TORONTO – Channel Zero’s Silver Screen Classics is available on free preview for the month of April for Bell, Cogeco and Rogers customers.
Specializing in classic movies from the 1930s to the 1950s, the network has scheduled a western-themed weekend on April 25 and 26 called ‘Saddle Up’. Back to back western classics, uncut and commercial free, will be available to customers of Access Communications, Bell Aliant, Bell TV, Cogeco, Mountain Cablevision, MTS Allstream, Rogers, Sasktel, Seaside Communications, Source Cable, and Telus, the press release said.
The theme weekend will also feature a consumer contest for a ‘Wild West Extravaganza…
Continue Reading
DURING A SESSION called “Online, On Demand and On TV, Rogers Cable VP and GM Television, David Purdy, noted that when households showing a high rate of P2P sharing were turned into DVR homes, their P2P traffic dropped by 15%, meaning they were looking for fewer TV and movies on line on demand and instead relying on their cable operator and traditional channels more.
********** Baseball legend Lou Brock, signing autographs in the Fox booth, looks so good at 69 years old, I think he could still swipe some bases today. Baseball opening day is this weekend.
********** Cogeco…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The new Canada Media Fund (CMF) puts private companies in charge of a "key Canadian cultural fund", worries The Documentary Organization of Canada/l’association des Documentaristes du Canada (DOC).
DOC said in a statement that cable companies have argued in the past that the special levies they collect from Canadians are ‘theirs’, and that they should have the ability to influence the content of programs produced and to spend the money on their own in-house productions. This would effectively give them “full control” over content, copyright and distribution of Canadian programming paid for by public funds.
The…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Reaction to the new Canadian Media Fund (CMF) was predictably mixed, but the consensus seems to be that the distributors got what they wanted.
For starters, the CMF’s new “streamlined” and “independent” board will be made up of seven members – two appointed by the government, and the other five nominated by the fund’s five largest contributors, namely Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Videotron and Cogeco. The old board had 21 members, and was dominated by producers and cultural groups.
Minister Moore confirmed that the five members cannot be current employees of these companies, but, as to whether they…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco has added a new Internet service to its lineup for Ontario and Quebec customers, called High Speed Internet (HSI) Lite Plus, and HSI Intermediaire, respectively.
The new package will allow download speeds of up to 3 Mpbs, and has a monthly load bit capacity of 20 GB.
"We believe that this new package will be highly attractive to clients who – while not heavy users – use the Internet every day. As people’s needs to share music, videos or other formats and demand for increasingly faster download speeds continue to grow, we are pleased to offer our customers…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable has added Sportsnet East HD to its line-up in Quebec, in most of the areas where Cogeco offers digital and HD television.
The sports channel, which carries Ottawa Senators hockey, Blue Jays baseball, and other sports programming, is available on channel 545.
“Cogeco Cable is committed to enriching its customers’ HD Television viewing experience”, said Ron Perrotta, vice president of marketing and strategic planning, in the press release. “The addition of Sportsnet East HD to our Québec HD TV offering allows our viewers to discover the outstanding quality of this technology. Our HD programming now includes 24…
Continue Reading
WINNIPEG – Canwest Global said yesterday afternoon it has launched a “strategic review” of its five E!-branded conventional television stations. Saying they are no longer core assets, the company wants to sell the stations and says it should take no more than six to eight weeks to conduct this review.
The stations in question are CJNT-TV in Montreal, CHCH-TV in Hamilton, CHCA-TV in Red Deer, CHBC-TV in Kelowna and CHEK-TV in Victoria. There are three other E!-branded stations out west, but those are affiliates owned by Pattison Broadcasting.
The sale of the stations is one of several choices being…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Praise was near universal for the brand new Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Canadian Summit, which wrapped up Wednesday afternoon at the Toronto Congress Centre.
The final registration number for delegates has not yet been tallied as there were a large number who registered on site, but the show was very well attended with delegates from across Canada – from the Territories to Regina to Newfoundland – and all points in between.
If there were any complaints, it’s that the show wasn’t big enough (and that it snowed too much on Tuesday…). The 40 vendor tables sold…
Continue Reading
EXTON, PA and TORONTO – The inaugural Canadian Summit of The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) will be held in at the Toronto Congress Cente next week, February 3 – 4, 2009.
It is designed to facilitate the exchange of technical information specific to Canada among engineering professionals. Cartt.ca is the media partner for the event.
Speakers will include Dermot O’Carroll and Tony Faccia of Rogers Cable, Chris MacFarlane of Cogeco Cable, Dennis Steiger of Shaw Cablesytems, Pierre Roy Poretta of Videotron, Steve Irvine of EastLink, Preston Gilmer of Sigma Systems, Oleh Sneizko of Aurora Networks, Scott Atkinson of Shaw…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Bruce Marshall from Mountain Cablevision has been elected as president of the Ontario chapter of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) for the 2009 term.
Boris Eventov (Cogeco Cable) has been named vice president; James Myles (Rogers Cable) is treasurer; and Bill McMillan (TVC) is secretary.
Robert McCann (Clearcable Networks) will serve as director of training and events, and Daniel Sacolle (Cogeco Cable) is director of certifications.
www.scte-ontario.com
Continue Reading
