TORONTO – Independent specialty movie service Hollywood Suite announced today the launch of the new web version of the Hollywood Suite GO app (HSGO).
The newly designed VOD service is an extension of the premium movie channels and is available at hsgo.ca for Hollywood Suite subscribers from Access Communications, Cogeco, Eastlink, Hay Communications, MTS, NorthwesTel, Rogers, Shaw, Shaw Direct, Source Cable, Telus Optik TV, and VMedia.
“We are excited to offer our subscribers another platform to watch their favourite movies from Hollywood Suite, allowing them to experience their cinematic choices, anytime, anywhere,” said David Kines,…
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Chair's comments change the focus of the hearing, puts government, industry, on notice, to get their acts together
GATINEAU – The the second week of the CRTC's basic service objective (BSO) hearing featured a rare moment of reflection from CRTC chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Blais which will now alter the focus of this hearing. Below are Blais' unedited personal thoughts, made just prior to Monday's lunch break.
Those of you who are familiar with CRTC proceedings will appreciate that it is unusual for Chairs to make formal remarks beyond those made at the beginning of the oral hearing.
But this is an exceptional…
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GATINEAU – Some 66,000 Canadians, or just 0.5% of Canadian television households, have signed up for the new slimmed down basic TV programming packages five weeks after they debuted, the CRTC said Friday.
The Commission asked ten of the country’s biggest TV service providers – Access Communications, Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw, Telus and Vidéotron, to add up subscribers to their new basic television packages. These ‘skinny basic’ packages, priced at $25 or less, debuted March 1st amidst great fanfare touting choice and affordability.
TV service providers also began offering either pick-and-pay for individual channels or small packages of…
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Canadians are receiving the broadband speeds they're paying for
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The majority of broadband Internet services in Canada are as fast or faster than their advertised download and upload speeds, says a CRTC report on Internet services.
The preliminary report, released Thursday, found that most services from the country's major Internet service providers delivered between 109% and 122% of the advertised download speed, and that performance was largely consistent across all geographic regions of Canada in a mix of urban and rural settings.
Services using fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technologies delivered 119% of advertised download speed on average, while cable/hybrid-fibre co-axial (HFC) delivered 103%,…
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TORONTO – Cord-cutters or -nevers missing their live sports now have the option to buy Sportsnet Now, a direct-to-consumer service, without a pay-television subscription.
Launching nationally on Friday, the live streaming service (including the regular TV ad load) of the six Sportsnet linear channels promises select NHL, MLB, NBA, soccer and tennis events, as well as original programming like Tim & Sid and Sportsnet Central. Sportsnet Now will be available on tablet, mobile and online for a monthly subscription of $24.99 with no contract and a 7-day trial period. It remains included for existing Sportsnet TV distributors such as Shaw, Telus, Bell,…
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MONTREAL – Stingray Digital Group has bought in-store media solution provider Nümedia in a transaction valued at $2 million.
Nümedia enables its client to provide in-venue music, experiences, communication, engagement, and activation, and counts Cogeco Communications subsidiary Cogeco Data Services as one of its minority shareholders.
Stingray said Wednesday that its decision to acquire Nümedia was based in part on its varied client list. In addition, continued the company, the acquisition creates significant operational synergies with its commercial services division Stingray Business, which currently operates in over 74,000 locations across Canada including Aldo shoes, TD Canada Trust, A&W restaurants,…
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OTTAWA – Telus’ EVP, corporate affairs, chief legal officer and corporate secretary Monique Mercier has been named Woman of the Year by Women in Communications and Technology (WCT).
Mercier, pictured, leads a team of 300 professionals, of which 49% are women. She coaches, mentors, and champions the Telus women’s executive network, and has advocated to have its board of directors be compromised of 25% women by May 2017, and 30% by 2019.
Accenture was named company of the year, and WCT also named 10 other recipients of its prestigious annual awards, which recognize efforts to advance women’s representation and achievement in…
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TORONTO – With less than two weeks until its debut, Viceland unveiled more of its millennial-focused programming and confirmed that it will be available on a three month free preview at launch.
Beginning Monday, February 29 at 5:00 AM ET/PT (check local listings), viewers wake up in Viceland with the one-hour special Bar Talk, hosted by Vice Canada’s head of content Patrick McGuire from the new Toronto studio. Following that is the 13-hour special 646-851-0347 Leave A Message.
With hosts that include Canadians Ellen Page (Gaycation), Matty Matheson (Dead Set on Life), and renowned actor Michael K. Williams (Black Market with Michael…
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LEST YOU BE IN DOUBT that the CRTC believes it has authority over video delivered across the Internet, I refer you to the transcript of the hearing currently underway in Hull regarding the policy framework for local and community television.
In this portion the Chairman took issue with the way the counsel for Cogeco, Yves Mayrand, was speaking about the "unlicensed" portion of the broadcasting system, but this term includes the Internet, as I will explain. Yves Mayrand had referred to it as "unregulated" during the company’s appearance last Tuesday.
Mayrand said:
Now with respect to the notion that…
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GATINEAU – Many parties to the CRTC’s local and community TV consultation have proposed funding approaches (each with their own acronyms we’re having trouble keep track of) which could financially support these struggling services. Rogers Communications Inc. has now joined them, unveiling its own approach to a local programming fund.
In its appearance before the Commission on Thursday, the media and communications giant argued while it still prefers its original proposal calling for greater flexibility to move local programming funds from larger to smaller markets, it offered up another model that it says is workable and would provide financial benefits…
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