inc. reported 30 per cent annual growth in quarterly revenue on Wednesday, though its net profit in the third quarter was half of what it was at the same time in 2014. The over-the-top (OTT) streaming company said in a...
The Competition Bureau said Wednesday it has reached a deal with BCE Inc. in which the company will pay a fine of $1.25 million for urging employees to make positive online reviews about Bell apps. The bureau added in a press...
In the past 18 months, Ottawa-based TV app-maker You.i TV has grown from 20 employees to 130, and the company expects that kind of expansion to continue in the next year, according to Matt Nelson, You.i TV’s director of marketing. “Basically, anyone who has a channel, anyone who has a...
The Canada Media Fund and the Australian government, through the Screen Australia agency, are investing $800,000 into an initiative for digital interactive projects. “With 50 film and...
DHX Media Ltd. announced last week it has appointed Michael Serafini as vice-president of programing at its DHX Television division, which oversees a stable of kids' channels under its Family brand. Serafini was most recently the interim executive director of content planning for television at CBC/Radio-Canada, and before that was its senior director for content planning and acquisitions, DHX said in a press release. “With more than 15 years in the Canadian media industry, Michael brings a wealth of knowledge, ingenuity and expertise of the broadcast landscape to our team,”...
In full election platforms released last week, the NDP is promising to implement changes to Canadian privacy law and look into Internet of Things (IoT) privacy, the Conservatives are pledging funding for rural broadband and...
Bloomberg TV Canada will debut on Nov. 16, the Canadian broadcaster that will be operating the channel said Tuesday. Channel Zero Inc. added in a press release that it has hired Pamela Ritchie — who was an on-air...
DHX Media Ltd. said Tuesday that it has reached deals with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that will see two of its main children's shows air on Australia's public broadcaster. DHX, a Canadian content producer and...
Sports fans are an ideal market to sell 4K content to in its early stages, say analysts, though at least one expert says this quality of video has not yet achieved "must-have" status. Richard Grunberg, associate...
Online information leaker WikiLeaks published on Friday what it said were parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that reveal provisions for Internet service providers to block access to content...
RNC Media Inc. is asking the CRTC to relieve it of a licence condition for its radio station CHLX-FM in Gatineau, Que., that requires it to pay $8,000 a year toward the development of Canadian...
CBC/Radio-Canada said Thursday that Tara Ellis is its new executive director of scripted content. The public broadcaster said in a press release that Ellis will be in charge of teams producing comedies, dramas, kids' programming and digital originals. Ellis was most recently senior director of original drama content...
The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada is investigating two letters Conservative MP Parm Gill sent the CRTC while serving as a parliamentary secretary. In 2013, the...
Netflix Inc. has raised pricing for new Canadian customers signing up for its standard package by $1, to $9.99 a month, according to its website. The increase applies to the package that includes high-definition content and allows the same account to be viewed on two screens simultaneously. A basic package with no HD content and that can only be viewed on one device at a time remains $7.99 a month, while the premium package that includes 4K content and usage of up to four devices at a time is still $11.99. Bloomberg reported that prices will not rise immediately for existing customers, and that Netflix implemented identical price increases in the United States and Latin America, following a similar price hike in Europe earlier this year. Netflix last raised the price for its standard package in Canada by $1 a month in the spring of last...
