BCE Inc. didn’t waste any time in absorbing the former Astral Media Inc. BCE, Canada’s largest vertically integrated communications and media company, formally gained control of Astral at 12:01 a.m. Friday, eight days after the CRTC gave its blessing to the company’s $3.38-billion acquisition of what was previously the country’s largest non-integrated broadcast company. As of Friday morning, Astral’s old website now redirects viewers to the webpage of BCE's Bell Media division. Twitter now says the company’s old account, @Astral, no longer exists,...
Videotron, a subsidiary of Quebecor Inc., launched a new online music channel called En visite chez ZIK for its illico.tv app. The channel, which will feature interviews and performances, will be available on the company's illico.tv service and mobile applications for Videotron subscribers, a release said. ZIK is a music streaming service owned by Quebecor. CBC/Radio Canada also offers English and French online music services, CBC Music and Espace Musique....
The CRTC is consulting on licence renewals for 68 commercial, ethnic and religious radio stations. The commission said in a notice of consultation Thursday that it is consulting on 49 commercial, ethnic and religious radio...
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. reported a print advertising decline of $17.7 million, or 13 per cent, in its third quarter of 2013 as digital revenues rose by about two per cent from a year earlier. For its third quarter ending May 31, the company, which owns a national chain of newspapers and websites including...
Canadians are paying less, on average, for their mobile phone, home Internet and mobile Internet services than last year, a new report released by Wall Communications Inc. said. The annual report, commissioned by the CRTC and Industry Canada, released by Wall Communications Thursday, said mobile phone services are priced...
The CRTC is consulting on an application by CHFN Communications Society to renew the broadcasting licence for its Native Type B radio station near Wiarton, Ont., the commission said. In a notice of consultation Wednesday, the...
Corus Entertainment Inc. appointed Chris Duncombe director of new media at Corus Radio, the company said. In a release Tuesday, Corus said Duncombe will provide “overall strategic leadership and management to Corus Radio’s new media activities across the country.” Duncombe, who previously served as senior brand director at Corus’ CFOX-FM radio station in Vancouver and director of interactive media at Corus Radio Vancouver, has 12 years of experience in the radio industry, the release said. He has also previously worked as a director of marketing and as an on-air...
Flat, paper-like mobile devices that can be rolled up, packed away like deck of cards, or spread out on a desk to form a single screen. It's the future. At least Roel Vertegaal sees it that way. The professor of human-computer interaction believes the devices could be here within half a decade, he says, and he and his...
The CRTC set a deadline of Aug. 6 for comments on licence renewals for 26 radio stations that are in “apparent non-compliance” of their licence conditions. The stations include eight campus and community radio stations, two Native Type B radio stations and 16 religious and commercial radio stations, whose licences expire Aug. 31, the CRTC...
Lower housing starts this year will lead to fewer television subscriptions and could trigger pricing wars among TV providers, industry experts said. In a data released last week, the Canada Mortgage...
BCE Inc. will “manage through” conditions the CRTC put on the regulatory approval of the company’s $3.38 billion deal to acquire Astral Media Inc., said Mirko Bibic, BCE’s...
The CRTC approved Golden West Broadcasting Ltd.’s application for a licence to operate a new English-language FM radio station in Steinbach, Man., the commission said. In a decision Friday, the commission said the new station would be allowed to offer a “country favourites music format” that would target listeners aged 18 to 54. It...
Michael D’Avella, Shaw Communications Inc.’s senior-vice president of planning, will retire at the end of August, the company said Friday. CEO Brad Shaw said in a third quarter conference call with analysts that...
The CRTC approved BCE Inc.’s reworked application to purchase Astral Media Inc. for $3.38 billion, with conditions that raise the company’s contributions to Canadian broadcasting by $72...
Apple Inc., Microsoft Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Canada's largest Internet and mobile wireless providers said the Conservative government's amendments to the Copyright Act last year did not create...
BCE Inc. has “pretty much done all it could do to appease” CRTC concerns about the company’s proposed $3.38-billion purchase of Astral Media Inc. and should receive regulatory approval this week, National Bank Financial analyst Adam Shine said. In a research note released Tuesday, Shine said the CRTC could require further concessions from Bell—which has agreed to divest all of Astral’s English specialty services, some French-language specialty channels, and 10 English-language radio stations if the deal is approved—though any additional concessions would not allow Bell “to consummate the type of deal it wants to do.” He said while it’s possible Bell could sell off more Astral radio stations, the company refuses to divest Astral...
The CRTC will release its decision on BCE Inc.’s $3.38-billion deal to buy Astral Media Inc. on Thursday, after rejecting Bell's first application to acquire Astral last year, the commission said in a notice Tuesday. A media lockup will be held at 2:30 p.m., and the decision will be released at 4 p.m., the notice said. BCE's proposed...
TORONTO—Privacy concerns and Voltage Pictures Inc.'s previous lawsuits in the United States were the focus of a court hearing that will determine whether the studio can sue Canadian Internet subscribers whose accounts have been linked to illegal downloads of its films. Lawyers for Voltage and Internet service...
P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } Ouya Inc. will launch its $99 video game console in Canada, the U.S. and U.K. on Tuesday, the Guardian reported Friday. The Ouya device will be the “first totally open video game console,” according to Ouya's website, and will encourage consumers “to unscrew it and have a look around,”...
The CRTC is calling for applications for radio licences in Cranbrook, B.C., the commission said in a notice of consultation posted on its website Friday. Clear Sky Radio Inc. has applied for a licence for an English-language commercial station in Cranbrook, and the commission is calling for applications from others who...
The CRTC intends to change some of its Canadian content development (CCD) rules to exempt commercial and ethnic radio stations with less than $1.25 million in revenues from making basic CCD contributions, the CRTC said. In a policy decision Friday, the CRTC said the move would reduce regulatory burden for small ethnic radio stations, “while maintaining funding for Canadian music and other creative initiatives through CCD contributions resulting from ownership transfer benefits, over-and-above contributions by newly licensed stations and basic CCD requirements for the largest stations.” The change would mean 51 per cent of stations would no longer have to make basic...
BCE Inc. plans to put its online stream of next year’s Super Bowl behind a paywall, sending a message to cord cutters that the days of free, and legal, premium content online are numbered,...
Shaw Communications Inc. is positioning itself as a leader in digital, over-the-air television as other broadcasters question the future of conventional TV broadcasting, experts said. In applications filed with the CRTC this year, including some this month, Shaw proposed to convert 13 analog...
Boxee Inc. has been acquired by an unknown buyer and an announcement about the purchase should take place this week, VentureBeat reported last week, citing “sources familiar with the matter.” VentureBeat said sources...
The Conservative government’s response to the House of Commons industry committee report offered some indications of new plans for intellectual property reforms. On Wednesday, the government responded to an earlier committee report on Canada’s intellectual property regime. Michael Geist, the Canada research...
By 2015, a majority of media companies’ revenues will come from digital sources, said an Ernst & Young survey of executives released Wednesday. Right now, 47 per cent of revenues come from digital sources, a figure that is expected to climb to 57 per cent by 2015, a release said. The study was based on a survey of more than 500 executives...
Canadian commercial radio stations’ revenues rose slightly in 2012 by 0.4 per cent, led by revenues from FM radio stations, new CRTC data show. Revenue growth slowed as there was “competition from satellite, online...
CBC/Radio-Canada journalists treat Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau as “their shiny little pony,” said Marjory LeBreton, the Conservative government’s leader in the Senate. During a debate in the Senate Tuesday, LeBreton criticized CBC reporter Terry Milewski for a question he posed to Prime Minister Stephen...
CBC/Radio Canada issued a request for proposals for the redevelopment of its Maison de Radio-Canada site in Montreal. The new building will remain on the same site in downtown Montreal, which could...
Jennifer Stoddart, Canada’s privacy commissioner, is among 36 data protection authorities who issued a joint letter Tuesday raising concerns about Google Glass. The letter, addressed to Google Inc. CEO Larry Page, asked the company to answer questions about privacy implications related to Google Glass, a smart wireless device worn as glasses. The letter asked how Google Glass would comply with data protection laws, what privacy safeguards are being used, what information Google collects through the technology, and how it plans to use it and share information with third parties. The privacy officials asked for information on issues around facial recognition and whether Google is...
The federal Conservative government appointed Peter Menzies as the CRTC’s new vice-chair of telecommunications and former CBC/Radio-Canada employee Raj Shoan as a regional commissioner for Ontario, the Heritage Department said. In a release Monday, Heritage Minister James Moore said Menzies will take over the...
Netflix Inc. signed its biggest-ever deal for original content, inking a multi-year contract with DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., Netflix said Monday. The new TV shows will be “inspired by characters” from...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) ratified their new independent production agreement, the organizations said Monday. The agreement will last until 2015, “effective immediately on all productions that opened offices on or after June 14, 2013,” a release said. The agreement ensures...
Following the CRTC's wireless code decision last week, the regulator may make a second “audacious” regulatory decision on BCE Inc.’s proposed $3.38-billion acquisition of Astral Media Inc., Veritas Investment Research said. Veritas analysts Neeraj Monga and Desmond Lau, in a research note Thursday,...
The CRTC added NHK World TV to its list of foreign TV channels that can be distributed in Canada, the commission said. In a decision Friday, the CRTC approved Telus Corp.’s request to add NHK World TV to the list. NHK World TV is a “24-hour 100% English-language news channel consisting of news and information reporting on Japan’s politics, business culture and entertainment, as well as world news and Asian lifestyle programming,” the commission said....
A private Senate bill tabled this week would give the federal Heritage Minister and Parliament the power to give CBC/Radio-Canada written directives relating to its image and branding, coverage of news and “the Canadian...
Private conventional television stations' national advertising revenues fell to 2009 levels in the 2012 broadcast year, dropping 7.9 per cent and causing profits to sink, new CRTC data show. In conventional TV statistical and financial data released on the commission’s website Thursday, the CRTC said private...
Google Inc. bought Waze Ltd., a company that develops mapping applications with real-time updates, for about $1 billion US, Reuters reported. Google made the announcement on its blog on Tuesday, in a post by...
John Pecman was named to a five-year term as new commissioner of the Competition Bureau, Industry Canada said Wednesday. Pecman has served as interim commissioner since former commissioner Melanie Aitken stepped down last year,...
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) launched a new website that provides information about crowdfunding in Canada, the organization said Monday at the Banff World Media Festival. In a release, the CMF said the new site will offer general information, outline various crowdfunding models, and provide advice for a successful crowdfunding campaign. It also lists a...
The CRTC will review a “complex” broadcasting regulatory framework that has become too much about the rules as opposed to policy objectives, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais said. “Regulatory fiat is becoming an obsolete concept in a borderless world. There’s nothing to be gained by regulating for...
Eastlink introduced a feature that will allow customers to use computers, tablets and smartphones to program their personal video recorder (PVR) devices, the company said. In a release Wednesday, the Bragg Communications Inc. subsidiary said the Eastlink Remote DVR will allow customers to access a TV guide, search for programs, and view, cancel or...
The CRTC approved Shaw Communications Inc.’s acquisition of the remaining shares of TVtropolis, the commission said Tuesday. In a decision, the CRTC said it allowed Shaw to acquire Rogers Communications Inc.’s 33 per cent share of TVtropolis, giving Shaw complete ownership of the Category A specialty service. The change in ownership,...
Channel Zero Inc. will “fast track” its way into online video after acquiring a controlling interest in multi-platform video producer AndPop Inc., the company said. In a release Tuesday, Channel Zero said it launched a new digital division of the company following its merger with AndPop, which operates music and entertainment blogs AndPop.com and ChartAttack.com. “By combining the already popular and highly-watched content on Andpop and ChartAttack with the plans we have for CHCH.com and the other Channel Zero digital properties, we can more quickly build scale and fast track our way into this sector,” Chris Fuoco, Channel Zero’s vice-president of sales and marketing, said in the release. Robert Ostfield, AndPop’s former CEO, will stay on with the company as managing director, the release added. ...
It's not often that CRTC hearings about mergers and acquisitions draw a room full of laughter. Commissioner Peter Menzies, sitting on the regulator's panel for its hearing on BCE Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Astral...
CBC/Radio-Canada is not backing down from its lawsuit against International Channel/Canal International (ICI), even if it no longer intends to completely change the name of its French-language broadcaster to ICI, CBC spokesman Marc Pichette said. The Wire Report reported last week that CBC was suing private broadcaster International Channel over its...
Quebecor Media Inc. named Isabelle Dessureault as the new vice-president of content commercialization and public affairs at its Videotron Ltd. subsidiary, Quebecor said. In a release, Quebecor said Dessureault will be responsible for “the distribution, commercialization and programming of content for all of Videotron's content delivery...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and Telefilm Canada introduced a new mentorship program that will link marketing professionals with production companies. In a release Tuesday, the CMPA and Telefilm said the Telefilm Canada Marketing Mentorship Program will provide six “emerging and mid-level marketing professionals” a...
Hamilton, Ont. company Source Cable Ltd. is now offering Astral Media Inc.'s The Movie Network Go service for online, on-demand and mobile viewing, the company said. The service allows cable subscribers who pay for TMN to access the TMN Go app and its HBO content, at no additional cost, Source Cable said in a release Tuesday. Source Cable subscribers who pay for TMN can watch the content on the TMN website or download a free TMN Go app for Apple Inc. devices, the release said. It said the service has more than 1,000 hours of programming, including Hollywood films and series from HBO,...
The third season of Game of Thrones, which wrapped up June 9, broke HBO Canada’s ratings record as its most watched series, said Astral Media Inc.'s The Movie Network. The series was “the most-watched pay TV series in Canadian history,” a release said Monday. HBO Canada is is available through pay TV...
The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) elected four new directors and re-elected the rest of its board for a two-year term, the CMPA said. In a release Sunday, the CMPA said it elected new directors Charles Bishop from Six Eleven Media, Paul Bronfman from Comweb Group, Bob Crowe from Angel Entertainment, and Joe Novak from 1400 Months. They...
The CRTC wants to work with wireline telephone companies to reduce their long distance rates, said Chris Seidl, the commission’s executive director of telecommunications. “We’ve seen evidence, the rates you collect can be reduced,” Seidl said Monday in a speech at the annual convention of the Independent Telecommunications...
Former Bell Media director Carmen Lago launched Branded Content Television Inc., a multiplatform advertising firm that will partner with networks and other production companies to create original advertising content for TV and the Internet, the company said. In a release Monday, the Toronto-based firm said it will create ads targeting consumers...
Quebecor Media Inc. appointed Aldo Giampaolo as president and CEO of the company's media entertainment and sports group, the company said. Giampaolo has more than 25 years of experience in managing, promoting and producing...
More Canadian TV viewers are binge-watching television series, according to a new poll commissioned by Rogers Communications Inc., with more than 80 per cent of respondents saying that they watched three or more shows or two or...
CBC/Radio-Canada's Radio-Canada division is “not changing names” as the organization creates a new brand identity as “ICI,” the broadcaster said. Radio-Canada issued a release Friday evening that challenged releases from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Syndicat des...
CBC/Radio-Canada is taking private broadcaster International Channel/Canal International (ICI) to court over competing claims to the ICI brand name. CBC said on Wednesday it plans to change the name of its French-language broadcaster, previously Radio-Canada, to ICI. Radio-Canada has used the ICI acronym—also a word...
BCE Inc. asked the CRTC for permission to use funds dedicated for Canadian programming to launch new community TV channels in Montreal and Ottawa. In two applications posted on the commission’s website on June 4, Bell asked to amend its regional broadcasting licenses in Ontario and Quebec to allocate some of its Canadian programming contribution requirement to support new community TV channels in Montreal and Ottawa. Bell said it would launch two channels, one in French and one in English, in each of the cities, and asked the CRTC for permission to redirect two per cent of its annual Canadian programming contribution requirements to each of the four proposed channels....
The CRTC opened consultations on proposed licence exemptions for low-power tourist and religious radio stations. In a notice of consultation posted on the commission’s website Friday, the CRTC said it is consulting on a proposal to exempt low-power tourist information stations from requiring broadcasting licences if they do not broadcast any...
A union representing CBC/Radio-Canada’s French-language, on-air staff is opposing the public broadcaster’s decision to change the name of French-language broadcaster to ICI, the union said. In a release Thursday, Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada said it is “firmly” against CBC’s decision, announced Wednesday, to...
Quebecor Media Inc. subsidiary TVA Group Inc. will eliminate 90 jobs across its network, the company said. In a release Wednesday, TVA said it will eliminate 4.5 per cent of it workforce as part of a “rationalization plan” that will cut five per cent off its operating expenses. It said the job cuts would come through a “reduction of existing personnel” and by eliminating positions through...
BCE Inc.’s Bell Media subsidiary will launch Bravo GO as its first TV Everywhere product next month, the company said. In a release Thursday, Bell Media said it will launch multiplatform live streaming and video-on-demand services for its Bravo Canada television channel, a Category A specialty channel, on July 18. The subscription service will...
BCE Inc.’s media subsidiary is teaming up with Twitter Inc. in a new research project to measure Canadians’ “social TV behaviour,” Bell Media said. In a release Thursday, Bell Media said the joint research program will focus on “social TV behaviour of Canadian viewers, the return on investment of social TV initiatives, and the relationship between audience engagement and Twitter activity.” Bell media has also signed on to use the new Twitter Amplify program, which allows broadcaster to post video clips within their Twitter posts. Shaw Communications...
Digital video advertising has become the fastest-growing segment of online advertising in Canada, according to a report by digital video ad firm BrightRoll Inc .and IAB Canada. The report, titled “Canada Video Advertising Report,” drew from a survey of more than 300 advertising executives and found that the majority of agencies have more...
Canada’s publicly traded broadcast distribution companies reported “concrete signs” of cord cutting over the past two quarters as their combined subscriber base fell for the first time since cable TV first become a feature in most homes, said Mario Mota, partner at Boon Dog Professional Services Inc. In a release Thursday, Boon Dog...
A private member’s bill that aims to remove an exemption from the federal Access to Information Act for CBC/Radio-Canada will move to report stage after a parliamentary committee reported amendments to the bill....
Rogers Communications Inc.’s specialty sports channel The Score will be rebranded as “Sportsnet 360,” the company said Tuesday. In a release, Rogers said“Sportsnet 360” will launch on July 1 and will have a different logo than The Score, which Rogers purchased earlier this year. The company said that further detail on the...
CBC/Radio-Canada will change the name of its French-language broadcaster, previously Radio-Canada, to “ICI,” the public broadcaster said Wednesday. In a notice posted on Radio-Canada's French-language website, CBC said the name change will allow it to harmonize its name across its French-language platforms. Ten platforms will...
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A.’s Quebec City office hired François Pelland as its executive director of development, the company said. In a release Tuesday, the international video game producer said Pelland will be responsible for “successfully delivering the ambitious projects” developed at its Quebec City studio. It added that he previously served as senior development director at Electronic Arts...
Jacob Glick, head of Google Inc.’s government relations and public policy team for Canada, will move to the company’s head office in California. Glick, a former technology lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault, joined Google’s policy team in Ottawa in 2007, according to his LinkedIn page. He also worked as general counsel at the Canadian...
Apple Inc. has signed agreements with Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group to support its developing Internet radio service, the New York Times reported Sunday. According to a report, Apple signed an agreement with Warner for both recorded music rights and publishing rights. Its deal with Universal only pertains to recorded music rights, the...
Blue Ant Media Inc. appointed Jamie Schouela to vice-president of marketing and communications, the company said Monday. In a release, Bleu Ant said Schouela most recently worked for Shaw Communications Inc.'s Shaw Media subsidiary as its vice-president of marketing....
Astral Media Inc. and BCE Inc. extended the deadline to close their acquisition agreement to July 31, the companies said. The previous deadline was June 1. BCE has proposed a purchase of Astral for $3.38 billion. The CRTC, which held a public hearing on the transaction this month, is expected to issue its decision on it in early summer....
Bill C-56, the Combating Counterfeit Products Act, moved into second reading debate on Thursday in the House of Commons. Michael Geist, the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said in...
The CRTC expects CBC/Radio-Canada to exceed programming requirement “floors” it established for the public broadcaster in its latest licence conditions, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais said. “We have established...
CBC/Radio-Canada laid off a third of its technicians in Matane, Rimouski and Sept-Îles, Que., said the local union for the workers. Michel Labrie, vice-president of the Syndicat des technicien(ne)s et artisan(e)s du...
Online retailer Amazon Inc. will produce five new original television series, Reuters reported Wednesday. According to the news report, the five series can be viewed exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service, which is available to Amazon Prime subscribers in the United States. Reuters reported that Amazon chose the shows by posting 14 pilot episodes online in April and analyzing viewer reviews and the length of time people watched the episodes. The five shows include two comedies, called Alpha House and Betas, two children’s shows, Thumbleaf and Annebots, and an...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s media division cancelled its CityNews Channel as well as the English-language South-Asian newscast on its Omni Television service, the company said. Scott Moore, president of broadcasting at...
New set-top boxes offered by online streaming company Roku Inc. are now available at Best Buy and Future Shop locations in Canada, the company said. In a release Thursday, Roku said two devices, the Roku 2 XD and Roku 2 XS, are...
A private member’s bill intended to prevent CBC/Radio-Canada from denying access to information requests would “generate more disclosure” but would not remove confusion about when the public broadcaster can deny requests, Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault told a parliamentary committee. Bill C-461,...
ZoomerMedia Ltd. reported a rise in profits and revenues for its third quarter. In a release Wednesday for the company’s financial results for the three-month period that ended March 31, 2013, Zoomer reported third-quarter revenues of $13.1 million, up from $12.8 million in the same quarter last year. Zoomer’s earnings before interest,...
Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook said at the All Things Digital conference Tuesday that the company has more “game changing” products ahead. “Many people now say that innovation means a new category,” Tim Cook said, according to technology news website TechCrunch. “Yes, we’re still a company...
Blue Ant Media Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. reached an agreement to offer Shaw cable subscribers free previews of three Blue Ant specialty channels. Shaw cable customers will have free access to HIFI, eqHD and radX until...
Asian Television Network International Ltd.’s(ATN) first-quarter profits fell by 30 per cent from a year earlier despite an increase in revenues. In first-quarter financial results released Tuesday, ATN reported $6.8 million in revenues for the three-month period that ended March 31, a seven per cent rise from the same period a year earlier. ATN...
CBC/Radio-Canada is pleased the CRTC gave it more flexibility over the type of programming it airs on its national television services, Bev Kirshenblatt, the CBC’s senior director of regulatory affairs, said in an interview....
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) and the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) said they are disappointed with the CRTC’s decision to allow CBC/Radio-Canada to advertise on its Radio 2 and Espace Musique radio networks. In a decisionTuesday that renewed CBC’s broadcasting licences for five years, the CRTC said the Crown corporation can air up to four minutes of national ads on its previously ad-free Radio 2 and Espace Musique networks during a three-year trial period. In a release Tuesday, the CAB said it was disappointed, and that it would be difficult to cut...
Shaw Communications Inc. launched 120 new high-definition channels on its Shaw Direct satellite TV system, the company said. In a release Wednesday, Shaw said it is offering the new channels using Telesat’s Anik G1...
A new network of groups called the Fair Deal coalition wrote a letter to International Trade Minister Ed Fast asking for protections for citizens and innovative companies in copyright policy as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks. Governments should reject copyright proposals that restrict the open...
CBC/Radio-Canada suggested disclosing salary ranges under the Access to Information Act instead of specific salaries. “We would suggest that the combination of our salary ranges being public, available proactively and under...
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) supported the CRTC’s decision requiring that CBC/Radio-Canada air a minimum amount of children’s programming on its national TV networks while...
A CRTC decision permitting advertising on CBC/Radio-Canada’s Radio 2 and Espace Musique music channels is a “double insult” to private broadcasters and the Canadian public, and risks throwing the broadcasting system into “disarray,” said Tom Pentefountas, the CRTC’s vice-chair of broadcasting. In a decision Tuesday that renewed CBC’s broadcasting licences for five years, the CRTC said the Crown corporation can air up to four minutes of national ads on...
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is in the early stages of an antitrust probe into some of Google Inc.’s online advertising sales, Reuters reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the situation. The probe follows complaints by competing online ad placement agencies, which said Google is leveraging some of its most popular products to...
U.S. broadcast distributors DirecTV and Time Warner Cable Inc. are among four parties that submitted initial offers to acquire American over-the-top video service Hulu, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. New media company The Chernin Group and investment firm Providence Equity also submitted a joint-offer, as well as Guggenheim Digital Media, the...
Better incentives are needed to ensure companies build privacy protections into their products and services from the start, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said in a new report. In a paper released Thursday called “The Case for Reforming the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA),” Privacy Commissioner...
The CRTC opened a consultation on four broadcast applications, including a CBC/Radio-Canada request to operate a new FM radio station in Saskatoon. In a notice Wednesday, the CRTC said it is consulting on a CBC application for a licence for a new English-language CBC Radio One station in Saskatoon. The CRTC said it is also consulting on a request from...
Quebecor Media Inc. division Contenu QMI announced the appointment of four new directors to its Contenu QMI acquisitions sector. In a release Thursday, Yann Paquet, vice-president of Contenu QMI acquisitions, said Sylvie Tremblay...
CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Hubert Lacroix proposed an amendment to the Conservative government's budget bill that he said would help ensure the broadcaster's independence from cabinet....
Bell Aliant Inc. is expanding its FibreOp fibre-to-the-home network to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., the company said. In a release Wednesday, Bell Aliant said it will invest $15 million to roll out its fibre network past 24,000 buildings and residences in the Northern Ontario city. The move will allow the company to offer fibre-based Internet and TV...
Carl Dholandas replaced Sean O’Leary as Industry Minister Christian Paradis' lead telecom policy adviser, a person with knowledge of the staffing change said. O'Leary, who met frequently with members of the telecom industry according to registrations in the federal lobbying registry, is now working as a...
Cogeco Cable Inc. expanded its video on demand library available in Ontario, the company said Wednesday. In a release, Cogeco said most of its digital television subscribers in Ontario now have access to nearly 7,000 titles, up from 3,000 in April. Rogers Communications Inc. is also expanding its video-on-demand service with new titles. David Purdy, senior vice-president of content at Rogers, said this month that he expects all broadcast distributors to at some point roll out on-demand content libraries that aren’t tied to TV subscriptions—as they are now—to better compete with online alternatives....
