Apple Inc.’s iPhone owners stream audio and video content more than any other device owners, according to a new report released by Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. The report said that among anglophone iPhone owners, 55 per cent stream audio and 68 per cent stream video. It said that of all anglophones that own any type of smartphone, 37 per cent are audio streamers and 46 per cent are video streamers. The report added that while most listen to a local AM or FM radio station, more streamers are listening on music apps like Google Inc.’s...
Blue Ant Media Inc. announced Thursday that its 4K Love Nature channel content is now available for worldwide distribution. The content company said in a press release that the 4K content will be available on linear and streaming video-on-demand platforms. It added that the commercial-free programming will include natural history series, as well as documentaries. “The passion that wildlife and nature fans hold for animals and our natural world is something that audiences relate to across all countries, cultures and languages,” Raja Khanna, television and digital CEO at Blue Ant,...
Cogeco Cable Inc. announced Wednesday it is launching a suite of cloud-based applications, called Online Productivity Tools, to help small- and medium-sized business customers in Quebec and Ontario....
The Office of the Attorney General, participating on behalf of the CRTC in BCE Inc.’s appeal of the commission’s decision to eliminate simultaneous substitution for the Super Bowl, has asked the Federal Court of Appeal...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s OMNI TV announced Wednesday it will be broadcasting its first production of an original series on its channel. OMNI said in the release that the show, titled Blood and Water, will be a Chinese...
CBC/Radio-Canada CEO Hubert Lacroix said Tuesday the public broadcaster is in a financially stable situation despite the loss of advertising revenue from NHL games, but that it must start a “conversation” about alternative funding models, which could include a levy on Internet service providers, or a household...
The CRTC has merged two complaints against a service by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron that exempts some music streaming services from counting against mobile customers’ data caps. Videotron introduced the service, called Unlimited Music, in late August. It allows mobile customers to listen to music streaming offered by Stingray Digital Group Inc., Google Inc.’s Google Play, Deezer and Spotify AB without incurring data charges. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) filed a Part 1 complaint a few days later, arguing that such an exemption amounts to an undue preference....
DHX Media Ltd. on Monday reported quarterly revenue that was more than double what it saw a year earlier. The company said in a press release that revenue for the fourth quarter ended June 30 was $71.2 million, up 139 per cent...
Apple Inc. said Monday that more than 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices have been sold in their first three days of availability, setting a new company record. “Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been...
Technology that’s been around for years, which allows individuals to use services like apps and browser extensions to avoid seeing online advertising, has been causing new controversy in the past few weeks. According to...
BlackBerry Ltd. on Thursday confirmed that it will be releasing a smartphone that runs on Google Inc.'s Android system within the coming months. It said in a press release that the device will be called the Priv and feature a...
The CRTC on Thursday released a final version of its anticipated wholesale code governing the business relationships between TV-service providers and channel operators, which, among other things, bans provisions that would prevent...
The proportion of Internet traffic taken up by peer-to-peer file sharing is down in Canada due to the ongoing popularity of over-the-top (OTT) services, according to Sandvine Inc., a network management provider. It said in a blog...
Incognito Software Solutions said Thursday it has hired Chris Busch as its chief innovation officer. It said in a press release that Busch had previously worked seven years at Incognito, a Vancouver-based company focussed on...
Kik Interactive Inc., the Waterloo, Ont.-based mobile messaging company, said Tuesday it has added two new executives. One is Jae Kim, who will be head of strategy and partnerships, Kik said in a press release. Kim was formerly...
Mobile-messaging through apps in Canada and globally is on the rise as it attracts users wanting a convenient interface that can help them be included in social circles, though the steep growth in users is not yet being matched in dollars generated. Research from Juniper Research Ltd. released in June said messages sent via apps such as Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp, Canada's own Kik Interactive Inc. and others were expected to grow from 31 trillion last year to 100 trillion in 2019. Juniper said in another release in July that “within the next 12 months [instant messaging] will...
CBC/Radio-Canada said the Canadian Media Guild’s claim that the public broadcaster is selling off all of its buildings is false. The union issued a press release Monday claiming that CBC had announced at a town hall meeting...
The CRTC on Wednesday released its finalized conditions for national news channels that will be applied to all future licences for such services. The conditions are largely the same as what the CRTC suggested in several...
Financial services cooperative Desjardins Group announced on Wednesday new applications to allow small business, self-employed workers and "merchants on the go" to collect card payments with...
BCE Inc.'s Astral Out of Home division for public advertising displays said Wednesday it has received an eight-year contract to provide digital advertising at the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. It said this...
Starbucks Coffee Co. said Thursday it has now implemented advance orders through smartphones at more than 7,400 of its locations in the United States, and it will start trying the idea in Canada next month. The coffee-chain operation said in a press release that users of Apple Inc.'s iPhone or devices running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system can now use the Starbucks app to place orders and pay for them remotely in advance of picking them up at locations across the U.S. It said it tests in the U.S. that started in December have been successful, and certain locations in...
Corus Entertainment Inc. said Tuesday it is launching the YTVGo and NickGO TV-everywhere apps, which will be available to subscribers of its YTV and Nickelodeon channels. “These apps give kids and families access to live...
Stingray Digital Group Inc. has launched a channel that it says is the first in North America to offer around-the-clock 4K content. The Stingray Ambiance channel is available through TV service offered by Quebecor...
Blue Ant Media Inc. announced Tuesday that its international division will launch new 4K titles in the nature, wildlife and documentary categories at MIPCOM, a global entertainment content conference. Blue Ant said in the press...
Cogeco Cable Inc. announced Monday it has converted 15 local TV stations, part of its TVCogeco division, to high-definition (HD) quality. Cogeco said in a press release that the $5 million investment in upgrading the stations...
CRTC commissioner Tom Pentefountas told a media conference in Paris on Monday that it is "no longer the time for control and regulation" in television and agencies like his must take on more of a role in "promotion." According to text of his speech on the CRTC website, Pentefountas, the CRTC's...
Canada will trail the United States in the rollout of mobile-oriented video services for a variety of reasons, Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang said in a research note Monday. The comments follow news from earlier this...
The CRTC has asked Shaw Communications Inc. to provide justification for why it should officially be relieved of requirements that its BC News 1 channel provide regional news. Shaw recently filed applications requesting that the...
The BBC says it is planning to launch an over-the-top (OTT) video subscription service in North America next year. “Next year, we’re launching a new OTT video service in America, offering BBC fans programs they...
Shopify Inc. announced Thursday it has partnered with Amazon.com Inc. to allow Amazon Webstore owners to migrate their online stores onto the Shopify platform. Shopify said in the press release that after migrating to the Amazon platform, Shopify customers will be able to log in and pay with their existing Amazon customer account. The release added that Shopify merchants will be able to use Amazon warehouses located in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan to ship their products around the world faster and at a cheaper rate. “We strive to help merchants grow...
CBC/Radio-Canada CEO Hubert Lacroix, speaking at an international conference, said public broadcasters should speak out about how dropping revenues are affecting them. Public broadcasters in...
The CRTC on Thursday granted BCE Inc.'s request that the regulator revoke the broadcasting licence for the NHL Network. BCE's Bell Media division had licensed the rights to the NHL Network in Canada, which operated as a...
Amazon.com Inc. announced Thursday it will release a new Fire tablet, priced at $49.99 US. Amazon said in the press release that the tablet’s operating system, Fire OS 5 Bellini, has an updated user interface and screen-sharing capabilities for when users need to get in touch with customer care or tech support. The tablet includes 128 GB of...
The Canadian Media Fund said Thursday it has extended the deadline to apply for the Canada–Wallonia Digital Media Incentive for Multiplatform Projects until Oct. 15. CMF spokesman Pierre Campeau said in an email that the...
Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. said Thursday that Nelson Millman is its new program director for NHL Network Radio. The satellite-radio operator said in a press release that Millman has 42 years of experience in radio, including as general manager of Toronto sports radio station The Fan 590, which is part of Rogers Communications Inc.'s Sportsnet family. "We're very pleased to have Nelson on board," John Lewis, senior vice-president of programming and operations at SiriusXM Canada, said in the release. "With so many years of sports radio under his belt and his...
Quebecor Inc. is not interested in being Canada's fourth national wireless carrier, at least not by itself. That was the message Quebecor chief financial officer Jean-Francois Pruneau gave to a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce investors' conference held in Montreal Wednesday. While discussing options for using...
Montreal and Toronto-based AdGear Technologies Inc. announced Wednesday it will become the first official advertising-technology provider for the federal government. AdGear said in a press release...
DHX Media Inc. announced Wednesday it has signed a deal with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to provide more than 2,500 half-hours of content to its video-on-demand (VOD) service in China. “We are very happy to provide extensive kids and family content from our library for this new service in China. This deal underscores...
Smartphone penetration among anglophone Canadians was at 73 per cent this spring, according to a new report by Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. MTM said in a report Tuesday that the proportion of...
A new survey from research company 451 Research LLC. indicates high consumer satisfaction ratings with Apple Inc.’s Apple Watch, noting 54 per cent of consumers studied were very satisfied. 451...
Rover Labs Inc., a Toronto-based maker of mobile engagement technology, announced Tuesday it is partnering with the Pittsburgh Penguins to bring fans exclusive content to their mobile devices at games through a new app. The...
The CRTC is asking whether maintaining a physical presence in an area is necessary to produce local programming and whether community-access TV is still relevant as part a proceeding on local and community television it announced...
You.i TV, an Ottawa-based company making software for video applications, said Monday it has secured $15 million in funding, led by Los Angeles-based private-equity group Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP. The company said in a...
Tyson Parker has been named head of artist and music industry relations at BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division, the company said Monday. Parker was previously vice-president of communications and artist relations at Universal Music Canada. Bell Media said in a press release that, in this new position, Parker will report to Randy Lennox,the former CEO of Universal Music Group who was appointed last month to the newly created position of president of entertainment production and broadcasting at Bell Media. Bell Media said Parker will be responsible for maintaining relationships with the music...
International Data Corp. said Monday that wearable shipments will reach 76.1 million units this year, up 163.6 per cent from the 28.9 million units shipped in 2014. It said in a press release that total shipments of basic and...
Ajit Pai, a commissioner with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has blamed his own organization's new net-neutrality rules for a decline in capital spending among Internet service...
As the telecommunications and media industries continue to converge, the production sector must pay more attention to what were traditionally considered telecom issues, according to Reynolds Mastin,...
Ericsson AB announced on Thursday that its cloud-based TV platform, MediaFirst, is now commercially available to operators and content providers, noting that Telus Corp. will be utilizing the service to enhance service for its TV...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) has signed an affiliation agreement with the Producers Guild of America that it said would lead to more opportunities for co-productions involving the two countries. The agreement “sets guidelines for mutual cooperation and information exchange between the two organizations and marks an important step in strengthening working relationships between Canada and the United States,” said the CMPA in a press release Thursday. It added that the agreement follows similar deals with the Interstate Association of Audiovisual Industry in...
The newest version of Apple Inc.’s Apple TV will include its voice-recognition program, Siri, which users can access to search for content across apps, the company said Wednesday. In a live announcement streamed online,...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division announced Wednesday it has appointed Mark Finney to the newly created position of vice-president of strategic sales, and several other changes in the executive ranks...
Shaw Communications Inc. has filed an application asking the CRTC to exempt it from the requirement, as a condition of licence, that all its satellite-TV customers be able to receive messages from the National Public Alerting...
Telecommunications and media have not been prominent issues in this year's federal election campaign, taking a backseat to things such as the Mike Duffy trial, the deficit and Syrian refugees. The Wire Report has made...
The CRTC approved Wednesday three applications from BCE Inc. to include various non-Canadian programming to the existing list of non-Canadian programming services and stations. For two of the applications, which were posted May...
Telus Corp. announced Wednesday it is expanding its Internet of Things (IoT) platform globally to nearly every country around the world. It said in a press release that the new platform, called Telus Global IoT Connectivity...
Quebecor Inc. announced Wednesday that its Quebecor Media unit has bought 28.6 per cent of the stake in that division held by for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). It said in a press release that...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said in a new report that the CRTC and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner should do more research on the practice of tracking the location of individuals through their mobile devices....
Another application has been submitted to the CRTC that protests an offer by Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron to not count data used by its mobile customers for certain music-streaming applications. Vaxination Informatique, a telecommunication consulting company, has launched its own undue-preference complaint about Videotron's offer, which was announced late last month. The application from Vaxination Informatique, which appeared on the CRTC's website on Friday, argued that Videotron's offer on music services, called Unlimited Music, contravenes Telecommunications Act provisions meant to "ensure fair treatment of all communications [and] also to ensure incumbents do not use...
U.S. wireless carrier AT&T said Tuesday that it has partnered with ZTE Corp.’s U.S. division to offer the first plug-in vehicle WiFi hotspot device. The device, called ZTE Mobley, can...
Verizon Communications Inc. plans to launch a free ad-supported mobile streaming service, the New York Times reported online Tuesday. The article said the launch would be announced this week, and...
Verizon Communications Inc. announced Tuesday it has created a roadmap to begin field trials for 5G wireless technology as early as 2016. The company said in a press release it is partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericson AB,...
Stornoway Communications LP has launched a complaint to the CRTC about its iChannel being taken out of a theme package offered by BCE Inc. to IPTV and satellite-TV customers. Stornoway said in an application that appeared on the CRTC's website Friday that it has been informed by Bell that iChannel, a Category A...
Rogers Communications Inc. said Friday that its radio division will team with Google Inc.'s YouTube for a weekly show that will look at the hottest trends in music, fashion, entertainment and gaming. Rogers said in a press release that this marks YouTube's first partnership with radio operations in Canada. The hour-long show will be hosted by Adam Wylde and Blake Carter from its KiSS 92.5 station in Toronto, and will be broadcast each weekend. It will also feature appearances from Canadian and international YouTube superstars, Rogers said. The first show is scheduled for this Saturday. Emailed comments attributed to Rob Farina, Rogers' vice-president of radio content, said the show will broadcast in a video format on YouTube and the audio will also be broadcast on various Rogers radio stations at various times throughout the...
Corus Entertainment Inc. said Thursday in two press releases it has launched the Disney Channel and expanded the distribution of its Cartoon Network. Disney Channel is now available in 10 million...
A new report from Ericsson AB shows that while people are increasingly consuming video on mobile devices, the cost of data limits many from taking advantage of what the technology makes possible. The report released Thursday from...
Blue Ant Media Inc. said in a press release Thursday that its distribution arm has sold more than 75 hours of programming to U.S. channels. Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. bought rights to an...
The CRTC’s recent decision to deny a licence amendment requested by Harvard Broadcasting Inc.’s CKEA-FM in Edmonton was based on a difference of opinion over what songs fall into what category, according to the company, while a radio expert says the same could be true of other cases. The regulator renewed the...
A stock market analyst has speculated that an acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. by BCE Inc. is likely next year. A research note Wednesday from TD Securities analyst Vince Valentini said that with MTS set to sell off...
CBS Corp.’s sports division said Tuesday that next month it will live-stream a regular-season National Football League game for the first time. The game featured is an Oct. 4 matchup between the New York Jets and Miami...
Sony Corp. announced Wednesday at IFA Berlin, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics trade shows in Europe, the release of the world’s first 4K smartphone. Sony said in a press release that the Xperia Z5...
A majority of websites and mobile applications targeted to or popular with children were found recently to collect personal information from minors and share it with third parties, the Office of the...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is asking the CRTC to direct Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to change the price structure of its new music service, which exempts data consumed through some music streaming apps from data caps. Videotron “favours its own mobile service by making it more attractive and less expensive to use at the expense of all other [Internet] use and in particular any other non-covered audio content, streamed or otherwise,” PIAC said in a Part 1 complaint filed Tuesday. Videotron introduced the service, called Unlimited Music, last week. It allows...
Seven technology companies announced on Tuesday a new alliance to develop next-generation media formats, codecs and technologies to meet demand for better video, audio, imagery and streaming quality across all platforms and...
Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video members in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Austria will now be able to download movies and TV shows for easy offline viewing at no additional cost, the company said in a press...
Netflix Inc. will not renew its licencing agreement with Epix — a joint venture by Paramount Pictures Corp., Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. — because it...
The Canadian Media Fund (CMF) said Monday that it provided $365.5 billion in funding for television and digital-media productions last year. That's up from $354.5 billion that it reported spending in the previous year's...
BCE Inc. said Monday that Fibe TV customers will have exclusive access to a spinoff series of The Amazing Race Canada. It said in a press release that The Amazing Race Canada Auditions will be available, starting Sept. 2, on-demand on Channel 1 for Fibe TV customers, on what's known as TV1, formerly Bell Local. The show will be found in the community folders for Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City, as well as a to-be-launched community folder for Ottawa later on, Bell said. The content will also be available on the Fibe TV app, the company said. The show is a three-part series featuring...
Google Inc. said Monday that its Android Wear operating system for smartwatches can now work with Apple Inc.'s iPhones. Google said in a blog that LG Corp.'s Watch Urbane is the first device the iPhone-compliant version...
Blue Ant Media Inc. has asked the CRTC to require less Canadian content on its Cottage Life specialty channel for the remainder of its contract that expires in three years. Blue Ant said in its application, which appeared on the...
Wireless charging creates advantages beyond not having to use cords when refuelling mobile devices with electricity, according one British researcher, though a Canadian technology expert says widespread adoption of such technology is far from certain. James Moar, a research analyst with Juniper Research Ltd. in the United Kingdom, said in a phone...
MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is giving itself an undue preference with a new service that allows its mobile customers to listen to music streaming without it counting against their...
Two Corus Entertainment Inc. television stations in Ontario have been permitted by the CRTC to disaffiliate themselves from CBC/Radio-Canada and instead operate with programming provided by BCE Inc.'s CTV network, starting...
Canadian television stations saw a decline in revenues and an even sharper drop in profits last year, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. The federal agency said in online news release that revenue declined 0.7 per cent to $7.57...
Technology research company International Data Corp. said said in a press release Thursday that the global market for wearables grew 223.2 per cent in this year's second quarter with 18.1 million units shipped, up from 5.6...
New reports from International Data Corp. indicate that smartphone shipments will still grow but slow down from its previous expectations, while tablet shipments are expected to decline further than...
Representatives from Stingray Digital Group Inc., Google Inc.’s Google Music and Rdio Inc. will take part in the announcement about the new music service from Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron on Thursday, company spokeswoman France Gaignard said in an email Wednesday. The company said the service, called Unlimited Music, will be “a Canadian first in mobile services.”...
DHX Media Inc. announced Wednesday it has signed six broadcasters globally to air a new BBC-commissioned TV show called Twirlywoos. DHX said in a press release that the new channels include Lagardère in France, which will...
CBS Corp. and Cablevision Systems Corp. announced on Tuesday that CBS All Access and Showtime streaming services will be delivered to Cablevision’s Optimum Online customers as part of a...
A Gatineau, Que., radio station on Tuesday was granted a seven-year licence renewal but was not relieved of the requirement that jazz and blues make up least 20 per cent of its musical programming. The CRTC said in an online...
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division has undergone a number of changes to its executive ranks, with four individuals leaving and one new one coming in. The company confirmed in an email Tuesday that Phil King, president of CTV,...
The federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner has started an investigation into a data breach of customers of Ashley Madison, the website that helps married people have affairs. Valerie Lawton, a spokeswoman for the privacy commissioner, said in an email that it has been in contact with the Toronto-based parent company of Ashley Madison, Avid Life Media Inc., to attempt to determine how the data breach occurred. Reports indicate a hacker group was able to leak data containing the information of millions of the website's customers. "Given that the company is based in Canada, and...
A new report released Monday from Media Technology Monitor (MTM) says 85 per cent of Canadian users of Facebook Inc.’s photo and video-sharing app, Instagram, are younger than 50 and most are prone to owning new technology....
Worldwide transactions using devices connected to the Internet will reach 125 billion annually in volume by 2018, a gain of 60 per cent over what's expected this year, Juniper Research Ltd. said...
The plunge in oil prices could end up hurting telecommunications service providers like Shaw Communications Inc. and Telus Corp., which have a high proportion of their business operations in Alberta, according to a Bay Street...
Worldwide smartphone sales in this year's second quarter grew at their slowest rate since 2013, largely as a result of the first year-to-year decline on record for sales of smartphones in China, Gartner Inc. said Thursday....
Quebecor Inc. on Friday announced it has shut down its Zik music-streaming service, citing a pattern of consolidation in global industry for online music. "Despite the efforts of many independent sites around the world, many...
Wearables and tracking tags are being used more frequently in a wider variety of workplaces to collect statistics on employee productivity, health and satisfaction — tracking the performance of professional athletes, helping...
Two Alberta radio stations were granted licence renewals by the CRTC Friday, though both were denied requested changes to the makeup of the music they play. Harvard Broadcasting Inc.'s CKEA-FM in Edmonton was granted a...
As of Thursday, any Canadian with Internet was able subscribe to Shomi without being a customer of other services from its owners, Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc., though one industry observer said this does not mean these companies have given up on their TV services. Shomi announced Thursday in a...
Canadian chat-app maker Kik Interactive Inc. said Tuesday that it has received a $50-million US investment from China's Tencent Holdings Ltd., maker of WeChat messaging app. Kik CEO Ted Livingston said in a blog post on the company's website that Tencent is an ideal company to have as a partner. Livingston said "it was clear they understood chat deeply, making them a great sounding board. They had significant success and resources, allowing them to have the patience required for Kik to pursue a long-term vision for a chat-based ecosystem. And with so much of their focus on...
