QUEBEC CITY – Canoe.TV, a web broadcast of original material and content from traditional sources, launched Wednesday. About 50 titles are currently available with more than 400 choices expected within the next year.
“Canoe.TV positions our Canoe.ca portal and Quebecor Media at the leading edge of the rapidly growing online video phenomenon that is being driven by strong consumer demand,” Quebecor Media Inc. president and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said during a presentation at a conference entitled Monetizing Digital Media.
“News and sports are strong, but some of the biggest growth is online viewing of entire episodes of shows developed for television or developed exclusively for online audiences,” he added.
Canoe.TV will have some on-demand video content from partners such as the CBC, House and Home, The Fight Network, Just For Laughs and SUN TV. It will also feature the free streaming of five premium international TV channels via its partnership with JumpTV.
Canoe.TV will work with some independent production companies in Canada to produce exclusive content, including Outrageous Sports; StreetSeen about fashion; Wallpaper and Pimp Me Tonight in the lifestyles area; and Naughty or Nice, a reality TV production that visits a home, explores drawers and closets and comes up with a verdict: Naughty or Nice. Canoe.TV will initially finance about 50 exclusive productions.
“This is great news for Canadian content producers, and for audiences who will enjoy this conventional and alternative online programming,” said Peladeau.
Canoe.TV will share revenues with all of its content partners.
