AMC Networks Inc. is making its Sundance Now over-the-top (OTT) service available in Canada. “Sundance Now launches with hand-selected and award-winning documentary, art-house and independent films from around the globe,” the U.S. company said in a press release Thursday. The service costs $6.99 a month, or $4.99 a month with a year’s subscription, according to its website. “With its strong curatorial voice, Sundance Now’s library includes a growing and unparalleled selection of film, docs and TV series,” the release said. It follows the Canadian launch of AMC’s horror-focused streaming service, Shudder, last year....
The federal government has extended the deadline for comments in its consultation on licence requirements for non-geostationary satellite orbit systems (NGSO). In a notice on its website Thursday, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada said “based on the merits of several requests for additional time to respond, the deadline for submission of comments has been extended to April 18, from the original deadline of April 3. The deadline for reply comments will not change, still 15 days “following the publication date of the comments received.”...
For all the focus on the digital economy, there was little in Wednesday’s budget for digital content creators, broadband infrastructure enthusiasts or fans of long-term planning, according to...
BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. are removing TSN, RDS and Sportsnet from traditional TV subscriptions for business customers with a liquor license and offering the channels...
OTTAWA — With a focus on the digital economy, the federal government will start looking beyond geography to bridge the digital divide in Canada, adding new funding to encourage Internet Service...
The upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could include pressure to change rules requiring some information to stay in Canada, University of Ottawa law professor...
Alphabet Inc.’s Google will give companies that advertise on its platforms more control over where their ads are placed, the company said in a blog post Tuesday. “Recently, we had a number of cases where brands’ ads appeared on content that was not aligned with their values. For this, we deeply apologize,” chief business officer Philipp Schindler said in the post. In recent days, large companies in the United Kingdom pulled ads from Alphabet’s YouTube after they were posted next to videos with homophobic and anti-Semitic content, Reuters reported....
Cogeco Inc. has launched a new 4K personal video recorder (PVR) to allow its subscribers to record and watch content at four times the resolution of high-definition TV. “This evolution in our offering is consistent with our ongoing commitment to better meet the changing needs of our...
The acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. expands the scale at which BCE Inc. operates, which is “becoming one of its most important competitive advantages,”...
Facebook Inc. is increasing its government relations presence in Ottawa, with three new registrations filed with the lobbying commissioner’s office last month. According to the federal lobbyists’...
MONTREAL — The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed Monday a challenge to an injunction on the sale of pre-loaded set-top boxes. “In our view, in light of the uncontradicted evidence, including the advertisement that...
The Office of the Privacy Commission (OPC) is looking into searches of electronics by the Canadian Border Services Agency. OPC spokeswoman Tobi Cohen confirmed in an...
Quebecor Inc. reported $3.88 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2015, up 7.5 per cent or $271.8 million from a year earlier. It also reported a net loss of $22.5 million in the three-month period ending...
In another deal that highlights the value of e-sports, Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube has signed a multi-year partnership with competitive gaming company FaceIt to be the exclusive hub for its content. FaceIt, creators of the...
After analyst speculation about whether Quebecor Inc.’s returning CEO would affect the strategic direction of the company, Pierre Karl Péladeau confirmed on a conference...
Twitter Inc. and the National Lacrosse League (NLL) have teamed up to live-stream games in the U.S. and Canada, the men’s indoor professional league announced Wednesday. In a press release, the league said its game of the week would be streamed on the social media platform for the rest of the 2017 season (through April 29) and for all of the 2018 season. “The future of the sports viewing experience is digital, and this partnership will not only elevate the fan experience by making the game more accessible to audiences, but enable simultaneous real-time...
Rogers Communications Inc. has rolled out a security tool aimed at helping businesses safeguard their social media accounts, the company said in a Wednesday press release. Social Media Security “monitors,...
Canada has become the first non-European country to be granted membership to the Council of Europe’s coproduction fund, Canadian Heritage announced Wednesday. According to a press release, Eurimages was established in 1989 to support the European audiovisual industry and has an annual budget of about $32.2 million that supports roughly 70...
The arguments made by BCE Inc. subsidiary Northwestel in its request to the CRTC to review and vary a decision setting rates for Northwestel’s Wholesale Connect service have already...
Facebook Inc. has updated its policies to state that developers cannot use data obtained from its social media networks “to provide tools that are used for surveillance.” While...
Global revenue from streaming e-sports and video game content will nearly double four years from now, according to Juniper Research, which projected total revenues from video game streaming content will increase to $3.5 billion US by 2021, compared to $1.8 billion US in 2017. In a report released Tuesday, Juniper said that while "significant" revenues are expected to come from subscriptions on streaming platforms such as Amazon.com Inc.'s Twitch.tv, advertisers will also win big. It said 90 per cent of e-sports and viewers of "Let’s Play" content...
As the federal government gears up to review the Copyright Act later this year, information about the rate of piracy in Canada remains elusive, two full years since the implementation of the...
A pair of channels originating from India and the United States have been approved for distribution in Canada, the CRTC said Friday. NDTV 24 X 7, described by the CRTC as a “24-hour niche...
On May 27, members of the Conservative Party of Canada will select who will succeed former prime minister Stephen Harper as permanent leader of the party, relieving interim Opposition leader Rona...
The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it will hear a case centering on whether an Ontario court has jurisdiction over an Israel-based website that a Canadian is accusing of libel....
England’s biggest soccer league has been granted a court order to block computer servers that host and deliver content to a set-top box (STBs) application that allows users to watch its games...
The number of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) subscribers on 4G LTE mobile connections is expected to increase significantly and overtake over-the-top (OTT) applications over the next four years, according to Juniper Research. The...
Taxing foreign digital services such as Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime service, Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube and Netflix Inc. could provide the federal...
A Federal Court judge ruled last week that a defendant must pay damages for selling products that allowed users to bypass another company’s technological protections, in the first such ruling in Canada. The case sets a precedent that will have a ripple effect on other industries, including media, according to...
United States president Donald Trump has nominated Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai for another five-year term at the helm of the regulator. Pai was first appointed as commissioner in 2012 and became chairman in January 2017. Commissioners, including the chairman, have five-year terms, according to the FCC website. “If I am fortunate to be confirmed by the Senate, I will continue to work with my colleagues to connect all Americans with digital opportunity, foster innovation, protect consumers, promote public safety, and make the FCC more open and transparent to the American people,” Pai said in a statement Tuesday. ...
Blue Ant Media Inc. has appointed Nick Solowski as its new director of international sales and acquisitions. He will be responsible for licensing Blue Ant content in various international markets, including the U.S. Hispanic...
The federal budget will be presented March 22, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced Tuesday. Morneau will rise to give the budget speech at 4 p.m. that day in the House of Commons, marking the Liberal...
Four CRTC job postings have been extended for a second time, with prospective chairperson, vice-chairperson and regional commissioners having until March 15 to apply. The four jobs were first posted on the federal government’s appointment opportunities website in late January, with a deadline of Feb. 20. That deadline was pushed to March 6 and, on Tuesday, again extended...
Corus Entertainment Inc. is now selling to advertisers users’ cookie data to better target audience members, the company announced Monday. In a press release, Corus said it’s the “first major Canadian...
In a move that it says positions it as the “leading 4K content provider on TV,” Stingray Digital Group Inc. announced it purchased NatureVision TV, which specializes in nature programming. In a press release Friday, Stingray said the channel’s “cataloge of hundred of hours of exceptionally soothing nature programs brings home the world's most beautiful places through the brilliance of HD and 4K video.” It joins the company’s other high-definition and ultra-HD inventory, such as last year’s acquisition of Festival 4K and Stingray Ambiance 4K. "The potential operational and promotional synergies between Stingray and NatureVision TV are enormous," Eric Boyko, Stingray president and CEO said in the release. "All the metrics surrounding 4K television...
Rogers Communications Inc. is offering a cable and Internet package that includes speeds of 1 Gbps at a heavily discounted price in what Barclays Capital says is a surprising move. At $100 per...
Canada has one of the “world’s most open cultural markets” and the CRTC’s decision to ban simultaneous substitution during BCE Inc.’s broadcast of the National Football League’s...
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.'s president and CEO will leave the company following the closing of its acquisition by BCE Inc. MTS said in a press release Friday that Jay Forbes will leave after the deal closes on March 17. The $3.9 billion acquisition received...
Former Rogers Communications Inc. senior official John Boynton is the new president and CEO of Torstar and publisher of its Toronto Star newspaper, the company announced Friday. As of March 31, Boynton...
About half of Canadians who watch TV online are cord-cutters, but there are more of their ilk among those who have chosen to rely on over-the-air (OTA) transmission, according to the latest report from Media Technology Monitor...
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly is meeting this week with digital platforms, telling a CBC morning radio show Friday that she was in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., region Thursday meeting...
The Attorney General of Canada is arguing in a memorandum of fact and law that the CRTC investigation that led to the dismissal of former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan was “procedurally...
More than 400 Canadian radio stations across the country are now available on a newly launched app featuring both public and private broadcasters. The free Radioplayer app launched Wednesday “gives radio listeners...
Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube will be launching a live and on-demand TV service that will enable subscribers to watch more than 40 traditional TV channels online without the need for a subscription from a telecom provider, it announced on its blog Tuesday. The company said the contract-less $35 per month Internet service, dubbed YouTube TV, will give subscribers access to more than 40 networks, including sports and live TV streaming content from CBS Corp., Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., Comcast Corp.’s NBC Universal and The Walt Disney Co.’s ABC and ESPN....
Appellant Voltage Pictures LLC is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to reverse a decision it made earlier this month forcing it to pay the court costs for the respondent if he wins his...
A Swiss corporation and two of its subsidiaries are alleging that Shaw Communications Inc.’s new IPTV service is infringing on a handful of its patents, according to a statement of claim...
Randy Lennox has been named the new president of BCE Inc.’s media division following the departure of Mary Ann Turcke, the company announced Monday. In a press release, Bell Media...
OTTAWA — When talking about CBC/Radio-Canada’s role in the media landscape, the public broadcaster is a “pygmy amongst giants,” and more focus should be aimed at large...
CBC/Radio-Canada reported self-generated revenues that were 0.8 per cent lower than last year, which was off-set by higher advertising in its third quarterly report for the year, released Thursday. For the three months ended Dec. 31, the public broadcaster reported operating revenues of $138 million — revenues not including government funding — were down 0.8 per cent or $1.1 million compared to the same period last year. This was due to fewer subscribers to some specialty channels and lower content sales, CBC said. Those revenues are made up of mostly advertising on TV,...
The CRTC is seeking feedback on proposed changes to the broadcasting distribution and television broadcasting regulations that would, among other things, remove daily Canadian content requirements for over-the-air (OTA) TV...
Otono Networks Inc.’s Roam Mobility is launching new monthly roaming plans for travellers in the United States. “With Roam Mobility, Canadians can get the highest value USA roaming plan with plenty of 4G LTE data, and...
The federal government should require foreign providers of digital services to remit tax on sales in the jurisdiction where the final customer is located, the C.D. Howe Institute said. In a report...
OTTAWA — Fines levied against companies who breach privacy rules in Canada need to be increased to help prevent breaches in the future and to come in line with European Union data...
Verizon Communications Inc. said Wednesday that it’s ready to test its 5G network, with services to 11 markets expected to start on a trial basis by the summer. In a press release, Verizon said it will pilot...
The need to modernize the CRTC was one of the themes raised during Heritage Canada’s review of Canadian content in a digital age, according to a summary report released Tuesday....
The start of the new year was marked by new registrations for new and not-so-new companies and groups in the federal lobbyists’ registry. Iristel Inc. registered to lobby the federal government as of Jan....
Some investors are worried about potential disruptions at Quebecor Inc. following the return of former CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau to the company, though such concern is overblown,...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. has received approval from the CRTC to bring its live-performance channel to Canada. The CRTC said Monday that Stingray Festival 4K has been added to the list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution. In a notice on its website, the CRTC describes the channel as a 24-hour niche service, broadcasting “native 4K productions of live festivals, concerts and theatre shows encompassing different genres of the performing arts and music from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.” Three-quarters of the...
A private members’ bill to privatize CBC/Radio-Canada was met with vigorous opposition Friday as members of Parliament stood in the House of Commons to defend the...
Ontario public broadcaster TVO has decided to keep broadcasting over-the-air (OTA), after the provincial government moved to provide $1 million in funding to keep the transmitters operational. TVO said in a press...
OTTAWA — Canadians expect the federal privacy commissioner to be able to make orders and levy fines against companies that break privacy rules, Daniel Therrien told members of Parliament studying the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) Thursday, noting that the current inability to do so erodes trust in a...
The man who led Quebecor Inc. for 14 years but left to join provincial politics will return as head of the company Thursday, though despite the change in leadership, analysts expect...
A Carleton University professor has received a $600,000 federal grant to support research studying 5G networks, the school announced Wednesday. Richard Yu’s funding — a Strategic Partnership Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) — is for a project addressing “existing research challenges in order to make innovative 5G wireless networks more efficient and effective,” Carleton said in a press release. “With improved technology, the widespread deployment of these networks will be commercially viable. The...
OTTAWA — Privacy experts raised the idea of a Canadian “right to be forgotten” in front of a House of Commons committee studying the Personal Information Protection and Electronic...
Interactive digital media companies in Ontario are set for “significant growth” within the next two years, according to a report commissioned by industry trade association Interactive...
A Canadian broadcaster and an international entertainment provider are joining forces to bring to Canada a 24-hour channel dedicated to video gaming. The deal between Canadian broadcaster Super Channel, owned by Allarco...
The introduction of Xplornet Communications Inc. into Manitoba’s wireless market was a “surprise twist” to the story of BCE Inc.’s $3.9-billion acquisition...
OTTAWA — Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Canada told members of Parliament Tuesday they don’t see themselves as “arbiters of truth” in...
Kurt Eby, former director of regulatory and government affairs for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), has taken a new role with Pelmorex Media Inc. According to his LinkedIn account, Eby left the CWTA after nearly five years for the Toronto-based position as...
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. announced Friday the creation of the NSERC-Huawei Industrial Research Chair in Future Wireless Technologies at Polytechnique Montréal....
More than 13,000 Canadian households have signed up for Rogers Communications Inc.’s Internet service for low-income housing residents, the company said Friday, in announcing a new community housing partner in...
Plaintiff Voltage Pictures LLC is responsible for the defendant’s costs in a reverse class action suit until the certification process, a judge has ruled. In January, lawyers argued over whether Robert Salna should be able to recover his costs in the case. Salna was named as a defendant by Rogers Communications Inc. in the case, in which Voltage alleges Rogers customers have been illegally downloading its content. In a Feb. 2 decision, judge Keith Boswell, ordered Voltage to “give security for Mr. Salna’s costs in the amount of...
The CRTC has approved an application by Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. to add Sky News Arabia to the list of foreign channels authorized for distribution in Canada, the commission said Tuesday. The channel is a...
A lengthy legal battle between BCE Inc. and two companies that claim Bell infringed on their IPTV patent has been extended, one month after a Federal Court judge dismissed the case. MediaTube Corp. and NorthVu...
According to a new survey commissioned by Internet advocacy group OpenMedia, while half of Canadians support creating a new revenue source for Canadian content, there is strong opposition to taxing Internet service and more...
The CRTC’s decision to ban simultaneous substitution for the National Football League’s Super Bowl has had a significant effect on viewership, as BCE Inc.'s media division reported an audience drop-off of...
Quebecor Inc. said Monday music creation will be a key focus for the company going forward, as it announced the appointment of a new executive vice-president of music development, Anne Vivien. “Already a big music industry player, Quebecor Media is committed to building growth by making new music creation a core priority,” the company said in a press release. “Recruiting new artists, forging new partnerships, strengthening music publishing structures, and optimizing digital marketing for albums, and live music management, in Québec and internationally, are...
Almost 100 tech companies in the United States have filed a brief in a court case against U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking entry of citizens from seven countries and all refugees into the United States....
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is leading the charge in pushing for the presence of “cultural diversity,” or domestic content, on foreign digital platforms like the over-the-top (OTT) service provided by Netflix Inc. — despite other countries already having regulations and tax...
BCE Inc.’s media division has entered into an agreement with Nashville, Tenn.- based record label Big Machine Label Group (BMLG). Bell Media said in a press release Monday BMLG is the world’s top independent...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said Friday it won’t “focus on denying Americans free data” going forward, as it ended its investigation into zero-rated offerings. New chairman Ajit Pai said in...
A Federal Court judge on Monday ordered a foreign website to be taken down and some of the content it published removed from search engines internationally due to a violation of Canadian...
OTTAWA — If Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly was clear about anything during a Thursday afternoon appearance at the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) Prime Time in Ottawa conference, it was that the...
BCE Inc. continued the industry-wide trend of strong wireless numbers, as its fourth quarter earnings report showed a surge in data usage over the year and a better view of when it...
OTTAWA — CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais used his opening remarks at a panel discussion Thursday to criticize individuals who are calling for “political interference” in the...
The CRTC is collecting feedback on whether wireless service providers should be required to provide message relay service (MRS) for customers with a hearing or speech disability. In a notice of consultation posted to its website Thursday, the regulator said wireline providers are currently required to provide the text-to-voice services — specifically teletypewriter and Internet Protocol relay service — but is now asking how MRS “could evolve to respond to users’ needs in today’s market, whether the services remain relevant in light of current trends and...
CBC/Radio-Canada is putting more money into new content, including emphasising local and digital programming, it said as it outlined annual priorities in a report released Wednesday. The...
OTTAWA — Lawyers representing a defendant in a reverse class action case over a copyright infringement claim are asking a federal court judge to give their client an opportunity to recover costs...
Ontario public broadcaster TVO will shut down eight over-the-air transmitters, keeping one transmitter in Toronto “for the purposes of the CRTC licence and to minimize distribution costs,” it said in a Jan....
New data shows that the number of anglophone Canadians with TV subscriptions has continued to fall, reaching 75 per cent in the fall of 2016 — a 14-per-cent decline over the past five years. That number is down two per cent...
BCE Inc.’s media division is “reducing a number of positions” across the country, spokesman Scott Henderson confirmed Tuesday, though he declined to specify the number of people that will be affected. The job cuts are part of a “restructuring that includes local radio and TV stations,” he said in an email, adding that the positions affected “are from all areas of the business.” “The restructuring is the result of the challenges Bell Media and other Canadian media companies are facing due to increasing international competition, the evolution of broadcast technologies, and advertising and regulatory pressure,” Henderson said. The move comes ahead of Bell’s release of its fourth-quarter financial results on Thursday. ...
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Canada will launch a YouTube channel for “iconic Canadian film and television content from years gone by” to celebrate the 150th anniversary of...
More than 1,700 people representing a variety of tech and telecom companies have signed on to an open letter opposing U.S. President Donald Trump’s weekend executive order blocking entry of...
The Ministers of Canadian Heritage and Innovation, Science and Economic Development have new understudies. In a Thursday press release, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a makeover to his roster of parliamentary...
BCE Inc. has given more details about its broadcast plans for the upcoming National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl, including pointing fans to a resource where they can watch American ads in...
Rogers Communications Inc. incoming president and CEO Joe Natale will take the helm in July, the company announced as it reported fourth-quarter numbers that showed continuing growth in data usage among its wireless...
Marie Ginette Lepage is leaving Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to join the team at Stingray Digital Group Inc., Stingray announced. In a press release, the company said Lepage would take on the role of senior...
Phasing out CBC/Radio-Canada’s sale of digital ads and tweaking tax laws to prevent companies from claiming exemptions for advertising on foreign digital platforms are among the...
Wireless service providers aren’t necessarily adhering to Wireless Code rules mandating that customers receive paper copies of their privacy policies, according to a new CRTC-commissioned report. The report, published on the CRTC’s website Friday, is part of the ongoing Wireless Code review,...
Heritage Canada has issued a series of help-wanted ads for the CRTC — including for the not-yet vacant position of chair. Four new job openings are now on the government’s appointments website for the roles of chair, vice-chair of broadcasting and two regional commissioners. Current chairman Jean-Pierre Blais’ five-year term is set to expire in June, though he has not publicly said whether he intends to seek a second term. The posting of Blais’ job shouldn’t be taken as proof that a decision has been made about his future, as under a new process everyone — including those who currently hold a post — must apply if they want to be considered, a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly told the Globe and Mail. Joly’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The Wire...
