CALGARY and EDMONTON – Rogers Media confirmed today the launch of OMNI Television in Alberta will happen this month.
The two stations, OMNI Calgary and OMNI Edmonton, are the province’s first over-the-air multilingual/multicultural television stations and will sign on in Calgary and Edmonton at 6 a.m. MT, Monday, September 15th.
OMNI Calgary (CJCO) will air on cable channel 4; over-the-air on channel 38. OMNI Edmonton (CJEO) will air on cable channel 11; over-the-air on channel 56.
"We’re clearly happy to be pioneering language television in two previously underserved areas at the same time," said regional vice-president of television for Rogers Media, Al Thorgeirson, in the press release announcing the debut. "While we are breaking new ground with Rogers OMNI Alberta we are also providing a long-overdue service by offering community-focused programming in 20 languages to ethnocultural audiences we feel will be highly receptive."
Central to OMNI Alberta’s schedule of multilingual/multicultural programming are three locally produced newscasts that each weekday will provide in-depth coverage for and about the emerging Cantonese, Mandarin and South Asian communities in areas served by OMNI stations in Calgary and Edmonton. (OMNI Calgary and OMNI Edmonton will have different news teams.)
"Rogers OMNI Alberta is pleased and privileged to bring much-needed broadcast reflection to the ethnocultural communities of the province – this is a huge victory on both sides of the camera," says Madeline Ziniak, national vice-president of Rogers OMNI Television. "Each OMNI will have a strong focus on local news with a balance of local, regional and national perspectives as well as the opportunity to share ethnocultural issues and stories throughout our evolving national television system – something we’ve never been able to offer before."
The stations will also have the popular re-run programming such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, Friends and King of Queens, which are well known to OMNI viewers in Ontario.
“When OMNI Calgary and OMNI Edmonton officially introduce themselves on September 15th both will do so with schedules enhanced by diversity programming from OMNI Ontario and OMNI BC. With OMNI’s planned strategy of hiring regional stringers, Rogers OMNI Alberta viewers will soon be able to see their respective communities reflected throughout the schedule. As well, OMNI’s recently established station-wide collaboration will enable independently produced documentaries in English and non-official languages as well first-run Chinese and South Asian movies to be seen by an additional two million households,” adds the release.
