GENERAL:
Mediacorp Canada Inc. has announced the 2017 winners of its Canada’s Top 100 Employers competition. Broadcast industry related winners include: Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Inc. / APTN, Canadian Heritage, Corus Entertainment Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and TELUS Corporation. Read the full list here.
Rush will receive the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award on April 20 at the 2017 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards in Toronto. The honour recognizes Canadian artists who’ve contributed to social activism and supported humanitarian causes. Previous recipients include Bruce Cockburn and Bryan Adams.
The CBC Aboriginal team is among those being honoured by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression at its Dec. 1 gala in Toronto. CBC’s Aboriginal unit will receive the Investigative Award for its reportage on unsolved cases of Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women. Toronto freelance photojournalist Ali Mustafa will also be recognized with the Tara Singh Hayer Memorial Award.
Shaw ended its fiscal year Sept. 1 with 2016 being a major change year for the company, including the sale of its media division and the purchase of Wind Mobile. Consolidated revenue from continuing operations for the quarter and year-to-date of $1.3 billion and $4.9 billion increased 15.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent over the comparable periods, respectively. Net income for the quarter was $154 million or $0.31 per share compared to $276 million or $0.57 per share for the prior year quarter. The year-over-year decrease is attributed to the sale of the company’s wireless spectrum licenses in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Telus Corp. is reporting lower third-quarter profits despite higher revenues from its wireless and landline services and continued subscriber growth. Net income fell to $355 million from $365 million in the third quarter of 2015, while adjusted earnings were $383 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30, down from $398 million year over year. The company cited expenses and accounting items. Basic earnings per share fell to 59 cents from 61 cents.
Manitoba Telecom Services is reporting 71 per cent growth in free cash flow per share as it awaits regulatory approval for a $3.9 billion acquisition by BCE Inc. which was announced in May. The deal is expected to close in late 2016 or early 2017.
The CRTC announced on Nov. 7 it is taking measures to better protect Canadians from nuisance calls, asking telecommunications providers to develop tech solutions, within 90 days, to block illegitimate calls within their networks and offer subscribers call management features. Service providers must also report to the Commission within 180 days with details on the filtering services they offer or propose to offer to their customers. The CRTC says it will soon issue a follow-up decision regarding caller ID spoofing.
On the 80th anniversary of the launch of CBC/Radio-Canada on Nov. 2, employee unions The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) and Syndicat des Communications de Radio-Canada (SCRC) called for federal government support to strengthen the public broadcaster for future generations. Among the measures the unions are calling for is a new non-partisan process for selecting CBC/Radio-Canada’s president and board, adequate funding to enhance local news coverage capacity, an increase in per capita funding from $29 to $43.50 and a halt to the sale of corporation real estate and equipment.
The Media Technology Monitor has released its newest report on Generation X as part of its Technology Adoption by Generation Series. Looking at Canadians aged 35 to 49, report highlights include the finding that Gen Xers are more likely to own a tablet and embrace technologies that enhance the viewing experience like HDTVs and receivers, Smart TVs and PVRs. MTM’s next reports on Boomers and Seniors will be released over the coming months.
The Ontario Association of Broadcasters is holding its Connection 2016 conference today (Nov. 10) at the Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel. Forgot your itinerary? It’s here.
