Netflix hires another lobbyist for Canada

Media | 07/02/2015 7:07 pm EDT

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 makes NFB content available through Optik

Media | 07/02/2015 4:51 pm EDT

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...

Seasonality losing importance in TV: study

Media | 07/02/2015 2:09 pm EDT

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...

CMF to go on cross-country consultation

Media | 06/30/2015 6:33 pm EDT

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...

Netflix’ reach to pass U.S. networks next year: analysts

Media | 06/30/2015 5:41 pm EDT

Netflix Inc.'s audience is already on par with two out of the three major U.S. television networks and will be bigger than all three in about a year, U.S. investment analysts said last week. Chase White and Barton Crockett of FBR Capital Markets & Co. said in a note issued June 24 that Nielson Co. does not issue ratings for Netflix. However, based on what Netflix has disclosed for subscriber numbers and streaming times, the analysts said the 10 billion hours of Netflix content streamed in the first quarter of this year would equate to an average of almost two hours a day per subscriber, or the equivalent of a 24-hour Nielsen rating of 2.6, about the same as Comcast Corp.'s NBC and Walt Disney Co.'s ABC. With Netflix's ratings growing about 40 per cent a year and those...

Samsung fitness bands rank highest in U.S. survey

Media | 06/30/2015 3:17 pm EDT

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. ranks first among fitness-band makers for customer-satisfaction among U.S. residents, while Fitbit Inc. is second, according to a survey by J.D. Power and Associates. It said in a press release...

Cisco to buy cloud security company OpenDNS

Media | 06/30/2015 2:22 pm EDT

Cisco Systems Inc. announced Tuesday it is planning to acquire OpenDNS, a security systems company with offices in San Francisco and Vancouver.   Cisco said in a press release that it will buy the company for $635 million US...

CRTC calls for radio licence applications in Vancouver

Media | 06/29/2015 5:32 pm EDT

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...

Corus launches first kids’ app

Media | 06/29/2015 4:07 pm EDT

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...

Hexoskin shirts available through Best Buy

Media | 06/26/2015 8:20 pm EDT

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...

CRTC approves 7 non-Canadian TV channels

Media | 06/26/2015 4:20 pm EDT

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...

Free WiFi launched in Old Montreal

Media | 06/26/2015 2:52 pm EDT

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...

TV-Internet connections rising: MTM

Media | 06/25/2015 8:10 pm EDT

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...

New OTT options tempting TV consumers: study

Media | 06/25/2015 4:18 pm EDT

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....

CRTC revokes licences for 5 aboriginal radio stations

Media | 06/25/2015 3:59 pm EDT

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 writes off $55M on abandoned IPTV project

Media | 06/25/2015 3:04 pm EDT

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...

Weather Network app launched for Apple Watch

Media | 06/25/2015 2:03 pm EDT

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...

Wearables will increasingly use AI, say techies

Media | 06/24/2015 7:25 pm EDT

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...

Fibre Internet customers more satisfied, says market study

Media | 06/24/2015 7:22 pm EDT

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 Thursday. J.D. Power and Associates said in press release that its most recent study of Internet service satisfaction in the country showed 18 per cent of Canadians reporting a fibre-optic connection, up from 15 per cent a year earlier. Internet customers on fibre reported a satisfaction level of 698 out of 1,000, J.D. Power said. Those getting Internet through cable had a satisfaction score of...

Game of Thrones breaks viewership records: Bell

Media | 06/24/2015 5:52 pm EDT

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 launches free music-streaming service in U.S.

Media | 06/23/2015 7:55 pm EDT

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 ......

Pay app launched for Android, BlackBerry, while Apple users wait

Media | 06/23/2015 7:26 pm EDT

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 completes purchase of AOL

Media | 06/23/2015 6:31 pm EDT

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...

DHX to start trading on Nasdaq

Media | 06/22/2015 8:07 pm EDT

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...

Commercial-radio revenue down 0.5%: CRTC

Media | 06/22/2015 4:56 pm EDT

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...

Carriers ordered to comply in Apple competition case

Media | 06/19/2015 6:29 pm EDT

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 leaving Ottawa

Media | 06/19/2015 5:53 pm EDT

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...

Privacy issues around wearables come into view

Media | 06/19/2015 3:17 pm EDT

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...

Intel buys Recon Instruments

Media | 06/18/2015 8:54 pm EDT

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...

CRTC officials battle over travel expenses: report

Media | 06/18/2015 1:57 pm EDT

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...

OMNI cuts comply with licence terms, Pelley tells MPs

Media | 06/18/2015 12:42 am EDT

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...

International Datacasting shareholders reject acquisition

Media | 06/16/2015 8:09 pm EDT

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 rose sixfold last year: SOCAN

Media | 06/16/2015 7:41 pm EDT

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 total revenue was up 8.4 per cent to $299.5 million, and it distributed $241 million to its members, it said. The results were in line with what the collective had predicted in its preliminary results in February. In the past year, there have been contradictory reports about how strong growth is for music streaming in Canada.  ...

CTV News partners with Facebook for election coverage

Media | 06/16/2015 6:37 pm EDT

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...

BDUs worried about wording in new cancellation regulation

Media | 06/15/2015 8:16 pm EDT

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...

Cellular IoT/M2M connections predicted to quadruple by 2019

Media | 06/15/2015 6:58 pm EDT

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....

OpenMedia fights ‘link tax’ in Europe

Media | 06/15/2015 4:40 pm EDT

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...

Privacy commish criticizes targeted ads on ‘sensitive topics’

Media | 06/15/2015 4:26 pm EDT

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...

Court upholds injunction against Google results for company

Media | 06/12/2015 6:36 pm EDT

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...

PIAC says evidence shows undue preference with Shomi

Media | 06/12/2015 4:34 pm EDT

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...

HuffPost TV channel approved for Canada

Media | 06/12/2015 4:18 pm EDT

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 declines comment on Android report

Media | 06/12/2015 4:12 pm EDT

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...

CRTC vs. Shoan dispute in full public view

Media | 06/11/2015 7:08 pm EDT

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...

NDP, Liberals say OTT services should disclose

Media | 06/11/2015 5:52 pm EDT

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 reaches U.S. deal for Teletubbies with Nickelodeon

Media | 06/11/2015 1:39 pm EDT

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...

Union asks CRTC for expedited hearing on OMNI cuts

Media | 06/10/2015 8:13 pm EDT

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 works with Facebook on ‘Buy’ button

Media | 06/10/2015 6:49 pm EDT

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 merchants to advertise and sell their products.” A new feature along these lines will be beta tested with a group of U.S.-based merchants, Shopify said. The initial group of merchants will receive an invitation that states they will be able to add the “Buy” button to their products via their Shopify accounts allowing users to buy products while on Facebook, the blog said. Shopify merchants can also add a Facebook sales channel to their Shopify accounts...

Peter Steinmetz appointed new Re:Sound chairman

Media | 06/10/2015 3:24 pm EDT

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 to close Blacks stores

Media | 06/09/2015 5:04 pm EDT

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...

Bell/Astral tangible benefits proposals partially approved

Media | 06/09/2015 4:54 pm EDT

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 sells content to Eastern Europe

Media | 06/09/2015 3:08 pm EDT

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...

Com Dev announces satellite contract

Media | 06/09/2015 2:11 pm EDT

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...

OTT messaging struggling to monetize: Juniper

Media | 06/09/2015 2:06 pm EDT

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 to premiere new Degrassi show on Netflix

Media | 06/09/2015 1:33 pm EDT

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 announces new music streaming service

Media | 06/08/2015 8:11 pm EDT

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...

Bell Aliant opens new data centre in N.B.

Media | 06/08/2015 6:19 pm EDT

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...

Blais says ‘click to retail’ next big thing in media

Media | 06/08/2015 5:41 pm EDT

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...

CMPA announces new board of directors

Media | 06/08/2015 3:33 pm EDT

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 expanding to Italy, Portugal, Spain

Media | 06/08/2015 2:32 pm EDT

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...

Shopify teams with Pinterest to create new sales platform

Media | 06/05/2015 3:56 pm EDT

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...

Sports channels drive specialty-channel revenue boost: CRTC

Media | 06/04/2015 8:50 pm EDT

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 numbers released Thursday seemed to back that up. The regulator said in a press release that sports specialty channels, including BCE Inc.’s TSN and RDS and Rogers Communications Inc.’s Sportsnet, increased their revenues to $124.2 million in the 12-month period ending Aug. 31, up 13.6 per cent from a year earlier. That increase was a “major driving force for growth in...

Radio Cancon rules could change: Blais

Media | 06/04/2015 7:03 pm EDT

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...

Showtime streaming available for U.S. Apple customers next month

Media | 06/04/2015 4:48 pm EDT

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...

CRTC to hold public hearing to review CCTS

Media | 06/04/2015 3:31 pm EDT

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...

BDUs say Shomi has not been made available

Media | 06/04/2015 3:12 pm EDT

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...

‘Golden age of TV’ facing changes: panel

Media | 06/03/2015 11:43 pm EDT

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’s IoT platform to deliver new automotive experiences

Media | 06/03/2015 7:17 pm EDT

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...

Robert Blair appointed new Copyright Board chairman

Media | 06/03/2015 5:04 pm EDT

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...

Canadian smartphone data to grow five times by 2020: Ericsson

Media | 06/03/2015 2:20 pm EDT

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’ hockey content brings Sportsnet neck-to-neck with TSN

Media | 06/02/2015 9:22 pm EDT

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 expands licensing service to more countries

Media | 06/02/2015 1:56 pm EDT

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...

Wearable apps to multiply in coming years: IDC

Media | 06/02/2015 1:42 pm EDT

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...

Terms of trade called ‘effectively dead’ after court decision

Media | 06/01/2015 8:45 pm EDT

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...

Changes made to Google’s privacy controls

Media | 06/01/2015 4:23 pm EDT

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 reaches legal settlement with Typo

Media | 06/01/2015 1:52 pm EDT

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 keyboard attachment for smartphones and mobile devices with a screen size less than 7.9 inches. The company will continue to sell the attachment for devices with a larger screen.   BlackBerry sued the company regarding its original Typo product. Last year, a judge put in place an injuction against selling that device. In February, BlackBerry asked the court for an...

Netflix’ share of bandwidth usage grows, BitTorrent’s falls

Media | 05/29/2015 6:11 pm EDT

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...

Non-smartphone, mobile device sales on rise: Gartner

Media | 05/29/2015 3:53 pm EDT

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...

CRTC to review wholesale-Internet tariff process

Media | 05/28/2015 5:10 pm EDT

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...

PIAC complaint against Shomi to go ahead

Media | 05/28/2015 4:39 pm EDT

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...

Tablet market to shrink this year: IDC

Media | 05/28/2015 3:04 pm EDT

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 Payment buys Montreal-based Fans

Media | 05/28/2015 2:15 pm EDT

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 show to premiere on Hulu

Media | 05/28/2015 2:00 pm EDT

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...

Prepare for 5G, says Huawei Canada boss

Media | 05/28/2015 10:45 am EDT

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...

Shomi stand-alone proposal could be financially feasible: analyst

Media | 05/27/2015 9:38 pm EDT

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...

Canadian IP traffic to triple by 2019: Cisco

Media | 05/27/2015 3:02 pm EDT

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....

Misgivings expressed over proposed TV-service code

Media | 05/26/2015 9:31 pm EDT

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...

Social network users spending more time online: MTM

Media | 05/26/2015 7:12 pm EDT

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 plans to raise $140M from IPO

Media | 05/26/2015 6:26 pm EDT

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...

CRTC reluctant to release certain info in Shoan case

Media | 05/26/2015 4:10 pm EDT

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 following a third-party investigation, has requested that all documents used in that investigation, recordings of witness interviews and notes taken of those interviews be provided to him. The CRTC asked in the letter that this material not be made available on the grounds that it was not before CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais when he communicated to Shoan that he...

Charter announces deal to buy Timer Warner Cable

Media | 05/26/2015 3:05 pm EDT

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...

Bell launches Fibe TV app

Media | 05/26/2015 1:43 pm EDT

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...

Videotron rolls out Apple watch app for TV customers

Media | 05/25/2015 8:19 pm EDT

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, Ontario request more funding for CBC

Media | 05/25/2015 7:13 pm EDT

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...

Facebook launches Amber Alerts in Canada

Media | 05/25/2015 3:35 pm EDT

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...

Tap streaming services to fund Canadian productions: CMPA

Media | 05/22/2015 8:06 pm EDT

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’s Pentefountas touts advertising opportunities

Media | 05/22/2015 4:31 pm EDT

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."...

TVO seeks $114,075 refund from documentarian

Media | 05/22/2015 4:15 pm EDT

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...

Is illegal downloading declining in Canada?

Media | 05/21/2015 9:17 pm EDT

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...