SHOULD QUEBECOR FOLLOW through on its threat to take TVA Sports away from Bell TV customers (which seems sure to happen, given this tweet from Quebecor’s SVP, corporate and institutional affairs Serge Sasseville), what exactly might happen then? We talked to a broadcast policy legal expert (one with no skin in this game).
Such a move, for a licence holder to openly defy CRTC regulations like this, is pretty much unprecedented, to begin with.
According to Québecor, it will stop providing the TVA Sports signal to Bell TV at 7 p.m. on Wednesday April 10th (the first…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – During the final regular season game of the NHL season aired on TVA Sports this past weekend, the Quebecor-owned broadcaster warned viewers they were going to lose access to the channel when the NHL playoffs begin – and that it’s all Bell’s fault.
Currently, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau is leading a one-man public campaign decrying the state of affairs when it comes to specialty TV and the wholesale rates his TVA channels receive from carriers (please see our feature interview published here), since they are so much lower than Bell Media channels…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Quebecor’s digital radio platform QUB Radio is fielding a new podcast dedicated to the Montreal Impact and MLS.
In collaboration with TVA Sports, the XI MTL (11 Montreal) podcast series is hosted by Frédéric Lord with analysts and former Impact players Hassoun Camara and Patrice Bernier who break down and dissect the Impact and MLS every Wednesday.
XI MTL is available online or via the QUB radio app, as well as through streaming platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, TunedIn, Google Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Continue Reading
Le président de Québecor sent qu’il est le seul pour se battre pour la culture
C’EST UN PIERRE KARL PÉLADEAU en grande forme à qui nous avons parlé cette semaine lors d’une conversation téléphonique, mardi après-midi. Il venait de prononcer une conférence au CORIM (Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal) dans le cadre de sa dernière campagne d’information sur l’avenir du système de radiodiffusion canadien.
Cette fois, le président et chef de la direction de Québecor, monte aux barricades pour s’attaquer à Netflix, au système de redevances des canaux spécialisés, au CRTC, à Radio-Canada, à Bell et…
Continue Reading
CEO says he feels alone fighting for our culture
IT WAS A PIERRE KARL PÉLADEAU in fine form with whom we had a phone conversation on Tuesday after a speech he gave at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relation. That speech was part of public relations campaign he is leading on the future of the Canadian broadcasting system.
This time the Quebecor CEO is attacking Netflix, the specialty channel affiliation regime, the CRTC, the CBC, Bell and the apathy he feels from so many. While the system is crumbling nobody is being spared, and not enough Canadians…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Just in time for the NHL playoffs, Quebecor Media's TVA Sports has debuted a new French-language streaming platform known as TVA Sports direct.
Available now for a promotional price of $14.99 for the first month, TVA Sports direct is available across TV, smartphone, tablet, or computer screens, offering subscribers HD content such as the NHL playoffs and Montreal Impact games, plus shows like Dave Morissette en direct and JiC on up to two devices simultaneously. Subsequent months will cost $19.99 or $199.99 for a full year.
The service is available on smartphone and tablets by downloading the TVA Sports…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s TVA Group closed its previously announced $19.5 million acquisition of the Incendo Group, a Montreal-based producer and distributor of TV shows for international markets.
“This acquisition will help us step up our international development and expand our footprint, especially in English-language markets,” said France Lauzière, president and CEO of TVA Group and chief content officer of Quebecor Content, “while enabling Incendo to further develop its already thriving production and export activities.
Incendo produces high-quality television programs and distributes them internationally. Since its inception in 2001, Incendo has produced…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – In a complaint filed with the CRTC on February 27th, Quebecor alleges that Bell Canada is conferring undue preference and disadvantage when distributing RDS, Bell Media’s French sport channel in a different way than Quebecor’s own TVA Sports.
(Perhaps this is what Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau was referring to in his Op-Ed here last week.)
According to the complaint letter, TVA Sports is NOT offered in Bell TV’s “Good” tier, where it carries RDS, which in its eyes constitutes a clear case of undue preference which is not allowed as stated in Section 9…
Continue Reading
Our specialty channels are in danger
TVA GROUP’S SPECIALTY CHANNELS, which include amongst others TVA Sports, LCN, addikTV and CASA, are enormously popular with Québec television viewers. We are proud to carry content made by Quebecers for Quebecers, shows that reflect their tastes and expectations. However, as everywhere in the world, the digital revolution and globalization have disrupted an already precarious business model that also suffers from patently unequal treatment of industry players under increasingly obsolete regulations. Today, the survival of our channels is at risk.
All specialty channels depend on subscription revenues from the cable and satellite carriers (such as…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Quebecor is once again teaming up with the International Ski Federation (FIS) as a major sponsor and official broadcaster the Cross-Country World Cup finals in Quebec City this weekend.
TVA Sports will broadcast all three days of racing from the event, which runs March 22 – 24, when the world's best cross-country skiers will compete in the prestigious multi-stage competition.
It will also be the final race for Canadian Olympian Alex Harvey (pictured) who has won more medals than any other Quebec cross-country skier in history. On March 5, 2017, he became the first North American to win gold in…
Continue Reading
