Conrad Black ousted from Order of Canada

Conrad Black has been stripped of his Order of Canada. Rideau Hall announced that Governor General David Johnston made the final decision in a statement issued Friday evening.
Johnson “has accepted the recommendation of the Advisory Council for the Order of Canada to terminate Mr. Conrad Black’s appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada,” the statement said. Black has also been removed from the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, the statement said. Both decisions take effect immediately.

Google revenue increases 17%, Motorola revenue falls

Google office near Los Angeles

The online search giant Google reported strong advertising results in the fourth quarter, with revenue up 17 percent to $16.86 billion for the quarter. Operating income rose to $3.92 billion from $3.39 billion in the same quarter of 2012.
“We ended 2013 with another great quarter of momentum and growth. Google’s standalone revenue was up 22% year on year, at $15.7 billion”, said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “We made great progress across a wide range of product improvements and business goals. I’m also very excited about improving people’s lives even more with continued hard work on our user experiences.”
But like Amazon, some analysts were expecting better results, though the stock is trading flat in after-hours trading.

Star journalist Susan Delacourt wins Hyman Solomon Award

Susan Delacourt

Susan Delacourt, a veteran writer for the Toronto Star’s Ottawa Bureau, has been awarded the prestigious Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism. The award is presented by the Public Policy Forum, a non-governmental organization that aims to improve government in Canada. First awarded in 1992, the Hyman Solomon honour is given to “extraordinary Canadians” who have contributed to public life, policy and governance in Canada.

Ottawa Senators TV deal worth up to $400M

As first reported by the Ottawa Sun Wednesday, the Senators have signed a monumental 12-year agreement regional broadcast agreement for radio and TV with Bell Media that league sources confirmed could be worth up to $400 million when it expires in 2025-26.
Coupled with the $16 million the Senators will receive from the new national package that the NHL signed with Sportsnet in December, the club could get more than $40 million from broadcast revenues along next season.

ESPN's Internet rollout tests television cash cow

On a recent Saturday, technicians were busy streaming several dozen games, some at the same time as they were on television and others that weren't televised at all. Damon Phillips, in charge of the service, used a tablet computer to monitor how many people were watching online.

"I'm obsessed with this," he said, pointing to the usage tally, which he starts checking at 5:30 a.m. while on his exercise bike. "I look at it all day long."

The app, called WatchESPN, is part of an aggressive push by ESPN into online services as pay television matures. ESPN pioneered sports TV on that medium and for three decades rode a steady rise in U.S. cable and satellite TV subscriptions. These now have leveled off and appear to be contracting. ESPN is at the forefront of the TV industry's efforts to expand into Internet distribution.
The company, which generates about 40% of majority owner Walt Disney Co.'s operating profits, sees the app as a way to cash in on growing demand for online video.

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