Rogers Communications Inc. today announced its unaudited financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017.
“Our third quarter results reflect continued momentum with strong top-line growth and flow-through to adjusted operating profit. Our team delivered on all key operating and financial metrics in our largest segment, Wireless. We significantly grew subscribers, revenue, adjusted operating profit, and margins. We are pleased with our postpaid churn result,” said Joe Natale, President and CEO. “In a highly competitive quarter, Cable financials were strong thanks to our Internet competitive speed advantage. We continue to focus our efforts to drive customer service and margin improvements.”
Read more here.
Notice of hearing
28 November 2017 (previously 27 November 2017)
Toronto, Ontario
Change to hearing date and time
Further to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2017-316, the Commission announces the following:
The Commission will hold a hearing starting on 28 November 2017 at 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Toronto Yorkdale, 3450 Dufferin Street, Toronto, Ontario.
In recent months, the Southeast U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have been pummeled by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The wildfires in California have been equally devastating. These storms and fires have wreaked havoc on communications networks and challenged public safety officials’ ability to get lifeline information to affected residents.
At a time when many Americans have come to rely on their smartphones, massive cellular outages were suffered from Texas to Florida on an even greater scale than in Superstorm Sandy five years ago, and California has also suffered major outages in key locations. In Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, it may take weeks and even months to fully restore cellular service because of the damage to the electric grid. This has been a painful reminder of the need for a redundant and pervasive communications infrastructure, especially in times of disaster and emergency.
NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny enters the controversy between the radio industry and Apple, and the tech giant’s refusal to equip iPhones with FM radio reception. Read what he wrote here.
Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie has died, the band said on its website Wednesday. He was 53.
“Last night Gord quietly passed away with his beloved children and family close by,” said the statement posted on thehip.com.
“Gord knew this day was coming – his response was to spend this precious time as he always had – making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss… on the lips.”
Read more here.
Corus Entertainment Inc. announced its fourth quarter and year-end financial results today.
“We accomplished a great deal this year, delivering enhanced profitability, sequential improvement in TV advertising revenues, strong free cash flow and continued advancement of our strategic priorities”, said Doug Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer. “With our integration now complete, our entry into a new broadcast year marks a renewed focus on returning Corus to growth. We are well positioned to achieve our long-term goals, supported by our strategic investments in content and advertising technology (Ad Tech), an improved cost structure and solid execution on our financial objectives.”
Read more here.
Our last post showed how people who own smart speakers, such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home, are indeed more likely to stream local FM stations, but are also more likely to use on-demand streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play and Apple music. Overall, they are higher consumers of music in general.
What impact do new devices such as smart speakers and new ways of listening to music like Spotify have on radio’s long-standing role of introducing the latest new music to listeners? Do smart speaker owners now turn to Alexa to find out what’s new instead of their local CHR personality?
We talked with 3,140 15- to 39-year-olds who are partisans to a local CHR, Rhythmic CHR, Urban, Alternative, or Country station to find out.
What we uncovered is both encouraging and sobering for radio broadcasters.
Read more here.
When it comes to the health of terrestrial radio in the United States these days, there’s a lot of conflicting data. On the one hand we find that radio is still listened to with great frequency in the car and at work, and that it’s still a driving force for new music discovery. On the other hand we find major players like iHeartRadio being overburdened with depth, and a young demographic increasingly being entertained elsewhere. Empirically speaking, I can tell you that when I hear several Public Service Announcements in a commercial pod during drive time on high-ranked Arbitron stations around the country, that indicates an industry in deep trouble.
The other day I was driving to a dinner appointment and stuck in dense Los Angeles traffic, so I had a chance to do a wide scan of both AM and FM radio. After a few minutes it occurred to me that terrestrial radio hasn’t been keeping up with technology like other entertainment delivery services. Now I’m not sure what’s technically possible and I don’t even want to go there at the moment, because I do know what I want as a consumer, especially when I’m listening in the car.
Read more here.
Freeze-frame each moment when something rocks your world.
When you cry or become frightened or get angry or laugh or are overwhelmed by a sense of wonder, reverse-engineer what just happened. Ask yourself, “Why am I feeling this way? How did they do this to me?” Was it something in the sequence of events? Was it in the shapes or colors, words or music, symbols or associations? Was it facial expressions, vocal intonations, or a combination of several of these at once?
Keep in mind that visual techniques and gestural techniques can be easily adapted to radio. This is a huge blind spot in the minds of radio professionals. Experiment with what you learn. The techniques that worked on you will work for you, as well.
Read more here.
With catastrophes coming right and left — some acts of Mother Nature (and Father Global Warming), others triggered by gunmen and dictators — we have to ask hard questions. Are tech giants obligated to give their products upgrades that enhance the well-being of users in an emergency? Why does it take a calamity to get the big players and government watchdogs to act?
Tesla underscored the theme last month when the carmaker temporarily increased — by wireless-radio connection — the battery capacity and driving range of some Florida-hurricane-escaping electric rides with a free software upgrade that used to cost $6,000.
The National Association of Broadcasters and Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai have been pushing that point again in recent weeks, seeking to shame Apple into supporting the FM radio tuner circuitry that has long been onboard but never activated on almost 100 million iPhones.
Read more here.
The Maternal Child Department will be able to purchase some much needed equipment. Heart FM held their first ever “Give Thanks to Your Hospital Radiothon” on October 12th, broadcasting live from Woodstock General for 12 hours raising nearly $37,000. The foundation will be able to help fund: Bladder Scanner, Infant Isolette (Incubator), Harness for Neonatal Transport, Sara Stedy (Lifting Device), Cardio Respiratory Monitor and more. Thank you to all sponsors and the community for their generous support.
Dan Henry
Program Director
104.7 Heart FM