The CRTC is asking for applications for radio stations in the Vancouver area, which it said in its “preliminary view” would “best be served by proposals targeting the ethnic communities,” though it noted that it would consider other types of applications. Last year, the CRTC said it would hold a hearing to look into three radio stations it said were in violation of the Broadcasting Act by operating out of British Columbia's Lower Mainland and having their signals transmitted from the United States back into Canada without a CRTC-issued licence. In a decision in...
Corus Entertainment Inc. announced Monday the launch of TreehouseGO, its first kids' app in a "full suite" of TV Everywhere apps based on its kids' television brands. The company said in a press release that the launch of the apps is part of a move to expand Corus’ digital content. The release said the app is safe and easy to use for children and has full-length episodes of some of Treehouse’s popular children’s shows, which can be watched on demand, on live TV, and offline. The app is free and can be downloaded by users of Apple Inc.’s iOS and Google Inc.’s Android software. “If you are not a Treehouse subscriber, you will be able to explore the app and view a limited sampling of popular Treehouse content, but will not have access...
Hexoskin, a Montreal-based maker of shirts that capture biometric information about people, said this week that its products were to become available on the Canadian website of Best Buy Co. Inc. as of Friday. The company said in...
The CRTC on Friday granted approval for seven non-Canadian television channels to be distributed in Canada, six of which were sponsored by BCE Inc. The stations approved, which Bell Canada sponsored, included: Radio...
The City of Montreal has started deploying free WiFi in parts of Montreal, according to a notice on its website. It said the service launched in Old Montreal and some surrounding areas on Thursday after getting funding from the...
New data from Media Technology Monitor (MTM) indicates growth in connections between television sets and the Internet. MTM, a project of CBC/Radio-Canada, said in a report released Thursday that 42 per cent of anglophone...
A new study from Digitalsmiths, a subsidiary of TiVo Inc., shows almost 60 per cent of TV-service customers in Canada and the U.S. are spending more than $100 US a month for their subscriptions, and about one in four are unsatisfied with their service, which is the highest level since 2013. Dissatisfaction mainly came from increasing fees that TV-service providers are charging, said the report released last week. The report said that because 55.7 per cent of respondents were highly aware of new over-the-top (OTT) services, this could cause problems for cable and satellite service providers....
The CRTC said it was yanking the broadcast licences of five aboriginal radio stations, all operated by a company called Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc., for years of non-compliance with licence conditions and radio regulations. The...
Shaw Communications Inc. on Thursday reported a decline in its quarterly income with much of the drop attributed to a $55-million write-down taken on an abandoned IPTV project. Shaw said in a press release that it started work in...
Pelmorex Media Inc. announced Thursday the launch of a new Weather Network app for Apple Inc.’s Apple Watch. “The Apple Watch is one of the must-have tech accessories this year and as Canada’s leading weather...
OTTAWA — Those in the wearables industry envision the day when their products are taking less direction from humans and doing more thinking for themselves — in other words, incorporating more artificial intelligence...
The proportion of Canadians connected to the Internet by fibre is rising and these people are more satisfied with their Internet service than others, according to market research data released...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division said Wednesday that the June 14 season finale of Game of Thrones on HBO Canada broke a record for the most-viewed pay- or specialty-TV broadcast of all time in this country. It said there were...
Google Inc. announced in a blog post Tuesday it will be adding to its current Google Play Music offering a free, ad-supported music streaming service. It will give users “a new way to find just the right music and ......
A mobile payment application owned and supported by Canada's three biggest wireless providers was announced Tuesday for Android and BlackBerry phones, while iPhone users are left waiting for Apple...
Verizon Communications Inc. announced Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of AOL Inc. The press release stated that “AOL is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon." Verizon had announced in May that AOL would be bought for about $4.4 billion US. Verizon also will be launching a mobile video service this summer, according to an article from Multichannel News. The service will launch in the United States before expanding to other countries, the article said....
DHX Media Inc. announced Monday the company was approved to list and start trading on the Nasdaq on Tuesday. “Listing on the Nasdaq represents a significant milestone in the continuing evolution of DHX Media,” CEO...
The CRTC on Monday said commercial-radio revenue in Canada was down 0.5 per cent for the 12 months ended last August, describing the trend as “stable from the previous year in spite of competition from satellite, online and...
The Federal Court has ordered wireless carriers to provide information being asked for by the Competition Bureau as it looks into whether Apple Inc. engaged in anticompetitive practices related to sales of its iPhone. BCE Inc.,...
Industry Minister James Moore said Friday that he will not run in this fall's federal election. Moore said in a statement posted to his personal website that he will finish his term as MP before "going home to British...
As wearable technology moves further into the mainstream, thoughts are turning toward how individual privacy can be protected with such devices that track and transmit information as personal as health data and real-time location. Among the projects the Office of the Privacy Commissioner is slated to tackle over the next year is an analysis of fitness-tracker privacy and security. This project “will examine the relationship between the data collection and transmission practices of fitness-tracking devices, the cloud services they integrate with and how third parties may obtain access...
U.S. technology giant Intel Corp. has purchased Vancouver-based wearables maker Recon Instruments, the company said in a blog post Wednesday. Recon makes smart eyewear for sporting activities such as cycling and running. Recon...
The soured relations between CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais and Commissioner Raj Shoan extend beyond Shoan's court fight against worker-harassment findings and into arguments over travel expenses, according to a report. The...
OTTAWA — Amid grilling before the House of Commons heritage committee on Wednesday, Keith Pelley, president of Rogers Communications Inc.’s media division, repeatedly stated that despite recent cuts to news...
Shareholders of broadcasting-technology maker International Datacasting Corp. have rejected the proposed sale of its key assets to a San Diego-based company. International Datacasting,...
Music-streaming revenue reported by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) increased from $3.4 million in 2013 to $21.3 million in 2014, the organization said in a press release Tuesday. Its...
BCE Inc.’s CTV News announced Tuesday it has partnered with Facebook Inc. for coverage of this year's federal election campaign. CTV said in a press release the partnership starts immediately and continues until the...
Canadian TV providers are worried the wording the CRTC proposed to prohibit policies requiring 30-day notice to cancel TV services could be interpreted to apply to the cancellation of individual...
The number of cellular Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) connections globally will nearly quadruple between 2014 and 2019, technology research group 451 Research LLC said Monday....
Canadian-based activist group OpenMedia is trying to drum up support against measures in Europe that would introduce fees for search engines and aggregation websites that use text excerpts to promote links to news articles. OpenMedia said in a news release that the European Union is considering a policy for the harmonization of copyright laws across the continent that would encourage countries to implement fees for snippets of text used when linking to news stories, which would affect companies such as Google Inc. and Reddit Inc. It said Germany and Spain already have a "link tax" in place, while Austria is considering one. OpenMedia spokeswoman Meghan Sali said in the release that small publishers are hurt by such measures. "This idea has already been an absolute...
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said in a report Monday that some targeted ads are tracking online behaviour related to “sensitive topics,” such as divorce and pregnancy, without...
The British Columbia Court of Appeal this week upheld an injunction against a certain company turning up in Google searches because the company is alleged to be infringing on the rights of another...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) told the CRTC that evidence presented by other parties supports its case that Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.'s Shomi has not been distributed in line with...
The television channel of AOL Inc.'s Huffington Post, called HuffPost Live, has been approved for distribution in Canada, the CRTC said Friday. A notice on the commission's website, said an application put forward by the...
BlackBerry Ltd. declined Friday to comment on a report that it was considering using Google Inc.'s Android software in an upcoming smartphone. Reuters reported Thursday that four sources with knowledge of the matter said BlackBerry was considering using the Android operating system as a way to shift its focus more toward software and device management, and less on creating the actual devices. In an emailed statement, BlackBerry said: "We don’t comment on rumours and speculation, but we remain committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which provides security and...
The federal government and the CRTC have been unsuccessful in their attempt to have documents in the Federal Court case CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has brought against the CRTC shielded from public view, for the time being. It...
In supplementary comments on a House of Commons heritage committee report on the feature film industry, the federal NDP and Liberal parties said government should have access to information about revenues and viewership of...
DHX Media Inc. announced Thursday it has licensed the new Teletubbies series exclusively to Viacom Inc’s Nickelodeon division in the U.S. The press release said the popular children’s...
A union representing media workers is asking the CRTC to hold a public hearing within the next month on cuts to Rogers Communications Inc.’s OMNI stations, and to reinstate eliminated ethnic newscasts. Unifor filed a Part 1...
Shopify Inc. said Wednesday it is working with Facebook Inc. to allow Shopify's own clients to sell and advertise products using Facebook’s “Buy” button. Shopify said in a blog post: “For the last year, we've been working closely with the team at Facebook to create a solution for Shopify...
Peter Steinmetz is the new chairman of Re:Sound Music Licensing Co.’s board of directors, the organization said Wednesday. The organization, which is the copyright collective representing musical artists and labels in...
Telus Corp. said Tuesday it will close all Blacks retail outlets by Aug. 8. The company said in an emailed statement that despite changes implemented over the last year at these photography-centric stores, it has been...
The CRTC on Tuesday said it had approved some of BCE Inc.'s proposals for how to manage tangible-benefits payments relating to its acquisition of Astral Media in 2013, though one specific proposal...
Blue Ant Media Inc. announced Tuesday sales of more than 100 hours of nature and wildlife content from its factual, lifestyle, reality and documentary series catalogue for distribution in Eastern Europe and other international locations. The company said in a press release that it sold content to AMC Networks Inc.’s global division for distribution in Central Europe, ITI Neovision SA for viewing in Poland, and Discovery Communications Inc. for consumption in Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “Blue Ant International is thrilled that our robust slate of premium...
Com Dev International Ltd. on Tuesday announced a multimillion-dollar deal to develop satellite equipment. It said in a press release that it will develop multiplexers and switches that will be built over the next year in...
Over-the-top (OTT) messaging services are expected to see traffic levels triple globally by 2019 compared to last year's levels, but a lack of success in monetizing the product will lead to a decline in global revenue for the...
DHX Media Ltd., announced Tuesday that it will be premiering Degrassi: Next Class, a new series part of the Degrassi franchise, on Netflix Inc. The company stated in a press release that the show will be available on Netflix...
Apple Inc. announced Monday its new music streaming subscription service, called Apple Music. The company said in a press release that the service will be available via an app to subscribers in more than 100 countries starting...
BCE Inc.’s Bell Aliant announced Monday that its new data centre in Saint John, N.B. is now fully functional and open for business. The new $25 million data centre met the Tier III certification from the Uptime Institute, which “requires that the engineering design and commissioning of the facility is executed to a specific standard,” said spokeswoman Katherine VanBuskirk in an e-mail. Only one out of 11 centres in Canada hold this “gold standard for data centres”, the release stated. "We are particularly proud of this facility. Not only does it make good...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais touted the merits of "click to retail" as the next big thing for the future of media during a speech Sunday at the Banff World Media Festival. According to speaking notes released by the CRTC, Blais said: “Now imagine creating a sit-com set in a clothing shop. Now...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) announced Monday the results of its board of directors election. The release stated that Jamie Brown of Frantic Films was re-elected as chairman of the board. It named the...
Netflix Inc. announced it will be expanding its video-streaming services to Italy, Spain and Portugal. The company announced in two separate press releases on Thursday and Saturday last week that it would be available in the...
Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify on Tuesday said it has teamed with social networking website Pinterest to provide businesses a new way to sell things directly to online audiences. Shopify...
In recent years, it has almost become conventional wisdom in the industry that sports content is a good way for broadcasters to buffer themselves from trends toward cord-cutting and online video, and...
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said Thursday that rules regarding Canadian content for radio stations might change to help stations compete in the digital age. According to speaking notes for a presentation to the Western...
CBS Corp. said Wednesday that it will offer Showtime as an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service to customers of Apple Inc. in the United States, starting next month. The launch will coincide with the...
The CRTC said Thursday it will hold a public consultation to review the structure and mandate of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS). The consultation will include a public hearing, which will...
Some companies have disputed the notion put forward by Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. that their video-streaming service Shomi has been made available to other service providers. In filings to the CRTC that were due this week in an undue-preference complaint against Shomi, Telus Corp. said that Rogers and Shaw did not make Shomi “available to BDUs other than Rogers and Shaw in a timely manner.” It said that when BCE Inc. offered its CraveTV service to other TV providers, it did so with “sufficient notice to facilitate commercial negotiations and...
TORONTO — There has never have been a better time than now to be a consumer of television, it was said during a panel discussion Wednesday at the Canadian Telecom Summit, but it was also discussed how big changes are afoot,...
BlackBerry Ltd. announced in a press release Wednesday that it will demonstrate its new automotive software, which allows for wireless updates, at this year's TU-Automotive Detroit auto show. The new software will help automakers reduce maintenance costs and expensive recalls, improve customer satisfaction, and keep...
Industry Canada announced Wednesday the new appointment of Robert Blair as the new chairman of the Copyright Board of Canada. Blair was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in November 2003 and served for 12 years as a...
The new Mobility Report published Wednesday by Ericsson predicted that Canadian smartphone data usage will grow five times between 2014 and 2020, the company said in a press release. Ericsson...
Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. both used Numeris data Tuesday to proclaim their sports channel is No. 1 in the market, a virtual tie that Rogers said was enabled by its hockey content. Sportsnet president Scott Moore said Rogers’ five-year, $5.2 billion deal with the NHL, which began this broadcast year, was one of the main reasons for Sportsnet’s significant growth in audience. “There has been gigantic growth … If you put it in historical and global context, five years ago, if you took these same metrics, we were half of TSN’s audience,” Moore...
DHX Media Ltd. announced Tuesday that its full-service international licensing agency, Copyright Promotions Licensing Group (CPLG), will expand business offices to the Middle East, Turkey and Greece. The company said in a press...
The number of third-party applications for smart wearable devices is expected to surge from 2,500 last year to 349,000 by 2019, International Data Corp. said Tuesday. The research company said in a news release that most of these...
The Federal Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed the Canadian Media Production Association’s attempt to appeal the CRTC’s decision to eliminate terms of trade agreements, in what a former...
Google Inc. announced Monday changes to its privacy and security settings. It said in a blog post the changes will include an easier way of managing user privacy controls, as well as the creation of a new website that answers questions about privacy and security settings. In the past, account holders had to sift through several of the search...
BlackBerry Ltd. said Monday in a press release it reached a settlement agreement in its disputes with Ryan Seacrest's Typo Products LLC. The release said that Typo will permanently discontinue the sale of its...
In North America, Netflix Inc. now accounts for 36.5 per cent of peak period, downloaded network traffic, a new report from network management provider Sandvine Inc. said, up from 34.9 per cent...
As demand to be connected to the Internet on non-smartphone mobile devices increases, so do the sales of such products, according to Gartner Inc. The company said in a press release Friday that more than 112 million...
The CRTC said Thursday that it will review the application process and methods for determining tariff rates for large cable and telephone providers selling wholesale high-speed Internet access. The CRTC said it will review the...
An undue preference complaint against Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.’s streaming service will proceed despite the companies’ plans to widen its availability. On Wednesday, Rogers and Shaw announced Shomi would be available to all Canadians with an Internet connection on an over-the-top (OTT) basis this summer, and that they would negotiate with TV and Internet service providers who want to carry the set-top box version of the service. The CRTC is currently considering a Part 1 complaint against Shomi, brought forward by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre...
International Data Corp. said Thursday that worldwide shipments of tablets and 2-in-1 devices will decline in 2015. It said in a press release that there will be an annual decline of 3.8 per cent from last year for 221.8 million...
Optimal Payments PLC, an Isle of Man-based company that provides transactional technology, said Thursday it has bought Montreal-based Fans Entertainment Inc., which created a consumer mobile app for fans attending Montreal...
DHX Media Ltd. announced Thursday that it has signed a deal with Hulu to premiere Dr. Dimensionpants to its U.S. subscribers. Josh Scherba, senior vice-president of distribution at DHX, said in the press release that he is happy...
The president of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.'s Canadian unit is calling for policy-makers, businesses and academics in Canada to come together and help prepare the country for the coming of 5G networking technology. At a...
At some point this summer, Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.’s Shomi streaming service will be made available to customers of other TV and Internet service providers (ISPs), expanding its user base beyond Rogers and Shaw subscribers. Shomi senior vice-president and general manager David Asch said Wednesday in a phone interview that Shomi would be available to all Canadians with an Internet connection on an over-the-top (OTT) basis. The set-top box version of the...
Canada’s data usage over Internet protocol networks will triple by 2019 in comparison to what it was last year, according to Cisco Systems Inc.’s latest Visual Networking Index report that was released Wednesday....
A number of Canadian broadcast distributors have taken issue with aspects of the CRTC’s proposed code governing the relationship between TV providers and their customers, including the requirement that distributors must...
Anglophone Canadians who use social networks spend an average of about three hours more each week online than Internet users in general, according to a report released Wednesday. Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. announced Tuesday that its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange will include 22.4 million voting shares for total proceeds of $140 million. Based on these prices, market capitalization...
The CRTC is asking that certain information requested by commissioner Raj Shoan in a Federal Court case he has brought against the government not be released. A letter notes that Shoan, who was accused of workplace harassment...
Charter Communications Inc. announced Tuesday it is acquiring Time Warner Cable Inc. for $78.7 billion US, including the assumption of debt. At the same time, Charter Communications said in a press release that it is buying a...
BCE Inc. on Tuesday announced the release of a new Fibe TV app, which it said will allow customers to access this TV service anywhere, at any time, on any screen. The new app gives Fibe TV subscribers access to over 7,000 hours of on-demand programming and can be downloaded for free for Apple...
MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has launched a new app for Apple Inc.’s smartwatch that the company hopes will increase discoverability of channels available though its cable packages and appeal to early...
Quebec and Ontario are making the case to federal political parties for more financial support for CBC/Radio-Canada. The offices of Jean-Marc Fournier, Quebec’s minister of Canadian intergovernmental affairs, and Madeleine Meilleur, Ontario’s minister of francophone affairs, said in a joint press release Monday that the NDP and Liberals accepted an invitation to a meeting held that day, and that Fournier presented them with observations from a report that was published last week. The release said funding for the CBC has increased 0.5 per cent between 1990 and 2014, compared to...
Facebook Inc. said Monday that its users in Canada will receive Amber Alert notifications to help find missing children. Amber Alert notifications will be sent to residents living in the area where the child is missing, Facebook...
OTTAWA — Streaming video services like CraveTV and Shomi can and must be regulated as broadcasting entities in order to ensure funding for Canadian programming, the Canadian Media Production...
CRTC vice-chairman of broadcasting Tom Pentefountas told those at the Future TV Advertising Forum in Toronto Thursday that the industry is entering "an exciting new era in broadcasting" that will allow many industry participants, including advertisers, to "excel in a fast-evolving environment."...
Ontario public broadcaster TVO said Friday it is terminating an agreement with White Pine Pictures Inc. for a documentary on Premier Kathleen Wynne and seeking to refund $114,075 that it says was paid to the company. TVO said in...
Copyright-enforcement company CEG TEK International said recently that it’s seen a significant fall in the piracy of its clients’ content in Canada over the past few months, which it attributes to the inclusion of settlement demands in its copyright infringement notices. CEG TEK was cited in a press release from a group called the Internet Security Task Force last week as saying peer-to-peer piracy of content owned by its 125 clients dropped among the five largest Internet service providers (ISPs) in Canada over the past 13 weeks. The most dramatic decline was on BCE Inc.’s...
Corus Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday it has reached a deal with BCE Inc. to receive CTV programming for three TV stations in Ontario. It said in a press release CKWS-TV in Kingston, CHEX-TV in Peterborough and Channel 12 in...
Kevin Crull, former president of BCE Inc.'s Bell Media unit, will join Sprint Corp. as chief marketing officer at the end of this month, Sprint said Wednesday. The company said in a press release that Crull will report to Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure and his responsibilities will include customer...
Music streaming provider Spotify AB said Wednesday that it has added video to its offerings, along with several other features. "We know there are times in the day you want to switch between music to catch up on the latest news, listen to your favourite podcast or simply watch something...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division on Tuesday said Stuart Garvie would be its next president of sales. Garvie will fill the position left vacant by Mary Ann Turcke, who last month replaced Kevin Crull as Bell Media's...
DHX Media Ltd. said Wednesday that it has reached a deal to license the global publishing rights to Twirlywoos, a TV show for preschoolers for which Halifax-based DHX produces, distributes and manages the marketing rights. The...
UpSnap Inc., a Toronto-based provider of mobile-ad services, said Wednesday that it grew its revenue in the first quarter and reduced losses. It said in a press release that overall revenue was up 33.1 per cent from a year earlier to $1.4 million. Revenue specifically from mobile advertisements rose 66.5 per cent over that time to $1.2 million, it...
IT-services company CGI Group Inc. said Wednesday it has teamed up with Baseline Telematics to use real-time vehicle metrics to help insurance company set their rates. CGI said in a news release it...
The CRTC said Tuesday it has approved the sale of a Quebec radio-station operator with certain conditions. Attraction Radio Inc. is buying Gestion Appalaches Inc., which operates CKLD-FM and CFJO-FM, both in Thetford Mines, as...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) argued in documents filed Thursday in the Federal Court of Appeal that its challenge of a CRTC decision eliminating terms of trade should proceed because it was not given sufficient notice that the CRTC was considering getting rid of the agreement, which guaranteed certain rights for producers. Rogers Communications Inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc. had argued against the CMPA’s appeal, launched in April. An affidavit by Susan Wheeler, president of regulatory affairs for Rogers' media division, filed on behalf of Rogers and Corus,...
