Canadian television stations saw a decline in revenues and an even sharper drop in profits last year, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. The federal agency said in online news release that revenue declined 0.7 per cent to $7.57 billion in 2014. Profits before interest and taxes were down 22 per cent to $836.8 million, it said. Statistics Canada said this sector's operating expenses increased 3.2 per cent last year to a total of $6.7 billion. Most of that — $4.8 billion — was spent on programming, which was up 5.3 per cent from the year before. Private conventional TV stations...
Technology research company International Data Corp. said said in a press release Thursday that the global market for wearables grew 223.2 per cent in this year's second quarter with 18.1 million units shipped, up from 5.6 million units shipped in the same period the previous year. IDC said in the release that Fitbit Inc., the fitness tracker, was seen as the top wearable in the market, shipping 4.4 million units in the second quarter of 2015. The release also noted that Apple Inc.’s Apple Watch has already made an impact in the short amount of time since its recent release in...
New reports from International Data Corp. indicate that smartphone shipments will still grow but slow down from its previous expectations, while tablet shipments are expected to decline further than...
Representatives from Stingray Digital Group Inc., Google Inc.’s Google Music and Rdio Inc. will take part in the announcement about the new music service from Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron on...
DHX Media Inc. announced Wednesday it has signed six broadcasters globally to air a new BBC-commissioned TV show called Twirlywoos. DHX said in a press release that the new channels include Lagardère in France, which will...
CBS Corp. and Cablevision Systems Corp. announced on Tuesday that CBS All Access and Showtime streaming services will be delivered to Cablevision’s Optimum Online customers as part of a...
A Gatineau, Que., radio station on Tuesday was granted a seven-year licence renewal but was not relieved of the requirement that jazz and blues make up least 20 per cent of its musical programming. The CRTC said in an online notice that RNC Media Inc. had requested relief from this condition of its licence for CHLX-FM, arguing that this type of music attracts older listeners than its other programming, and this makes it hard to sell advertisements. The station asked for permission to go completely music adult contemporary in its musical selections, the CRTC said. The commission said that the...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division has undergone a number of changes to its executive ranks, with four individuals leaving and one new one coming in. The company confirmed in an email Tuesday that Phil King, president of CTV,...
The federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner has started an investigation into a data breach of customers of Ashley Madison, the website that helps married people have affairs. Valerie Lawton, a spokeswoman for the privacy...
A new report released Monday from Media Technology Monitor (MTM) says 85 per cent of Canadian users of Facebook Inc.’s photo and video-sharing app, Instagram, are younger than 50 and most are prone to owning new technology....
Worldwide transactions using devices connected to the Internet will reach 125 billion annually in volume by 2018, a gain of 60 per cent over what's expected this year, Juniper Research Ltd. said...
The plunge in oil prices could end up hurting telecommunications service providers like Shaw Communications Inc. and Telus Corp., which have a high proportion of their business operations in Alberta, according to a Bay Street...
Worldwide smartphone sales in this year's second quarter grew at their slowest rate since 2013, largely as a result of the first year-to-year decline on record for sales of smartphones in China, Gartner Inc. said Thursday....
Quebecor Inc. on Friday announced it has shut down its Zik music-streaming service, citing a pattern of consolidation in global industry for online music. "Despite the efforts of many independent sites around the world, many...
Wearables and tracking tags are being used more frequently in a wider variety of workplaces to collect statistics on employee productivity, health and satisfaction — tracking the performance of professional athletes, helping...
Two Alberta radio stations were granted licence renewals by the CRTC Friday, though both were denied requested changes to the makeup of the music they play. Harvard Broadcasting Inc.'s CKEA-FM in Edmonton was granted a licence renewal until 2022. However, it was denied a requested amendment that it no longer be required to select 15 per cent of its music from the category known as "special interest music," and that 20 per cent of its blues and jazz selection no longer have to be Canadian. The CRTC said the station appeared to be in non-compliance with the requirement for...
As of Thursday, any Canadian with Internet was able subscribe to Shomi without being a customer of other services from its owners, Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc., though one industry observer said this does not mean these companies have given up on their TV services. Shomi announced Thursday in a...
Canadian chat-app maker Kik Interactive Inc. said Tuesday that it has received a $50-million US investment from China's Tencent Holdings Ltd., maker of WeChat messaging app. Kik CEO Ted Livingston said in a blog post on the...
The CRTC indicated Wednesday that it has updated its policy regarding how TV service providers must use time allotted to them for promotional content on U.S. channels, otherwise known as "local availabilities." As the commission indicated it would do in March, as it revealed new regulations for video-on-demand...
Industry Canada will repurpose the 600 MHz spectrum band for mobile use and collaborate with the United States on the move, which means at least some over-the-air (OTA) television stations will have...
CBC/Radio-Canada is being sued by a resident of Buffalo, N.Y., for allegedly using a video he posted on YouTube without his permission, according to a report from the Canadian Press. An article appearing online Thursday said the suit from Alfonzo Cutaia accused CBC of obtaining the video from Time Warner Inc.'s CNN, which is also named in the suit, and putting it on CBC's website with a CBC logo. Cutaia said CBC also uploaded the video to Yahoo Inc.'s Screen website, according to the report. CP said the video is of a severe snowstorm that hit Buffalo on Nov. 18 last year. It said...
The tendency of major players in Canada's television industry to be involved in both content and distribution is helping the sector deal better with issues such as cord cutting and a declining...
An emerging Canadian provider of over-the-top (OTT) video content hopes that reaching viewers around the world, and particularly those with very specific interests, translates into keys to success in the fast-changing television...
The CRTC renewed the licence for Stingray Digital Group Inc.’s music TV channels, though it imposed a shorter licence term, citing Stingray’s past non-compliance with its licence conditions. The CRTC said Monday that...
BCE Inc. said Friday that it has sold its 15 per cent stake in the Globe and Mail newspaper. It said in a press release it has sold its newspaper stake to Woodbridge Co. Ltd., an investment company run by the Thomson family,...
A South Korean company is aiming to provide blind people with the first-ever braille-display smartwatch this year, and a representative from the Canadian Institute for the Blind (CNIB) says it...
Apple Inc.'s plans to offer live Internet-based television to residents of the United States have been delayed, said a report from Bloomberg on Friday. An article said sources have indicated talks are progressing slowly...
Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization, announced Thursday that its famous children's series Sesame Street will air its next five seasons on Time Warner Cable Inc.’s HBO. The company said in a press...
The CRTC has given two more companies permission to provide television services to small audiences, even though it has technically denied their applications for licences. The commission said Thursday it has rejected an...
Uniserve Communications Corp. on Wednesday made note of a decision from the CRTC last month that set the stage for it and Atop Broadband Corp. to provide television-distribution services in British Columbia under a new exemption order for companies with less than 20,000 subscribers. The decision from the CRTC that was issued July 22 was technically a denial of applications from both companies for licences to operate regional broadcast-distribution businesses. The CRTC noted, however, that these applications were submitted before several determinations made in March relating to Canada's TV...
OUTtv Network Inc. has accused BCE Inc. of an undue preference toward its company in a complaint that appeared on the CRTC's website Wednesday. The LGBT-oriented specialty channel said in a letter to the CRTC that it was...
A report released Wednesday shows that 27 per cent of anglophone Canadians surveyed have four different screens that connect to the Internet — a computer, smartphone, tablet and television. The study, from...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron announced Tuesday it will be releasing an ultra-high-definition (UHD) set-top-box for its customers, making it the first Canadian telecom provider to commercially release such technology. Videotron...
Corus Entertainment Inc. said Tuesday that its new Disney Channel will debut in Canada on Sept. 1. This follows news Corus announced in April that it had struck a deal with Walt Disney Co. for the rights to the U.S. company's content in Canada. Corus said in a press release Tuesday that the Disney Channel will feature shows such as K.C....
The advocacy group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting says CBC/Radio-Canada is refusing to air TV advertisements critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for cuts to CBC. The group said in a press release that the ads in question have been accepted for broadcast, starting this week, on channels owned by BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. A web link to one of the video messages provided by Friends shows several people, described in the release as "non-actors," expressing their appreciation for CBC and lamenting government cuts. One participant says,...
Toronto-based TableRock Media announced on Tuesday plans to launch niche Internet-based video channels for worldwide distribution, starting next year. The company said in a press release that it would create channels dedicated to...
Canadian customers of Netflix Inc. are theoretically obliged to pay sales taxes on this service, even though Netflix does not collect the tax up front, the Toronto Star quoted a federal official as...
The Federal Court of Appeal has approved the National Football League as an intervener in the appeal BCE Inc. has made against the CRTC's decision to ban simultaneous substitution during the Super Bowl, starting in 2017. An...
Individuals fighting BCE Inc.’s appeal of a CRTC decision on its mobile-TV service in the Federal Court of Appeal have called it an “over-the-top” or OTT service, along the same lines of what...
The CRTC on Thursday released final rules for a new category of video-on-demand (VOD) services in which operators can avoid regular broadcast regulations, even if the service is offered through a broadcast-distribution...
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is contributing more than $6.2 million toward development and marketing funds for 28 digital-media projects as part of its first round of experimental stream funding for this year. It said Thursday in...
BCE Inc. said Thursday that its gigabit Internet service will launch Monday for 1.3 million households in Ontario and Quebec. It added that it will be available to households in Atlantic Canada by the end of September, resulting...
Videology Inc. said Thursday that the number of ad campaigns delivered on mobile platforms in Canada increased 260 per cent in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter. It added that 47 per cent of all advertising...
Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday posted a video of himself on Twitter standing in front of a screen with a Netflix logo and criticizing calls for taxes on video-streaming services. In the video, Harper said he is a fan of movies and TV shows, particularly Breaking Bad, which he notes is “even available on some online streaming services, if you’ve never seen it.” Harper added that he is running for re-election as prime minster and is against taxes on video-streaming services such as those offered by Netflix Inc. and Google Inc.’s YouTube. He said this is...
Global service revenue from 5G wireless connections will skyrocket from $100 million US in 2020 to $65 billion US in 2025, Juniper Research Ltd. said Wednesday. The British research company said in a press release that 2020 is...
The Canadian Media Fund said Tuesday it is contributing $6.1 million toward 12 projects as part of its aboriginal program. The CMF said in a press release that the funding will go towards five...
Google Inc. said Tuesday that this Thursday's federal election debate will mark the first time such an event has been broadcast live and in full on its YouTube platform. Google's blog post noted that this debate...
The National Football League (NFL) said in court documents Tuesday that it did not participate in the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV review because the regulator did not give notice that it was...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) has appointed Reynolds Mastin as CEO following the departure of Michael Hennessy. It said in a press release Thursday that Mastin joined the CMPA as associate counsel in 2008. Previously, he articled at the CRTC and served as a legal counsel at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. Mastin said in the release he intends to strengthen "relationships with our longstanding industry partners, both in Canada and abroad, while bringing into the tent the new players in content creation and distribution that are remaking the media landscape as...
Canadian companies’ recent embrace of gigabit Internet isn’t meeting a need that exists in the market, but it is setting telecoms up for the day customers start demanding such speeds, according to Greg MacDonald,...
Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. (ECGL) launched a Part 1 application Tuesday to amend the CRTC's new rules regarding Canadian content requirements for broadcasters with fewer than 200,000 subscribers. The company requested...
CBC/Radio-Canada announced Tuesday that more than 22 million Canadians watched some part of the Pan Am Games that aired from July 10-26. The public broadcaster said in a press release that nearly 2.16 million Canadians tuned in...
The National Football League shouldn’t be granted leave to intervene in BCE Inc.’s challenge of the CRTC’s decision to eliminate simultaneous substitution during the Super Bowl, the...
New data from Juniper Research Ltd. predicts the number of Internet of Things (IoT)-connected devices in the industrial and public services sectors will triple by 2020. The research company said in a press release Tuesday the...
Streaming is often perceived as a competitor to the traditional TV system, but the introduction of a new service in the U.S. raises the possibility that instead of one replacing the other, the two could merge into a new hybrid...
The CRTC has approved the distribution of the U.S-based Africa Channel in Canada. BCE Inc. applied to bring the channel to Canada in March. The CRTC noted Bell described the channel as “a 24-hour general interest service...
Rogers Communications Inc. said in its quarterly results that its revenues grew six per cent over the past year, from $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion. “Wireless revenue increased as a result of greater smartphone sales, higher network revenue from the continued growth in data use by our...
Stingray Digital Group Inc., a provider of music content through both traditional TV channels and streaming apps, announced Thursday it will acquire three TV music channels in order to expand its broadcast offerings. The Montreal-based company said in the release that it is buying Brava NL, Brava HD, and Djazz TV, three channels broadcasting music and cultural content "distributed to an estimated 35 million subscribers in 50 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and the Caribbean." “Stingray is always on the lookout for opportunities to further expand its global footprint and diversify its highly-successful offering. We will leverage these three channels to strengthen our relationships with Pay-TV operators and their subscribers worldwide, and to solidify our position as the leading B2B provider of quality music...
The National Communications Federation (FNC-CSN) and the union representing Radio-Canada employees are criticising a recent report on the future of the CBC/Radio-Canada issued by the Senate’s transport and communications...
BlackBerry Inc. announced Wednesday that it plans to acquire AtHoc Inc., a software provider for secure networked crisis communication. The new platform will be integrated with BlackBerry’s existing secure system and will offer its enterprise customers safe, secure and mission-critical...
Canadian millennials are more active on mobile devices than other demographics, while Canadians aged 35 and above still slightly prefer using a desktop, according to the new global mobile report by...
TekSavvy Solutions Inc. is appealing a cost award in a dispute over filesharing with Voltage Pictures LLC. TekSavvy initially said it would appeal the order in March, following a court decision that set the price Voltage must pay...
New rules for monitoring Canadian children’s and youth television programming have been put forward by the CRTC. The commission said Tuesday in a press release that beginning Sept. 1 television licensees must record and log their program target audience, as well report program expenses based on their target audience in their annual returns. By collecting this data, the commission said in the release, it “will be in a better position to determine whether regulatory action is warranted to ensure that Canadians have adequate access to Canadian children’s and youth programming.” It also noted that it created new target audience markers in order to create consistency and avoid overlapping when collecting data, and that results for this year must be included when...
The Senate's transport and communications standing committee is recommending that CBC/Radio-Canada “explore alternative funding models and additional ways to generate revenue to minimize the...
PayPal Holdings Inc. announced Monday in a press release its separation from Ebay Inc. is complete and it will now be an independently traded company on the Nasdaq. “Mobile technology is transforming payments, making it...
The CRTC announced Monday it plans to review rules for French-language vocal music on the radio. It said in a release that it would re-examine the current framework in order “to ensure that it...
The practice of sharing passwords so that more than one person or household can access a streaming service has financial ramifications for the industry, according to a new report, though it could also provide new services with a...
The National Football League has filed for permission to be an intervener in BCE Inc.'s appeal against the CRTC's decision to start banning simultaneous substitution during the Super Bowl. A motion filed by the NFL with...
Netflix Inc.'s growth in subscriber numbers and revenue continued on an upward trajectory in the second quarter, yet its profit was cut to about a third of what it made last year as international expansion costs added up....
Corus Entertainment Inc. on Tuesday reported declining revenue in its third quarter in both its television and radio operations, as it ended the period with a net loss of more than $8 million The company said in a press release...
Morgan Elliott has taken on the job of vice-president of regulatory and government relations at Shaw Communications Inc., according to his LinkedIn profile. The profile indicates Elliott started the job in June. It also indicates that during the same month he left his job as vice-president of government relations at...
Telus Corp. said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to sell the website of the Blacks photography retail operation to Montreal-based photo finishing company Les Pros de la Photo. It said in an emailed statement the sale will close on Aug. 4, at which time the purchasing company will do business as Blacks.ca. "The timing of this sale ensures our customers will be able to continue using the site and app without interruption to order the same quality products they’ve come to expect from Blacks," Telus said. A "small number" of Blacks employees will be offered jobs under the new owner, Telus said. Last month, Telus announced it was closing all Blacks retail outlets. Blacks has operated for more than 80 years. It was purchased by Telus in 2009 for $28 million shortly after BCE Inc. acquired The Source....
A community group is launching a class action lawsuit against the MAtv community channel owned by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron. Independent Community TeleVision (ICTV) said in a statement on its website Tuesday that it...
Wearable devices could replace everything in our pockets, eventually wiping out smartphones in five to 10 years, says one wearable-technology company CEO. However, others say functionality, design and...
Canadian television production company DHX Media Ltd. said Tuesday that an Italian broadcaster has acquired the rights to its Teletubbies children's series, including the new season currently in production and 14 past seasons...
BCE Inc. will make its CraveTV streaming service available to all Canadians as of Jan 1., 2016, it said in a press release Monday, in what marks a change in strategy for the company. Bell Media president Mary Ann Turcke said...
The website for the Pan Am Games, underway in Toronto, has had a rule indicating a ban on unauthorized links removed. On Friday, the following quote appeared on the terms-of-use section for the website Toronto2015.org: "Links to this Site are not permitted except with the written consent of TO2015™. If you wish to link to the Site, you must submit a written request to TO2015™ to do so. ... TO2015™ reserves the right to withhold its consent to link, such right to be exercised in its sole and unfettered discretion." A similarly worded statement was seen in its place...
A potential sale of the Shopping Channel could net Rogers Communications Inc. $300 million, which Cannacord Genuity analyst Aravinda Galappatthige said is an “attractive price” for the...
“Sharp” price hikes in wireless service over the past year are prompting people to reduce how much they spend on other telecommunications services, according to a Conference Board of...
The CRTC has opened a consultation on a number of decisions it made as part of its Let's Talk TV review of television services ahead of making official changes to its broadcasting regulations to include them. It is consulting...
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan and the government, who are battling in court over a finding that he committed workplace harassment, have reached an agreement on keeping the identities of individuals involved in this case private. A...
The use of live-streaming apps such as Periscope and Meerkat has helped journalists provide unfiltered, live as-it-happens moments for viewers, according to some proponents, though others claim such technology compromises the...
A new piece of technology is causing controversy within Canada’s oldest broadcast medium. Over the past months, some radio stations in Canada have quietly begun using a device called Voltair in an attempt to improve their ratings — at least until ratings service Numeris stepped in and told them to stop a few weeks ago. Now Numeris says...
The CRTC said Wednesday that two separately owned French-language commercial radio stations in Gatineau, Que., will be allowed to combine their sales teams. The stations involved are Cogeco Cable Inc.-owned CKOF-FM, which has a...
Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday it is cutting as many as 7,800 positions primarily as a result of restructuring its phone hardware business. The company said in a press release that this will result in a write-down of about $7.6...
Rogers Communications Inc. said Tuesday that Rick Brace will become president of its media division later this summer, replacing outgoing media president Keith Pelley. Rogers said in a press release that Brace will assume the new role on Aug. 10. It said he has more than 35 years of sports and media experience, including presidential roles at TSN — which he helped start — and CTV. In November 2013, BCE Inc. announced that Brace would be retiring at the end of that year as president of specialty channels and CTV production. In the press release from Rogers Tuesday, Brace said:...
The CRTC erred in finding that BCE Inc. gave itself an undue preference with the pricing of its mobile TV product because the Telecommunications Act does not apply to this case, Bell argued in a court document Monday. Bell said the CRTC committed a jurisdictional error in its decision earlier this year, in which it...
The CRTC said Tuesday that it has approved a request from soccer TV channel Gol TV, owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., to have its broadcast licence revoked as of Aug. 31. The notice on the CRTC's website said Gol TV has a Category 2 specialty channel licence and it would cease operations at the end of August. The application...
Companies spent $138.7 million on TV-related tangible benefits in Canada in the 12 months ended Aug. 31 last year, marking a 27 per cent increase from a year earlier, according to TV-industry research...
The volume of online and mobile messaging will increase 70 per cent over the next four years, Juniper Research Ltd. said Tuesday. The research group said the number of emails, instant messages, social media posts, and text...
A new study conducted by Miner & Co. Studio. suggests watching regular cable TV is declining among kids in the United States, who would prefer to watch their favourite shows on a smartphone or tablet. The report released Monday noted that 57 per cent of parents surveyed said their children would prefer to watch shows on other devices because they are able to take the device anywhere, the devices have easy interfaces, and kids are able to watch and re-watch shows at any time. The sense of freedom and independence that children get when using a tablet or smartphone is another reason why 58...
International Datacasting Corp., the Ottawa-based maker of broadcasting technology, said Monday that Chris Barrett and Steeve Huin have been appointed co-CEOs of the company. Barrett and Huin replace Doug Lowther, who will be...
ADR.TV said Friday that it has applied to Federal Court for a judicial review of the CRTC's decision in August 2013 not to grant it mandatory carriage on basic TV packages in Quebec past Aug. 31...
The federal government has filed a notice of motion in Federal Court to keep certain details under wraps in the judicial review CRTC Commissioner Raj Shoan is seeking of a process that found he committed workplace harassment. A...
Rogers Communications Inc. said in a press release late Thursday afternoon that its acquisitions of Mobilicity and wireless spectrum from Shaw Communications Inc. have received all necessary approvals and are now closed. Both...
Susan Marjetti has been appointed executive director of radio and audio for CBC's English services, CBC/Radio-Canada announced Tuesday. CBC said in a news release Tuesday that Marjetti has been with the broadcaster for almost...
Netflix Inc. has hired Environics Communications Inc. to lobby the Canadian government on its behalf, The Lobby Monitor reported this week. It has three new filings under Environics, represented by three different Ottawa-based...
Telus Corp.’s Optik TV customers will now have access more than 1,000 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) films on their TV via a new app. Telus announced Thursday in a press release that the NFB app is now available to...
Shifts in TV consumption reveal most Canadians aren't concerned about seasonality of popular TV shows, according to a new study conducted by Videology Inc. Videology said Thursday in a press release that 39 per cent of...
The Canadian Media Fund (CMF) said Tuesday it will be going across the country for a consultation process this fall. It said in a press release that the consultation process will include several components, including focus groups in 18 different cities across all provinces and territories, and industry working groups. Some of the topics that will be discussed by CMF stakeholders during this consultation include shifts in consumption habits, market conditions and the impact on CMF’s funding programs due to the CRTC’s television regulatory changes, the release said....
