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TAGGED AS MEDIA

Guylaine Roy changes roles at Heritage

Media | 05/23/2017 5:09 pm EDT

Guylaine Roy has been named associate deputy minister of Canadian Heritage, according to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office Friday. Roy had been the assistant deputy minister for cultural affairs at the department since 2011 and in the public service since 1986, the PMO said. The appointment is effective Tuesday....

ISED PS Lametti hot property for April lobbying

Media | 05/23/2017 3:30 pm EDT

ISED PS Lametti hot property for April lobbyingThe parliamentary secretary to the innovation minister was a popular target for lobbyists last month, as representatives from major telecom and Internet companies sought him out, according to the latest statistics from the office of the lobbying commissioner. BCE...

CBC must collaborate with OTT competition: Lacroix

Media | 05/23/2017 2:34 pm EDT

CBC must collaborate with OTT competition: LacroixCBC/Radio-Canada’s president and CEO Hubert Lacroix said the Crown corporation’s competition comes...

Joly could reconsider OTT regs over Quebec: Desjardins

Media | 05/23/2017 2:27 pm EDT

Pressure from Quebec could lead Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to consider imposing taxes on foreign over-the-top (OTT) services, according to Desjardins Capital Markets analyst Maher Yaghi....

Facebook partners with MLB for U.S. live streams

Media | 05/19/2017 5:33 pm EDT

Facebook partners with MLB for U.S. live streamsFacebook Inc. will live stream 20 Major League Baseball (MLB) games this season on its social media...

Netflix to have Ont. ‘download zones’ for cottage season: CP

Media | 05/19/2017 4:43 pm EDT

Netflix Inc. is setting up “download zones” in certain areas in Ontario to help the data starved pre-load movies and TV shows onto their devices, according to a Canadian Press report. WiFi...

Radio will fend of challengers with local content: Simpson

Media | 05/19/2017 4:31 pm EDT

Radio will fend of challengers with local content: SimpsonRadio will continue to thrive in a competitive environment because it remains a trusted source of local content, CRTC commissioner Stephen Simpson said in a speech to British Columbia broadcasters Thursday. “I’m confident that radio will fend off current challengers...

CRTC to review pick-and-pay rollout in Oct.

Media | 05/18/2017 5:07 pm EDT

CRTC to review pick-and-pay rollout in Oct.The CRTC will hold a hearing on a number of broadcast distribution undertakings’ [BDUs] licence renewal...

Two per cent of Canadians have a VR headset: MTM

Media | 05/17/2017 3:13 pm EDT

Two per cent of Canadians have a VR headset: MTMWhile about a tenth of Canadians have used a virtual reality (VR) headset, only about two per cent of them actually own one, according to a new Media Technology Monitor...

Licence decision could devastate Canadian production: WGC

Media | 05/16/2017 6:03 pm EDT

A day after the CRTC released its decision on broadcast licence renewals for large ownership groups, three organizations representing the country’s production sector said they are concerned the new...

Bell’s Alt TV can ‘turn the tide’ against competitors: Canaccord

Media | 05/16/2017 3:54 pm EDT

Bell’s Alt TV can ‘turn the tide’ against competitors: CanaccordWhile the primary goal of BCE Inc.’s new television product is to tackle TV sub losses, it could also be used as an “offensive tool”...

David Sparrow elected national president of ACTRA

Media | 05/16/2017 12:15 pm EDT

David Sparrow elected national president of ACTRAThe Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) has elected David Sparrow as its national president for a two-year term. Sparrow, who from 2013 was...

Alt TV managed service, doesn’t violate CRTC rules: Cope

Media | 05/15/2017 5:45 pm EDT

Alt TV managed service, doesn’t violate CRTC rules: CopeMONTREAL — BCE Inc. has launched a new TV product hoping to appeal to a segment of the market that’s less likely to subscribe to...

Rogers’ OMNI gets temporary mandatory distribution

Media | 05/15/2017 5:13 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. will get a three-year window to run its new national ethnic channel before having to compete with other proposals for its mandatory carriage, the CRTC announced Monday. The regulator partially...

Former Videotron customers returning from Bell: Brouillette

Media | 05/12/2017 9:53 am EDT

Former Videotron customers returning from Bell: BrouilletteManon Brouillette, president of Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, downplayed the effect that BCE Inc.’s recent move to deploy fibre-to-the-home...

Mark Slone to head CAFDE

Media | 05/11/2017 5:45 pm EDT

Mark Slone has been elected president of The Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters. The lobby group announced the election of Slone, who is currently Entertainment One Ltd.’s executive vice-president of theatrical distribution and marketing, in a Thursday press release. This year “is promising to be an exciting year of opportunity for Canadian content feature films, with the Cancon consultations coming to a close and Canadian Heritage putting in place policy based on these consultations,” Slone said in the release. Slone, who was previously vice-president of CAFDE, is succeeding Victor Loewy, who remains with the organization. The new president has over 20 years of industry experience and previously held a position as senior vice-president of acquisition at Alliance Films Inc., the...

Appeal court rules ISPs can’t charge for disclosing customer info

Media | 05/11/2017 4:15 pm EDT

The Federal Court of Appeal has granted Voltage Pictures LLC its appeal challenging the costs Rogers Communications Inc. was asking for to disclose customer information in...

Competition commish completes review of AT&T-TWC deal

Media | 05/11/2017 2:24 am EDT

Competition commish completes review of AT&T-TWC dealDespite not operating in Canada, the country’s competition watchdog has reviewed the proposed merger of AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Cable...

DHX shells out for Peanuts

Media | 05/10/2017 4:38 pm EDT

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Peppermint Patty are joining Halifax-based DHX Media Ltd.’s stable of properties, as the company announced Wednesday its bid to acquire the Peanuts brand from an American management company. The deal with Iconix Brand Group Inc. includes an...

Smartphone penetration at 80% among anglophones: MTM

Media | 05/09/2017 5:42 pm EDT

The number of anglophone Canadians who have smartphones climbed up to 80 per cent in the fall of 2016 from 77 per cent a year earlier, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor (MTM). At the same time, the...

CRTC headquarters closed due to flooding

Media | 05/09/2017 2:43 pm EDT

The CRTC’s offices in Gatineau, Que., remained shut down for a second day Tuesday due to flooding in the area, according to the commission’s website. Among the releases the regulator was scheduled to issue this week are its decisions on TV broadcasting licence renewals, following a hearing it held in November....

Verizon streaming deal for NFL game to include Canada

Media | 05/08/2017 10:02 pm EDT

Canadian viewers will get to watch a National Football League (NFL) game that will be played out of London, England, this fall after Verizon Communications Inc. purchased the streaming rights to the game. The one-game...

Lab to play ‘transformative’ role in wireless spectrum: Bains

Media | 05/08/2017 8:56 pm EDT

Lab to play ‘transformative’ role in wireless spectrum: BainsOTTAWA — The future of wireless spectrum in Canada won’t be about who holds the largest amount of it, but rather who wields it in the...

CRTC grants two new radio licences

Media | 05/05/2017 7:48 pm EDT

The CRTC has approved two applications for new radio broadcasting licences, for a community FM station in Kingston, Ont., and a commercial ethnic FM station in Toronto. It granted an application for the Toronto station to a...

Shoan vows court challenge of second dismissal from CRTC

Media | 05/05/2017 2:41 am EDT

Raj Shoan, the CRTC’s regional commissioner for Ontario who was fired again just four days after a return to his post, said he will be heading back to court to challenge the second...

Rob Farina given expanded radio role

Media | 05/04/2017 9:01 pm EDT

Rob Farina will take on the role of head of radio content, strategy and iHeartRadio for BCE Inc.’s media division, the company announced in a Thursday press release. The position, effective May 29, will...

Cultural exemptions at risk in NAFTA renegotiations: Nantel

Media | 05/04/2017 8:42 pm EDT

NDP heritage critic Pierre Nantel is raising the alarm that cultural protection could be on the chopping block if a wholesale renegotiation of the country’s trade agreement with the United States and Mexico occurs, and is asking the heritage minister to take a stand. In an opinion piece published in French-language...

Illegal streaming on Kodi boxes in 6% of households: Sandvine

Media | 05/04/2017 8:10 pm EDT

A new report from broadband equipment maker Sandvine Corp. says about six per cent of households in North America “currently have a Kodi device configured to access...

CBC privatization bill dies in House

Media | 05/04/2017 8:04 pm EDT

A private member’s bill to privatize CBC/Radio-Canada met a decisive defeat Wednesday night, after members of Parliament voted 260-6 to send it to the legislation graveyard. Saskatchewan MP and Conservative Party...

Big three haven’t met with minister about SaskTel sale: report

Media | 05/03/2017 9:41 pm EDT

Canada’s big three wireless providers have not spoken with the minister for Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. about the potential partial sale of the company, even though last week he said he met with a major telecom, according to a Tuesday Regina Leader-Post report. SaskTel Minister Dustin Duncan has “literally not met—or even popped into a meeting with someone else from his office” with BCE Inc., Telus Corp. or Rogers Communications Inc., a statement from Premier Brad Wall’s office said, according to article.  Wall’s office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Last week,...

Shoan back to work following CRTC reinstatement

Media | 05/02/2017 5:29 pm EDT

Raj Shoan, the once-former CRTC commissioner, returned to work Monday, following a 10-month gap in his role as the regional representative for Ontario. As Shoan put it in a statement issued over the weekend, his tenure was...

Valery Zamuner appointed VP of mergers and acquisitions at Stingray

Media | 05/02/2017 5:11 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has named Valery Zamuner to the position of senior vice-president of mergers, acquisitions and strategic initiatives, effective May 23. “With her...

Twitter to host 24/7 Bloomberg stream

Media | 05/01/2017 9:20 pm EDT

Twitter Inc. and Bloomberg LP have come to an agreement that will see the financial news outlet provide round-the-clock streaming content for the social media platform as part of 12 streaming deals...

Use of AI will bring benefits to telecoms, but also risks

Media | 05/01/2017 5:22 pm EDT

Artificial intelligence is a tool telecoms will increasingly use to manage networks and enhance various products, but its susceptibility to hacking will also pose big security-related concerns,...

Shoan wins appeal of CRTC dismissal; judge sends decision for reconsideration

Media | 04/29/2017 12:23 am EDT

Raj Shoan was denied procedural fairness when he was fired from his job as the CRTC’s regional commissioner for Ontario last summer, three years into a five-year term, a Federal Court justice has found, sending the decision back to the governor-in-council for reconsideration. In an 82-page decision Friday, judge Cecily Strickland granted Shoan’s application for judicial review of his dismissal, which was handed down in June 2016 by the governor-in-council (GIC) on...

Gov’t info requests to Facebook fall in second half of 2016

Media | 04/28/2017 8:41 pm EDT

Facebook Inc. received 773 requests for customer information from Canadian law enforcement and government agencies in the second half of 2016, down from 1,004 requests in the...

Digital platforms open to cultural diversity message: Joly

Media | 04/28/2017 8:29 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said she found a receptive audience for her message of cultural diversity on digital platforms among the executives of the digital media giants she...

AI, 5G, rural broadband funding in Ont., N.S. budgets

Media | 04/27/2017 9:27 pm EDT

The Ontario government said it will support the latest technologies in the coming years, with funding for artificial intelligence and 5G networks included in its 2017 budget. Finance Minister Charles Sousa tabled Ontario’s...

CRTC to launch women-in-production talks

Media | 04/27/2017 4:33 pm EDT

The CRTC will explore the topic of generating more participation of women in media production, according to Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais. Speaking at the annual awards gala for Women in Communications and...

Sirius privatization plan gets final OK from CRTC

Media | 04/26/2017 8:37 pm EDT

Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. received the final nod required in its bid to privatize, with the CRTC granting its approval Wednesday for the transaction it said was worth $479 million. The deal is in the public...

Bell to launch new TV service to combat cord-cutting

Media | 04/26/2017 7:04 pm EDT

BCE Inc. will introduce a new television service aimed at customers who have been turning away from traditional TV to online alternatives, president and CEO George Cope said on a conference call with analysts discussing the...

Shaw, Corus closing 3 community TV stations, shifting to Global

Media | 04/26/2017 6:06 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc. will close three Shaw local TV stations in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, and redistribute the annual funding to Global News...

Canadian music streaming brings in $128M US: report

Media | 04/26/2017 5:43 pm EDT

Canada has become the world’s sixth-largest market for recorded music, according to a new report from the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The group’s 2017 Global Music Report said...

Rogers buying Vancouver station for Sportsnet brand

Media | 04/25/2017 6:14 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. said Tuesday it intends to purchase a Vancouver radio station from Newcap Inc., adding it to its stable of all-sports stations. In a press release, the company said the transaction to create the new Sportsnet 650 station is expected to close in the fall, though it still requires approval from the CRTC. “With Vancouver being such a passionate sports town, there is a strong appetite for all-sports radio that delivers engaging conversation, wide-ranging opinion, and top-tier live sports content,” Julie Adam, Rogers Media’s senior...

Telus investing $80 million in Quebec fibre network

Media | 04/24/2017 8:50 pm EDT

Telus Corp. announced Monday a new investment of $80 million in its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Quebec. It said in a French-language press release that the investment would affect almost 20 communities in...

Sirius ordered to make up $300K CanCon contribution shortfall

Media | 04/24/2017 7:04 pm EDT

Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. has to pony up more than $300,000 to make up a deficit in its Canadian content development contributions, the CRTC said. In a letter dated April 5, the regulator...

CCSA leads March lobbying pack

Media | 04/21/2017 8:39 pm EDT

The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) led the telecom field for lobbying the federal government in March, logging 15 communication reports for the month, according to the federal lobbyists’ registry. Those...

Telus intros $20, no contract IPTV service

Media | 04/21/2017 7:13 pm EDT

Telus Corp. has quietly launched an IPTV service that will allow subscribers to watch live TV and on-demand content for $20 a month with no contract. The box itself, which is powered by Alphabet Inc.’s Android,...

Telecoms to compete on service after zero-rating decision: analysts

Media | 04/21/2017 4:11 pm EDT

The CRTC’s decision Thursday to ban most forms of zero-rating means telecoms will have to rely on service in order to stand out from the competition, analysts said. The new rules that prohibit differentiated pricing practices (DPPs) that aren’t data-agnostic and aren’t offered to all customers, among other stipulations, mean Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron won’t be able to keep operating its Unlimited Music service. “In our view, this is a...

Int’l broadcasters team up for export portal

Media | 04/21/2017 4:04 pm EDT

CBC/Radio-Canada is leading a collaboration between public broadcasters and other media distributors to boost video exports via a new online platform, it said Tuesday. The platform, called Panora.tv “aims to...

CRTC effectively bans most zero-rating in differential pricing decision

Media | 04/20/2017 8:04 pm EDT

As the CRTC banned most forms of differential pricing practices Thursday — including declaring that telecoms can’t pick and chose Internet content to zero-rate and...

OTT revenues north of $970M by 2018: Convergence

Media | 04/20/2017 5:27 pm EDT

Annual subscription revenue from over-the-top (OTT) providers is estimated to be inching toward the billion-dollar mark in Canada, according to a new report from Convergence Consulting Group Ltd., which estimated a...

Natale says ‘more work to do’ as he takes the reins at Rogers

Media | 04/19/2017 8:25 pm EDT

In his first day on the job, newly minted Rogers Communications Inc. president and CEO Joe Natale gave few details about his priorities, but said he’ll be working on a strategy in the coming...

Canada signs coproduction agreement with Luxembourg

Media | 04/19/2017 2:52 pm EDT

The federal government has signed an audiovisual coproduction treaty with Luxembourg. “This treaty will further position Canada as a partner of choice in audiovisual coproductions, and strengthen our cultural and...

Telecoms shouldn’t be gatekeepers, Blais says ahead of differential pricing decision

Media | 04/18/2017 8:30 pm EDT

The CRTC may very well complete the record on net neutrality policy in Canada when it releases its decision Thursday afternoon on differential pricing practices,...

ISED releases timeline, allotments for 600 MHz transition

Media | 04/18/2017 8:16 pm EDT

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has released a schedule and details how it plans to shift the use of 600 MHz spectrum from over-the-air (OTA) television to wireless. ISED...

Bell asks CRTC for clarity on stolen-device tariff clause

Media | 04/18/2017 4:11 pm EDT

BCE Inc. is asking the CRTC to reinsert a phrase into its terms and conditions removed in last month’s decision on mobile wholesale mobile wireless roaming service tariffs that the company...

Cathia Badiere joins ACTRA

Media | 04/18/2017 3:47 pm EDT

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) has hired Cathia Badiere as its national director of research. Effective immediately, Badiere will oversee the organization’s collective bargaining, policy and industry research “to support ACTRA’s objective of improving the working lives of Canadian professional performers,” the union said in a Tuesday press release. Badiere will report to Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, who said in the release that “Cathia’s innovative analytics and research experience will be a great asset for ACTRA. With adaption to change being critical in today’s entertainment environment, and ACTRA’s critical role in shaping the future of our industry, Cathia’s skills and experience will...

Digital ads only in their infancy, Google’s Gingras says

Media | 04/13/2017 9:01 pm EDT

MONTREAL — Digital advertising will continue to evolve into new forms we can’t yet predict, Richard Gingras, vice-president of Alphabet Inc.’s Google News,...

Digital media finances on CRTC’s three-year plan

Media | 04/13/2017 7:01 pm EDT

The CRTC will begin measuring the books of digital media operations in the country, with the aim of eventually publishing data on their finances, the regulator said in its new three-year plan. Published on its...

Joe Natale to join Rogers next week

Media | 04/13/2017 4:29 pm EDT

After a series of high-profile departures from the company, Rogers Communications Inc. announced Thursday that it will welcome its new president and CEO next week. Former Telus Corp. head Joe Natale...

Rogers-CBC extend HNIC deal to 2019

Media | 04/12/2017 7:15 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. has extended its deal with CBC/Radio-Canada to broadcast its flagship Hockey Night in Canada program for one more year, spokesman Andrew Garas confirmed to The Wire Report. Rogers and CBC...

Anglophone TV subs drop to 75 per cent: MTM

Media | 04/12/2017 5:41 pm EDT

Analog and digital cable’s share of the TV market declined from 40 per cent to 36 per cent in 2016, while IPTV subscriptions picked up among English-speaking Canadians, according to new research from Media Technology Monitor (MTM). “The decrease can be attributed partly to the increase of competition in many markets across Canada, and the increasing availability of Fibre Optic (IPTV) services,” said a report released Wednesday by the CBC/Radio-Canada research project. Satellite TV subscriptions have declined from their peak of 27 per cent of the market...

Mobile ad spending on the rise: report

Media | 04/12/2017 4:53 pm EDT

Canadian advertisers are catching up to their American counterparts, with the market share of digital ad spending on mobile platforms forecast to hit 77.6 per cent by 2021, according to research firm eMarketer Inc. This...

Bell says retroactive regulation can’t be basis for simsub ban

Media | 04/11/2017 9:11 pm EDT

The CRTC can’t retroactively apply regulations established almost a year after the fact to justify its prohibition simultaneous substitution during the broadcast of the National Football...

Joly to discuss promoting CanCon with Google, Facebook

Media | 04/11/2017 8:41 pm EDT

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly will travel to California later this month to meet with representatives from Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc., her office has confirmed....

Rogers must make 4K channel available to Telus: CRTC

Media | 04/11/2017 4:45 pm EDT

The CRTC has resolved a dispute between Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. over 4K content, telling the companies in an April 5 letter that Rogers has to provide its 4K content to Telus immediately. Telus...

Debate resumes on CBC-privatization bill, vote deferred

Media | 04/10/2017 6:57 pm EDT

OTTAWA — A Conservative backbencher’s bill to privatize CBC/Radio-Canada found a little more support from party colleagues in the House of Commons Monday, but it likely...

Twitch asks for court order to identify Shaw customer

Media | 04/10/2017 5:52 pm EDT

Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch is asking the Supreme Court of British Columbia to order five companies, including Shaw Communications Inc., to identify a customer Twitch is accusing of “malicious spambot...

5G wireless substitution ‘not in the cards,’ says Cogeco’s Audet

Media | 04/07/2017 8:14 pm EDT

Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Friday that he’s not concerned about customers substituting wireline Internet service with wireless with the advent of 5G, and that the company...

Trudeau meets with YouTube head

Media | 04/07/2017 4:29 pm EDT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the CEO of Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube Thursday, and used the opportunity to express “his appreciation for Google and YouTube’s continued investment in Canada and...

Eliminating digital ads would harm TV: CBC

Media | 04/06/2017 9:22 pm EDT

Getting rid of digital advertising on CBC/Radio-Canada online platforms would undermine its television arm, the public broadcaster said Wednesday. It argued in a posting on its website that “going ad-free on only one platform is a half measure. It doesn’t provide any of the advantages of being completely ad-free, and it undermines those areas which still depend on commercial revenue.” CBC was responding to a report from the Public Policy Forum released in January, which recommended it eliminate digital ads, focus more on the “inform” plank of its mandate to “inform, enlighten and entertain,” and switch to publishing its news under a Creative Commons licence so that it can move towards being “a universal public...

10 web series get $2M from CMF

Media | 04/06/2017 9:13 pm EDT

Canada Media Fund (CMF) is providing $2 million for 10 web series as part of a pilot project. The organization said in a press release Thursday the funding is “the result of the pilot program the CMF had put in place to...

Chris Jones joins CWTA

Media | 04/06/2017 9:11 pm EDT

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association has hired Chris Jones as its new director of regulatory affairs, policy and research. Jones replaces Kurt Eby, who left the role at the CWTA in January to take a position in Toronto. According to emails from CWTA spokeswoman Sophie...

Ad pulls from YouTube show money shift to TV: Corus CEO

Media | 04/06/2017 8:05 pm EDT

The fallout from Alphabet Inc.’s placing of advertisements next to unfavourable content is in line with an ongoing trend of some advertisers shifting money from digital back to traditional...

Amazon scores NFL deal, Canadian rights still under negotiation

Media | 04/05/2017 9:50 pm EDT

Amazon.com Inc. has secured the streaming rights to 10 Thursday Night Football games from the National Football League (NFL), according to a Wall Street Journal report. The deal is...

Shaw expands BlueSky availability, marketing

Media | 04/05/2017 6:06 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. has made its new IPTV platform available across Western Canada and will launch an “extensive mass marketing campaign” to promote the service, it said in a press release. Earlier this week, Barclays Capital said in a research note that it’s still too early to gauge the effect of BlueSky TV, which was launched in January, adding that the company had yet to put any significant marketing muscle behind the product. Shaw said Wednesday that in order to “help introduce BlueSky TV to Canadians, Shaw is...

Letter to Joly urges media-production reps in new CRTC posts

Media | 04/05/2017 5:14 pm EDT

Nearly two-dozen representatives from the screen-based media industry, such as the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), and...

Regional telecom disruption on Competition Bureau’s radar: commissioner

Media | 04/05/2017 4:44 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau will be keeping an eye on how regional telecom providers can disrupt the incumbents’ hold on the market, the commissioner said Tuesday. In a speech to the...

Karine Moses and Debbie Drutz move up at Bell Media

Media | 04/05/2017 3:29 pm EDT

BCE Inc. has announced two new appointments in its Bell Media division.  Karine Moses, president of advertising arm Astral Out of Home (AOOH) since July 2016, is having her role in the company expanded to...

Open 5GHz to HPODs before 2019: telecoms

Media | 04/04/2017 9:03 pm EDT

Canada should allow high-power and outdoor devices (HPODs) in the 5GHz band before the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2019 (WRC-19), Canada's major telecom companies said in comments to the Ministry of Innovation,...

Connected cars ‘smartphones on wheels,’ Senate committee hears

Media | 04/04/2017 7:57 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The development of connected and autonomous vehicles might be the thing that makes the issue of cyber security tangible, a Canadian intelligence official told senators Tuesday....

Frank Boulben to exit Rogers

Media | 04/04/2017 4:38 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc.’s chief strategy officer, Frank Boulben, is leaving the company. Rogers spokesman Andrew Garas said in an email Tuesday Boulben would depart at the end of April. Boulben joined Rogers...

Telus closes deal for 100K MTS subscribers

Media | 04/04/2017 3:41 pm EDT

Telus Corp. has finalized a deal it struck as part of BCE Inc.’s acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. to have 100,000 former MTS subscribers, or about one quarter of its postpaid wireless subscriber base,...

Ontario court bars FBI from handling Canadian data in piracy case

Media | 04/03/2017 8:43 pm EDT

Ontario’s highest court has reversed an order by a lower court to allow a U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation team to investigate and prepare a report on seized data in a copyright infringement...

Ken Whyte leaving Rogers

Media | 04/03/2017 8:06 pm EDT

Ken Whyte, Rogers Communications Inc.’s senior vice-president of public policy, is leaving the company effective April 28. Whyte said in a posting on LinkedIn Monday that he resigned “this morning after 12 happy, fruitful years.” According to a note from Rogers chief legal officer David Miller posted by Whyte, the public policy team will be rolled into Rogers’ regulatory team upon his departure. Whyte “decided to leave Rogers to devote more time to other interests,” the note said. He was named president of Rogers’ publishing division in 2011, during which time he launched the company’s “all-you-can-read” magazine app. Last year, Whyte was appointed part of a 12-member panel advising the Heritage Minister as part of the...

CMF budget down 5.8% due to decline in BDU contributions

Media | 04/03/2017 6:55 pm EDT

The annual program budget for the Canada Media Fund (CMF) for 2017-2018 is smaller than the previous year due to a decrease in contributions from broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs). The CMF...

Too soon to see benefits of BlueSky TV: Barclays

Media | 04/03/2017 4:37 pm EDT

Despite being well received in some western markets, it’s too early to determine how Shaw Communications Inc.’s BlueSky TV is working out for the company, according to Barclays Capital. “We expect it will take...

Canada’s VR industry is nascent, but set for growth

Media | 03/31/2017 8:57 pm EDT

Though virtual reality is still in its early days, it holds promise for Canada’s media industry — including for broadcasters as a new way to draw eyes to live events, such as sports, according to...

Verizon planning new online TV service: report

Media | 03/31/2017 8:39 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. is working on delivering an online streaming television package this summer, according to Bloomberg. The report, published Thursday and citing anonymous sources, said the telecommunications...

CRTC considers future of Aboriginal radio in Ont., Alta. and B.C.

Media | 03/30/2017 9:03 pm EDT

A typically competitive process, disseminating new applications for radio licences seemed to take on a more culturally significant connotation for the CRTC as it navigated a three-day public hearing for urban Aboriginal radio stations in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. At the end of the three-day public hearing this week, Jean-Pierre Blais said, according to a transcript, that after spending a few years as chairman of the CRTC, “you’d think it would get easier. And it’s...

Google launches AI research institute in Toronto

Media | 03/30/2017 4:30 pm EDT

Alphabet Inc.’s Google has launched a research facility in Toronto dedicated to the development of artificial intelligence (AI). The Vector Institute will focus on “expanding the applications of AI by performing...

Quebec union ‘disappointed’ budgets didn’t address taxation imbalance

Media | 03/29/2017 8:58 pm EDT

A Quebec union representing communications sector employees said it is disappointed with both the federal and provincial budgets, saying that in “both cases, no action has been taken to counter...

Jacob Glick joins University of Ottawa

Media | 03/29/2017 3:14 pm EDT

Jacob Glick is leaving Rogers Communications Inc. after two years with the company and becoming a distinguished executive fellow in residence at the University of Ottawa. Glick was chief corporate affairs officer at...

Privacy commish funding work on rules for connected cars

Media | 03/28/2017 8:29 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The federal privacy commissioner will be working with stakeholders to develop a “code of practice” to help address privacy concerns around connected and autonomous vehicles,...

OPC, CIRA-supported initiative maps out Canadians’ Internet traffic

Media | 03/28/2017 6:24 pm EDT

A tool that allows users to see exactly where their Internet traffic is travelling, backed partially by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, has received a facelift make it easier to use...

Encrypted messaging apps no place to hide, says U.K. official after killings

Media | 03/27/2017 8:23 pm EDT

Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp messaging service should not be a place “for terrorists to hide,” according to U.K. Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who appeared on a Sunday BBC program...

Flanker brands ramped up promos in March: Barclays

Media | 03/27/2017 8:04 pm EDT

Following a quiet first quarter, wireless companies’ flanker brands stepped up the competition in March, ramping up promotional activity through data increases and handset discounts, according to Barclays Capital. Just...

Class-action lawsuit proposed against Amazon over sales tax

Media | 03/27/2017 7:46 pm EDT

A Canadian class-action lawsuit is being filed against Amazon.com Inc. for the collection of sales tax on tax-exempt products, the Consumer Law Group announced Monday. In a press...

Twitter releases 10th transparency report

Media | 03/24/2017 4:40 pm EDT

Twitter Inc. had to respond to 51 requests for Canadian user's information and 11 requests for account removal in the latter half of 2016, according to the social media company’s latest transparency report. Out of the 51 government and “non-government legal” information requests, affecting 52 accounts, Twitter produced information 80 per cent of the time, the report, released Tuesday, said. Twenty-nine accounts were specified in the 11 removal requests the company said it received, and 14 accounts were removed for violating Twitter’s terms of service....