YouTube plans new subscription channels: report

Media | 01/30/2013 9:02 pm EST

YouTube plans to offer paid subscriptions to a new set of online TV channels, Ad Age reported. YouTube, owned by Google Inc., has approached some content providers and TV channels about the creation of new online YouTube channels...

Canadians still tuning in to traditional TV, MTM report says

Media | 01/29/2013 10:30 pm EST

An increasing number of Canadians own media-rich smartphones and tablets as fewer watch television over the Internet exclusively, a new report by Media Technology Monitor (MTM) said. “Despite...

Revenues, losses climb at theScore

Media | 01/29/2013 9:27 pm EST

TheScore Inc. reported higher revenues and losses in the first fiscal quarter of 2013 as the company invested in developing a new mobile platform, the company said. In an earnings report released Tuesday, theScore said its $1.5 million in revenues over the three-month period that ended Nov. 30, 2012 was 50 per cent higher than the $1 million in...

Babinski appointed EP of City Montreal

Media | 01/29/2013 9:26 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. subsidiary Rogers Media appointed Bob Babinski as its executive producer and local content manager for Citytv Montreal, Rogers said Monday. In a release, Rogers said Babinski will oversee City Montreal’s Breakfast Television morning show and Connected Montreal, a 30-minute weekly sports show. Rogers noted that Babinski...

APTN seeks 40 cent carriage rate to better connect, reach aboriginal youth

Media | 01/28/2013 10:28 pm EST

The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Inc.’s (APTN) proposed 40-cent carriage fee will help the company expand its online presence and reach 50 per cent of aboriginal youth over a new seven-year licence term, APTN CEO Jean LaRose said. APTN is among six broadcasters seeking to renew their mandatory distribution or “must offer” licences for specialty channels before their current licences expire. The CRTC said last Monday that it had received 22 applications from broadcasters seeking these mandatory distribution orders for specialty channels under section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act. As part of that proceeding, APTN has proposed to increase its regulated per...

ATN going HD in March

Media | 01/25/2013 5:27 am EST

The Asian Television Network International Ltd. (ATN) will offer its ATN channel in high definition beginning March 1, ATN said Wednesday. In a release, ATN said it is currently working to deploy its flagship channel in high definition after bringing its new broadcasting station in Markham, Ont. into full operation. ATN said it was implementing other programming changes, and would not renew Hindi programming service ZEE...

CBC to launch Waterloo FM station in March

Media | 01/23/2013 9:37 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada said it will open its new Kitchener, Ont.-based FM radio station on March 11 to serve residents of the Waterloo region. In a release Tuesday, CBC said the new station, which will include a “digital...

BCE ‘reverse onus’ challenge in court next month

Media | 01/23/2013 8:41 pm EST

The Federal Court of Appeal will hold a February hearing on BCE Inc.’s challenge of the CRTC’s “reverse onus” rule for complaints about anti-competitive practices, according to court documents. Bell is...

Record NHL ratings could help broadcasters reclaim lost revenues, experts say

Media | 01/23/2013 7:13 pm EST

Hockey fans are watching televised NHL games in record numbers following a 113-day lockout, allowing broadcasters to slowly claw back lost revenues, broadcasters and industry experts said. Jeffrey...

Videotron appoints Charette as branding VP

Media | 01/23/2013 3:50 am EST

Quebecor Media Inc. subsidiary Videotron Ltd. appointed Sylvie Charette as its new vice-president of branding and interactive media, the company said. In a release Tuesday, Videotron said Charette will play a leading role in promoting the company's brand in Quebec “in order to maintain its stature” in the province. The...

Newcap fielding offers for western radio assets

Media | 01/23/2013 3:47 am EST

Newfoundland Capital Corp. Ltd.’s subsidiary Newcap Inc. is considering selling its western broadcasting assets, Newfoundland Capital said Tuesday. In a release, Newfoundland Capital said the assets include 32 radio stations, six repeater licences and two television stations, primarily in Alberta. The company said it had not yet...

Only ‘public service’ channels will receive mandatory carriage, experts say

Media | 01/22/2013 10:56 pm EST

Broadcasters will face a tough task convincing the CRTC that their channels offer a distinct and unique public service in order to gain guaranteed access to Canadian homes, industry experts say. “It’s a long-shot for everybody and rightfully so,” Pierre-Louis Smith, principal and...

CRTC opens consultation on 9(1)(h) applications

Media | 01/21/2013 10:56 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada, Quebecor Media Inc. and ZoomerMedia Ltd. are among 21 broadcasters seeking CRTC mandatory distribution orders for carriage of their specialty channels, the CRTC said. In a notice of consultation posted on the commission website Monday, the CRTC said it will consider 22 applications for mandatory distribution of channels under section...

Where are Canada’s startups? The second tier, emerging tech hubs

Media | 01/21/2013 8:02 pm EST

Startup activity across Canada is spreading to smaller, unlikely cities. While well-known tech startup hubs like Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Vancouver and Montreal continue to thrive, more entrepreneurs are looking at lesser-known options like Calgary and the small coastal town of Lunenburg, N.S., to launch tech companies. Nova Scotia’s university culture and government funding opportunities make it attractive for tech companies to move, emerge and grow there, particularly in the small community of Lunenburg, while Calgary’s “get it done” mentality, according to a community member there, is fostering a tech hub characterized by an older demographic. Chris Adams,...

CMF awards $4.2 million to digital media startups

Media | 01/18/2013 9:33 pm EST

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) awarded $4.2 million to 19 Canadian companies as part of its Experimental Stream fund for innovative projects, the organization said Wednesday. In a release, the CMF said the funding is part of the second round of the 2012-2013 Experimental Stream that will help projects through development and marketing support. It said 12...

OMNI.2 to feature ethnic programming exclusively

Media | 01/18/2013 9:25 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc.’s OMNI.2 conventional television station will feature ethnic-focused content “exclusively,” OMNI said Friday. In a release, OMNI said the Ontario-based station willl feature an additional 35 hours of ethnic-focused content as of Jan. 21. The content will include multilingual documentaries, exclusive coverage...

Girouard gets three more Category B licences

Media | 01/17/2013 9:40 pm EST

The CRTC approved applications by Paul Girouard for three more Category B specialty channels, the commission said Thursday. In the first decision, the CRTC said the national, English-language Flying Television channel would be dedicated to all aspects of flight including airplanes, pilots and stories about air travel. In a second decision, the...

OWN to get more educational programming: Cassaday

Media | 01/16/2013 9:18 pm EST

Corus Entertainment Inc. is creating more educational content for its Oprah Winfrey Network Canada (OWN Canada) channel in order to meet the channel’s CRTC licence requirements, John Cassaday, the broadcaster’s president and CEO, said in a call with analysts. The CRTC said in December that it was looking at possibly revoking Corus’...

Rogers asks CRTC to keep The Score a must offer channel, with lighter licence conditions

Media | 01/16/2013 9:17 pm EST

Growth in sports news websites has changed the competitive environment for the sports specialty channel genre and created a need for more relaxed regulations on The Score’s licence conditions, Rogers Communications Inc. said in a CRTC application to acquire the sports news specialty channel. While the company has asked the CRTC for lighter licence conditions, it is also asking the commission to maintain the channel’s “must offer” designation, setting it apart from...

Where are Canada’s startups? 165 foreign buyouts since 2004

Media | 01/16/2013 10:27 am EST

In March 2009, Waterloo, Ont.-based Research in Motion Ltd. acquired Certicom Corp., a Mississauga, Ont. technology security company, in what seemed a rather routine purchase of a Canadian tech startup. The purchase stands out today because a Canadian company bought a Canadian startup, which is rare. Of the roughly 165...

Q1 TV revenues fall at Corus

Media | 01/15/2013 10:12 pm EST

Corus Entertainment Inc.’s consolidated revenues fell by five per cent in its first fiscal quarter of 2013 due to lower revenues across its television sector. In a financial report released Monday, Corus said its consolidated radio and TV revenues for the three-month period that ended Nov. 30, 2012 totalled $226.15 million, down six per cent from...

Cogeco profits fall as subs and revenues climb

Media | 01/15/2013 9:38 pm EST

Cogeco Cable Inc. recorded higher revenues, increased subscribers and lower profits in its first fiscal quarter of 2013, the company said. In a quarterly report released Monday, Cogeco said its revenues for the three-month period that ended Nov. 30, 2012 climbed to $327.9 million on the backs of increased Canadian subscribers, up four per cent from...

Co-founder Murphy leaves CGO

Media | 01/15/2013 7:46 pm EST

Canadian Gamers Organization (CGO) co-founder Teresa Murphy left the group she helped create after a dispute with the group’s other founder over an ongoing copyright case. In a message posted on her Facebook page Monday, Murphy said she and fellow CGO co-founder Jason Koblovsky had differing views about a court case in which Voltage Pictures LLP...

Rogers, Shaw forge deal for spectrum, cableco, broadcast assets

Media | 01/14/2013 11:28 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. may have found the additional mobile spectrum it was seeking to better compete with rival carriers Telus Corp.and BCE Inc. in Western Canada, and at the same time added to its cable business in Ontario. In a deal announced after markets closed Monday, Rogers said it secured an option to purchase,...

CIPPIC asks to intervene in Voltage-TekSavvy case

Media | 01/14/2013 10:35 pm EST

A Federal Court judge adjourned a hearing to determine whether TekSavvy Solutions Inc. must turn over 1,100 of its customers’ names to Voltage Pictures LLP as the court prepares to hear arguments as to whether the Canadian...

Following value-for-signal, LPIF decisions, analysts question future of CTV Two

Media | 01/14/2013 10:19 pm EST

BCE Inc. will not make any moves to downsize its stable of local television stations while its proposed acquisition of Astral Media Inc. is under consideration by the CRTC, even if the company wishes...

Channel Zero shut out of U.K. TV licences, so far

Media | 01/14/2013 10:15 pm EST

Channel Zero Inc. was shut out of bids for two over-the-air broadcasting licences in Scotland, and may have to wait months to learn the fate of four more licence applications in the United Kingdom. In May 2012, U.K. broadcast and telecom regulator Ofcom said it would accept applications for 21 over-the-air broadcast licences to foster the creation of...

Astral profits rise, expects CRTC hearing in spring

Media | 01/11/2013 10:11 pm EST

Astral Media Inc.'s profits rose to $59.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013, the company said Thursday. In a release, the TV specialty channel and radio broadcasting company, which is seeking CRTC approval for an agreement to be acquired by BCE Inc. for $3.38 billion, said profits were up from $55.8 million in the same period a year earlier. For the three-month period ended Nov. 30, 2012, Astral said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose four per cent to reach $93.7 million. Consolidated revenues for the company totalled $274.5 million in the quarter, up from $271.1 million in the same period a year earlier, the release said. Astral said its cash flow also rose “slightly,” from $69.0 million in the first quarter of 2012 to...

Where are Canada’s startups? ‘Scrounging up’ funding

Media | 01/11/2013 8:04 pm EST

Limited funds and the complex process of obtaining them are one of the key obstacles making it difficult for Canada’s technology startups to grow and remain in Canada, experts and tech entrepreneurs say. One of the biggest and most common challenges facing Canada’s tech startups is financing, Roberta Fox, chair...

Angel investors get another $100,000 in funding

Media | 01/11/2013 3:38 pm EST

A $100,000 investment from the federal Conservative government will allow Maple Leaf Angels Corp. to connect more angel investors with startups in southern Ontario, said Gary Goodyear, the minister of state for federal economic development in Ontario. A release said the investment will help Toronto-based Maple Leaf Angels, a not-for-profit organization...

Telus dropping Viacom channels due to dispute

Media | 01/11/2013 3:10 pm EST

Telus Corp.'s Optik TV will no longer carry Viacom Inc. channels Spike TV and BET starting Feb. 28, Telus said. In a notice on its website Tuesday, Telus said “all other channels in the Adventure and Entertainment Extra...

Interactive fantasy sports channel approved

Media | 01/09/2013 10:23 pm EST

The CRTC approved new specialty licences for a fantasy sports channel and a science, technology and nature channel. In a decision Wednesday, the CRTC said Fight Media Inc. applied to operate a new television service devoted to...

New working group will promote Canadian media

Media | 01/09/2013 10:17 pm EST

A new working group will promote Canadian film, television and digital media, the CRTC, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Telefilm Canada said in a joint release Wednesday. The group was created from feedback drawn at the Symposium on the Promotion of Canadian Films and Television Programs in Canada and Internationally, the release said. Members of the working group include Barbara Williams, co-chair at Shaw Communications Inc. division Shaw Media; Michael Hennessy, co-chair of the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA); Trish Dolman; Claude Galipeau; Gavin McGarry; Robin Mirsky-Daniels; Brad Pelman; Mary Powers; Helga Stephenson; and Serge Sasseville, senior vice-president of corporate and institutional affairs at Quebecor Media Inc., the release said. Williams and Hennessy will...

Shaw profits higher as cable TV losses continue

Media | 01/09/2013 7:53 pm EST

Shaw Communications Inc. reported higher profits for the first quarter of its 2013 fiscal year despite further subscriber losses in its cable TV segment. On Wednesday the company reported profit of $235 million for the first...

CTV to live stream Super Bowl

Media | 01/08/2013 10:50 pm EST

The Super Bowl will be streamed live for the first time in Canada, through the CTV.ca website, the Bell Media division of BCE Inc. said Tuesday. In a release, CTV said it plans to stream Super Bowl XLVII as well as NFL playoff...

Experts urge CBC to sell more programming internationally to help deal with cuts

Media | 01/08/2013 8:39 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada should expand its negotiations covering international distribution deals for TV programs to reduce the cost of creating original shows and provide more support for its independent...

Telus expands LTE to Sudbury

Media | 01/07/2013 9:31 pm EST

Telus Corp. extended fourth-generation LTE mobile services to customers in Sudbury, Ont., the company said. In a release in late December, Telus said more communities will receive access to LTE in the “coming months”...

Competition Bureau approves Alliance acquisiton

Media | 01/07/2013 9:27 pm EST

The Competition Bureau issued a “no action letter” related the proposed acquisition of Alliance Films Holdings Inc. by Entertainment One Ltd. In a release Jan. 3, the bureau said it was initially concerned by the purchase, in which eOne will purchase all of Alliance’s outstanding shares, because the new entity would be in a position...

Roku passes 700 apps

Media | 01/07/2013 9:12 pm EST

The Roku Inc. online TV device and streaming platform now has more than 700 channels, or apps, the company said Monday. In a release, Roku said the more than 700 channels means it has more television entertainment content than any other streaming device. The company said it added new channels and...

VoodooVox appoints new CEO

Media | 01/07/2013 9:04 pm EST

George Cooney was appointed CEO at Toronto-based consumer analytics company VoodooVox Inc., the company said Monday. In a release, VoodooVox said Cooney, who has more than 30 years of experience in the mobile marketing, communications and Internet technology sectors, will also serve as a board member. Cooney previously held senior management positions at Nortel Networks in the areas of strategy, operations, finance,...

Al Jazeera to launch American channel

Media | 01/07/2013 8:49 pm EST

Al Jazeera Media Network will launch a new all-news channel in the United States, called Al Jazeera America, following its purchase of specialty channel Current TV. “The new channel will be headquartered in New York City. In addition to the existing Al Jazeera news bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, Al Jazeera...

Rogers approved for CJNT-DT Montreal

Media | 12/20/2012 10:22 pm EST

The CRTC approved Rogers Communication Inc.’s request to acquire Montreal ethnic television station CJNT-DT from Channel Zero Inc. for $10.3 million. In the decision Thursday, the CRTC said it valued the transaction at $10.7 million and said Rogers’ licence term for the English-language station would expire Aug. 31, 2014. At a Nov. 7 hearing in Gatineau, Que., Rogers asked the commission to grant it permission to acquire CJNT-DT and to allow it to be converted to an English-language station to operate as Citytv Montreal. At the hearing, Keith Pelley, president of the...

Court challenges of CRTC regs expected following Supreme Court decision

Media | 12/20/2012 9:45 pm EST

The Supreme Court's decision that quashed the CRTC's value for signal regime narrowed the commission's authority under the Broadcasting Act, potentially affecting a range of policy powers...

Twitter, Nielsen, create new TV ratings

Media | 12/19/2012 9:27 pm EST

U.S.-based Nielsen Co. and Twitter Inc. entered a multi-year agreement to create “The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating” for the U.S. market, the companies said Monday. In a release, the companies said they would deliver a “syndicated-standard metric” about the reach of each TV conversation on Twitter. The release said the service would...

CRTC exempts small Category B channels

Media | 12/19/2012 9:17 pm EST

The CRTC will allow small, Category B specialty channels to operate without obtaining broadcasting licences in an effort to get more channels up and running, the commission said. In an exemption order issued Wednesday, the CRTC...

Cogeco carries ethnic channels

Media | 12/19/2012 9:13 pm EST

Cogeco Cable Inc. expanded its ethnic channel offerings by adding 25 channels from the Asian Television Network International Ltd. (ATN) and 23 channels from the Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. (ECG), the broadcasters said this week....

CBC says it would refuse local advertising on radio networks, accept only national

Media | 12/19/2012 9:07 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada said its proposal for advertising on CBC Radio 2 and Espace Musique would draw national advertising only and refuse local ad buys. In final reply comments to the CRTC for its licence renewal proceeding, CBC said it would sell national level advertising on the two national radio music networks at national rates. “Any such advertising would be aired on the stations selected by the advertiser in accordance with its advertising needs,” CBC said. The Crown corporation...

CRTC order on NFL, NHL content violated Copyright Act: Bell

Media | 12/19/2012 7:28 pm EST

The CRTC infringed the Copyright Act last year when it ordered BCE Inc. to explain how it would make exclusive NHL and NFL mobile sports content available to competitor Telus Corp., BCE said in court...

Pattison acquires CIKT-FM Grande Prairie

Media | 12/18/2012 9:23 pm EST

The CRTC approved Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd.’s acquisition of Bear Creek Broadcasting Ltd.’s CIKT-FM Grande Prairie radio station. In a decision Tuesday, the commission said Jim Pattison will be responsible for making up $18,750 of CIKT’s overdue Canadian content development expenses. CIKT’s licence will expire Aug. 31,...

Bell, Cirque, finalize joint production company

Media | 12/18/2012 9:22 pm EST

BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media Inc. completed a deal with Cirque du Soleil to create a new joint venture to develop entertainment projects by Cirque, the company said Tuesday. In a release, Bell said the new company, called Cirque du Soleil Media, will be governed by a board with representatives of both companies and will be managed by a programming...

Laurier LaPierre dies, 83

Media | 12/17/2012 10:14 pm EST

Laurier LaPierre, a retired senator and a former co-host of CBC/Radio-Canada’s This Hour Has Seven Days, died Sunday at the age 83, the Senate said Monday. Born in Lac Mégantic, Que., on Nov. 21, 1929, LaPierre rose to national prominence in the 1960s as a co-host of the often controversial CBC program, known for mixing news reporting and commentary with social satire. After the show was cancelled, LaPierre...

Newcap radio acquisition approved, company says

Media | 12/17/2012 10:05 pm EST

The CRTC has given Newfoundland Capital Corp. Ltd. permission to acquire, in full, a radio station in Nova Scotia, the company said Friday. In a release, Newfoundland Capital Corp. (Newcap) said the CRTC gave it permission to acquire 70.1 per cent of 3221809 Nova Scotia Ltd., which operates the CKCH-FM radio station in Sydney, N.S. “This...

Rogers, production groups, create new fund

Media | 12/13/2012 10:28 pm EST

Rogers Media (owned by Rogers Communications Inc.) and the Alberta Media Production Industries Association (AMPIA) created the new Rogers Development Fund to help independent producers in Alberta and Manitoba, the parties said...

Supreme Court quashes CRTC value-for-signal regime

Media | 12/13/2012 5:07 pm EST

The Supreme Court of Canada said the CRTC does not have the jurisdiction to implement a value for signal policy to compensate local TV stations for the carriage of their signals. A decision issued Thursday said the commission's proposed policy would conflict with the Copyright Act by creating “a new type of copyright” on local TV...

Former Bell executive Alain Gourd dies at 66

Media | 12/12/2012 9:48 pm EST

Alain Gourd, an independent broadcasting consultant and former chair of an industry-led working group on over-the-top services, died Dec. 8, a release from his firm Alain Gourd Communications Inc. said Tuesday. In the release,...

TekSavvy customers concerned about privacy should show up at court hearing, ISP says

Media | 12/12/2012 9:42 pm EST

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. customers who are concerned about their privacy should show up at a court hearing Monday to defend themselves against Voltage Pictures LLC's motion to obtain subscriber information associated with file sharing, said Marc Gaudrault, CEO of small ISP TekSavvy. “Those who want to voice their concerns about their privacy should show up on Monday,” Gaudrault said in a brief phone interview with The Wire Report. “They should either get legal...

Corus defends OWN as educational channel

Media | 12/11/2012 8:08 pm EST

Corus Entertainment Inc. defended its Oprah Winfrey Network Canada (OWN Canada) channel before the CRTC Tuesday, saying it contributes to learning in Canada. “OWN Canada contributes far more to providing interesting content...

Parents spend more time online, less on TV: MTM

Media | 12/10/2012 10:20 pm EST

Canadians with children spend more time online and less time in front of the TV, a report from the Media Technology Monitor (MTM) said. MTM, a joint-research project between CBC/Radio-Canada and BBM Analytics, said in a Dec. 1 report, released Monday, that Canadians with children spend an average of 16.4 hours on the Internet each week compared to an...

Telus packaging an undue preference, CRTC says

Media | 12/10/2012 10:11 pm EST

Telus Corp. put OUTtv Network Inc. at a competitive disadvantage by placing its specialty channel in a low-penetration theme pack on its Optik TV service when a higher-penetration theme pack was available, the CRTC said. In a...

Value-for-signal decision to be issued Thursday

Media | 12/10/2012 8:02 pm EST

The Supreme Court of Canada will issue a decision Thursday on whether the CRTC has the jurisdiction to implement a proposed value for signal regime to compensate local TV stations for the carriage of their signals. The court said in a notice Monday that the decision will be issued at 9:45 a.m. on Dec. 13. The commission’s proposed...

CBC receives ‘A’ on ATIP

Media | 12/07/2012 9:20 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada received a grade of “A” from Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault in a report tabled in Parliament Thursday. In a release, CBC said the grade was a “significant improvement” over the “F” it received in the commissioner’s 2009-2010 report. “We had a tough start under Access to Information, but we’ve worked hard to turn the ship around,” Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of the broadcaster, said in a statement. “We appreciate seeing that effort recognized.” During a House of Commons Ethics Committee meeting in October 2011, Legault said the CBC had received about 1,400 information requests since it came under the Access to Information Act in 2007. “Of those, 1,000 have resulted in complaints...

Bell adds NBA to mobile TV

Media | 12/07/2012 9:15 pm EST

BCE Inc. added NBA content to its Bell Mobile TV service, the company said Wednesday. In a release, Bell said that, through NBA TV Canada, the company's Mobile TV customers will have access to NBA games and programs such as NBA Game Time, Open Court and The Jump, as well as the NBA All-Star...

Younger demographic more a PC than smartphone generation, Deloitte says

Media | 12/07/2012 8:12 pm EST

Despite rapid growth in smartphone and tablet use, more than 80 per cent of global Internet traffic, as measured in bits, will continue to come from laptops and PC computers in 2013, consulting firm Deloitte and Touche LLP will forecast in its annual media and technology predictions in January. Duncan Stewart, director of...

Supreme Court dismisses challenge of ‘grey market’ satellite ban

Media | 12/06/2012 9:35 pm EST

The Supreme Court of Canada said it will not hear a Charter challenge that sought to enshrine Canadians’ right to access “grey market” satellite signals. The Supreme Court said Thursday it will not hear an appeal by former grey market satellite distributor Richard Rex, who had asked the court to fund his...

Goldsmith appointed president of The Shopping Channel

Media | 12/06/2012 9:24 pm EST

Former Sears Canada Inc. executive Steven Goldsmith will head The Shopping Channel, Rogers Communications Inc. said Thursday. In a release, Rogers said Goldsmith will be responsible for The Shopping Channel’s...

Blue Ant acquires Cottage Life Media

Media | 12/06/2012 7:12 pm EST

Blue Ant Media Inc. purchased Cottage Life Media Inc. and its four consumer publications, the company said Wednesday. Blue Ant bought magazines Cottage Life, Cottage, Outdoor Canada, Canadian Home Workshop and their associated websites, a release said, as well as Cottage Life Media custom magazines, books, social-media apps, and bi-annual Cottage Life...

Rogers focuses on mobile commerce and video, M2M, as TV declines

Media | 12/05/2012 4:34 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. will focus its growth on mobile commerce, mobile video and machine-to-machine communication devices over the next two years, Nadir Mohamed, president and CEO of the company,...

CBC cites role of ‘financial crisis’ on final day of CRTC hearing

Media | 11/30/2012 10:05 pm EST

GATINEAU, Que.—CBC/Radio-Canada's call for more regulatory flexibility in its broadcasting licences is necessary to deal with an internal “financial crisis” brought about since the Conservative government’s spending-cutting budget was announced last March, said Hubert T. Lacroix, president and...

Cable Cable offers free Apple TVs to bundled subs

Media | 11/30/2012 10:02 pm EST

Ontario cable provider Cable Cable Inc. is offering a free Apple TV boxes for new customers that sign up for a "triple-play" bundle as part of a holiday promotion. Apple Inc.'s Apple TV box is an over-the-top device that provides access to online movies and video and retails new for about $100. The service allows users to play media from...

CBC reports better results despite higher expenses

Media | 11/30/2012 10:01 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada recorded increased advertising revenues and stronger “net results” despite higher expenses in its 2011-2012 fiscal year, according to the public braodcaster’s annual report. In the report, released Oct. 5, CBC said its "net results" for the 12-month period that ended March 31 were $40.86 million, up from a loss of $7.4 million in the same period a year earlier. The primary difference, CBC said, was $30.4 million in “non-operating items,” up from a $2.86 million loss on those items during CBC’s previous fiscal year. CBC said the...

CRTC consulting on 3D channel application

Media | 11/30/2012 9:15 pm EST

The CRTC opened a consultation on an Ethnic Channel Group Ltd. application to bring a high-definition, 3D channel to Canada. In an application filed with the CRTC Nov. 27, Ethnic Channels Group asked to add a channel called High TV 3D to the list of foreign channels that can be distributed in Canada. It said the channel “provides a mix of...

Shaw to spend $1M to promote free satellite TV program

Media | 11/29/2012 9:39 pm EST

Shaw Communications Inc. can continue to enroll new subscribers in its Local Television Satellite Solution (LTSS), a free satellite TV program, for another year, and spend $1 million to promote it, the CRTC said. The program, which offers free satellite services and equipment to Canadian households that lost over-the-air...

McCarthy partner Takach runs for Liberal leadership

Media | 11/29/2012 9:36 pm EST

Toronto-area technology lawyer George Takach said he is running for the federal Liberal party leadership with “super-fast Internet for all Canadians” and a digital bill of rights as key pieces of his campaign platform.  In a speech Thursday posted on his campaign website, which declared his candidacy for the federal Liberal leadership,...

TheScore reports surge in app users, annual loss

Media | 11/29/2012 9:34 pm EST

TheScore Inc. reported record growth across its digital properties in 2012 and a slight increase in annual revenues. In year-end fiscal results reported Thursday, theScore said active users for its popular mobile device sports applications surged 154 per cent during March 2012, its peak month in the year. The company said its applications had 3.5...

Protect local B.C. TV stations from competition with CBC, Pattison says

Media | 11/29/2012 9:34 pm EST

The CRTC should ban CBC/Radio-Canada from collecting local and regional TV advertising revenues in the Kamloops and Prince George, B.C. television markets, Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. said Wednesday. Rick Arnish, chairman of Jim Pattison, said at a CRTC hearing into CBC’s licence renewals that it is “imperative” that the commission protects the advertising revenues of local TV stations in the B.C. cities from competition with CBC’s Vancouver station. Full...

‘It’s time to get tough’ with movie downloaders, Voltage Pictures says

Media | 11/29/2012 9:12 pm EST

Los Angeles-based Voltage Pictures LLC will launch a broad legal campaign in Canada, the United States and United Kingdom in the next month or two to set an example and “get tough” with unauthorized movie downloaders, Michael Wickstrom, manager of royalties with the studio, said on a...

CBC names executive editor as new ombudsman

Media | 11/28/2012 9:55 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada appointed Esther Enkin to the position of CBC ombudsman for English services, the public broadcaster said Wednesday. CBC said in a release that Enkin, who currently holds the position of executive editor at CBC...

220M smart TVs to be sold in 2017: report

Media | 11/28/2012 9:47 pm EST

More than 220 million smart TV sets will be sold globally in 2017, United Kingdom-based research firm Informa Telecoms & Media said Wednesday. Informa said the number will rise from 54 million smart TVs sold in 2012. In five years time, Informa predicted, 31 per cent of households worldwide will have a smart TV, with the highest penetration in...

Startup Canada launches innovation action plan

Media | 11/28/2012 9:19 pm EST

Startup Canada, a nonprofit created this year, launched a new action plan to drive economic development, job creation and entrepreneurial innovation in Canada, the network said Tuesday. In a release, Startup Canada said the plan aims to make Canada one of the world’s top entrepreneurial economies and that, over three phases, the strategy will be...

Jets’ success supports calls for Quebec NHL team

Media | 11/28/2012 9:18 pm EST

The Winnipeg Jets’s success after moving from Atlanta in 2011 “buttresses” the case for relocating another NHL franchise to Quebec City, Forbes magazine reported. Pierre Karl Peladeau, Quebecor Media...

New Bell-Astral application to be public in new year, sources say

Media | 11/28/2012 4:01 pm EST

The CRTC will publicly issue BCE Inc.'s reworked application to acquire Astral Media Inc. in the new year and will subsequently hold a public hearing to review the application, two people with...

Corus-Shaw deal did not break VI rules: CRTC

Media | 11/27/2012 9:52 pm EST

Corus Entertainment Inc. did not break the CRTC’s rules for vertically integrated companies by giving Shaw Communications Inc. advance access to Movie Central and HBO content for online and mobile platforms, the CRTC said....

Sun Media to put up online paywalls

Media | 11/27/2012 9:43 pm EST

Quebecor Media Inc.’s Sun Media online news sites will go behind a metered paywall starting Dec. 4, the company said Tuesday. In a release, Quebecor said it would activate “Sun+” subscriptions for its online newspapers in Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. “Effective Tuesday, December 4th, visitors to any one of...

CMF awards $10 million to digital media startups

Media | 11/27/2012 9:35 pm EST

The Canada Media Fund said it awarded $10 million to 15 digital media projects as part of its “experimental stream” fund for interactive media content and apps. In a release Tuesday, the CMF said British Columbia-based Jetpack Interactive Entertainment Ltd. was the largest recipient with a $1 million grant for its “Opus Pocus” video game project. Prince Edward Island-based Other Ocean Interactive Ltd., Saskatchewan-based Rachis Wine Assessment Inc. and Ontario-based Yanked! received between $900,000 and $1 million for projects ranging from an online snowboarding game, a cloud-based wine tasting application, and an “online talent game” that aims to be “the next generation of American Idol.” Other companies awarded funding include Javelin...

New CFC media lab commercializing Canadian media projects

Media | 11/27/2012 6:55 pm EST

Twelve-week commercialization program ideaBoost will help Canadian digital entertainment startups reach global markets, said Ana Serrano, founding director of new media research training and production think tank CFC Media Lab at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) in Toronto. Serrano said in a phone interview that ideaBoost,...

Advertising on CBC radio like approving new stations: OAB

Media | 11/27/2012 3:30 pm EST

Approving advertising on CBC Radio music services would have the same market impact as a new radio station, Doug Kirk, president of the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) and president of...

CBC failed to answer 340 info requests: Drapeau

Media | 11/26/2012 10:55 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada failed to answer 340 access-to-information requests over five years, a lawyer for Quebecor Media Inc. said Monday. Michel Drapeau, a lawyer and law professor at the University of Ottawa who appeared with Quebecor at a CRTC hearing into CBC’s licence renewals, said that, over the past five years, the company’s news...

EU seeking removal of investment restrictions: documents

Media | 11/26/2012 9:59 pm EST

The European Union’s demands in trade negotiations with Canada continue to include the elimination of foreign ownership restrictions for Canada’s telecommunications and book publishing sectors as well as removing reviews under the Investment Canada Act for transactions involving European companies, according to...

CBC urged to run one new Canadian film each month

Media | 11/23/2012 10:01 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada should promote more Canadian cinema by licensing a new Canadian film each month, said Mark Slone, senior vice-president of Alliance Films Inc. “This will make a material difference in the success of English-language films over the next five years,” Slone told commissioners Friday at a CRTC licence renewal hearing for CBC. Slone said the measure would help build awareness and audiences for Canadian films and generate support for the next generation of Canadian filmmakers. He said the licensing of film rights is a “reliable and cost effective” way for CBC to fulfill its cultural mandate. “Acquisition of Canadian films does not require the CBC to make an investment in their development,” he said. Ted East, president of the Canadian...

Cook, Silver, join TSN

Media | 11/23/2012 8:20 pm EST

Nathalie Cook and Mark Silver, two former employees of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, are joining TSN. In a release Thursday, TSN, the country’s most profitable specialty channel, said Cook will join the BCE Inc.-owned channel in the role of vice-president of integrated marketing and partnerships. Silver was appointed the channel’s new senior director of digital, the release said. Both...

Bring back a ‘modest’ local TV fund, Media Guild says

Media | 11/23/2012 8:00 pm EST

The CRTC should bring back a funding mechanism like the former local broadcasting fund but at a lower rate of 0.75 per cent of distributor revenues, the Canadian Media Guild said. In opening remarks at a two-week CRTC hearing for CBC/Radio-Canada’s licence renewals, Marc-Philipe Laurin, president of the guild,...

Canadian docs could disappear from CBC: producers

Media | 11/23/2012 3:09 pm EST

Canadian documentaries may disappear from CBC television programming without more conditions of licence for CBC/Radio-Canada, said Lisa Fitzgibbons, executive director of the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC). “Documentaries are worth protecting,” Fitzgibbons told commissioners Thursday as part of a two-week CRTC hearing into the...

Shaw supports CBC call for fewer regs

Media | 11/23/2012 3:00 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada, like other private broadcasters, needs “appropriate flexibility” to compete with new online, over-the-top services, said Paul Robertson, president of Shaw Communications Inc. division Shaw Media. “What we’re seeing most dramatically is an encroachment [by over-the-top] services on the programming that we rely...

CMPA opposes CBC ‘regulatory flexibility’

Media | 11/23/2012 2:50 pm EST

The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) has “serious concerns” about CBC/Radio-Canada being granted greater regulatory flexibility, CMPA president and CEO Michael Hennessy said. Hennessy said at hearing into the CBC’s licence renewals that more flexibility, as CBC has requested, would amount “to virtually no...

CBC does not need radio ad revenues, private broadcasters say

Media | 11/23/2012 2:35 pm EST

GATINEAU, Que.—CBC/Radio-Canada has the financial resources necessary to support its Radio 2 and Espace Musique services without advertising, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) said...

CRTC tentatively schedules 9(1)(h) hearing

Media | 11/22/2012 8:54 pm EST

The CRTC tentatively scheduled a public hearing in April 2013 to consider mandatory distribution orders for the carriage of specialty channels, according to the commission's website. The CRTC is considering confidential, new...

MLB Network approved for carriage in Canada

Media | 11/21/2012 11:02 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc.’s application to bring MLB Network to Canada was approved, the CRTC said Wednesday. The commission said in a decision that it added MLB Network to the list of non-Canadian channels authorized for...

CBC should move to ‘all-Canadian’ model, CACTUS says

Media | 11/21/2012 10:57 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada should move to an "all-Canadian" broadcasting model to rebuild a following in Canada, the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) said Wednesday. At a CRTC hearing Wednesday to renew CBC’s broadcasting licence, CACTUS spokeswoman Cathy Edwards said CBC “could show leadership and develop a more loyal audience” by distancing itself from private broadcasting models “to rebuild a following in its diverse, multilingual heartland.” CACTUS advocated an “all-Canadian” schedule for the public broadcaster. CBC’s schedule, the group said, should feature all-Canadian content except for international programming relevant to Canadians or that which is not available by any other means in Canada....