TORONTO — Rogers Communications today was the first Canadian telecom company to release quarterly results which at least partly reflect the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, which of course has taken a toll.
However, the company used the release of its results, as well as the conference call with financial analysts, its long-planned (and of course, virtual), annual general meeting, as well as an open letter to customers and shareholders to remind everyone that meeting the usual financial metrics are taking a back seat to what the company and industry are doing to help Canadians through the…
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TORONTO — Rogers Ignite TV customers can now access NBCUniversal’s hayu all-reality subscription video-on-demand service directly via the new hayu app on their Ignite TV box.
The addition of the hayu service to Rogers Ignite TV’s offering was announced Tuesday. Rogers is hayu’s first cable partner in Eastern Canada.
Until May 21, Ignite TV customers who sign up for hayu will receive the first two months free, according to the news release. Subscribers will have access to hayu’s full catalogue of more than 7,000 episodes of reality TV programming, including 250 reality series and a back catalogue of box sets. Shows…
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TORONTO — The Banff World Media Festival announced Tuesday the full list of nominees for the 2020 Rockie Awards International Program Competition, which recognizes excellence in television and digital media from around the world.
Although the Banff Festival has been cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Rockie Awards are going ahead as a virtual program and the ceremony will stream live on Monday, June 15.
“Although we are not able to gather in-person, this year’s virtual Rockie Awards will, as ever, be a place to honour outstanding creative work,” said Jenn Kuzmyk, executive director of the Banff…
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TORONTO — Rogers Sportsnet is bringing back some unforgettable best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series, featuring every Canadian team, with the premiere of NHL Classics: Best of Seven Series starting tonight at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet One and Sportsnet Now.
For three straight weeks from April 20 to May 9, Sportsnet will let hockey fans relive seven of the country’s most memorable best-of-seven NHL playoff series, including:
1987 Stanley Cup Final: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Edmonton Oilers — Featuring six future Hockey Hall of Famers in action, this series is considered by some to be the best Stanley…
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TORONTO — Rogers Communications and Corus Entertainment, along with 23 other organizations, are joining as new partners in support of WellCan, a free collection of digital resources to support the mental health of Canadians during the Covid-19 pandemic.
WellCan was launched on April 6, 2020 as the result of a collaboration between corporate partners Canada Life, Sun Life, Bell Canada/Bell Let’s Talk and HR company Morneau Shepell, along with community and public sector partners WE, Jack.org, Strongest Families Institute, EHN Canada and Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Through the growing collaboration of organizations, WellCan addresses challenges brought on by Covid-19 through…
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TORONTO — Canada’s major broadcasters are coming together in a show of support for frontline workers fighting the battle against Covid-19 across Canada, with the announcement Monday of the all-Canadian, star-studded special Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble which will air in English and French on Sunday, April 26 at 7 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. NT across all markets.
In support of Food Banks Canada’s $150-million campaign to provide immediate support to food banks during Covid-19, the Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble one-hour special will air on CBC, Citytv, CTV, Global and V, as well as select specialty networks, radio stations and streaming platforms…
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TORONTO — The Ontario government announced today it has partnered with Rogers Communications and Apple to help meet the educational needs of students and families in need during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The province announced Friday iPads are being purchased and distributed by Ontario school boards, pre-equipped with free Rogers LTE wireless data, to students in need. Apple is providing on-going support in French and English to teachers, parents and students, with a collection of resources to support learning and working from home, as well.
“This important partnership will enable students to learn while making technology accessible for those that truly…
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By Ahmad Hathout
THE CANADIAN NETWORK OPERATORS Consortium (CNOC) is facing fresh denials from some incumbents to a request by the organization to lift certain network restrictions during the Covid-19 crisis.
The three-part ask from CNOC, which represents smaller third party internet access operators that rent part of the network of the larger providers, includes a lifting of capacity restraints free-of-charge, expedited network augmentations through more physical interconnections, and wholesale payment term flexibility of 60 additional days to help support customers who are unable to pay on time.
The letter was sent over the course of the past couple of weeks to…
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TORONTO – On Saturday, Citytv plans to bring Canadians together and thank those risking their lives to help others in a one-hour live special The Heroes of Covid, airing Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m. on Citytv and Citytv.com, right before the global One World: Together At Home concert.
Hosted by Breakfast Television’s Devo Brown and CityNews’ Lindsay Dunn, The Heroes of Covid special offers a heartfelt collection of tributes from real people across Canada and features the profiles of individual efforts of those on the frontlines, reads the Citytv press release.
It will showcase, through local CityNews segments, the…
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By Greg O’Brien
TORONTO – With all pro and amateur sports currently shelved due to the Covid-19 crisis, TSN and Sportsnet programmers have been pulling out all the stops to try and keep fans happy.
They have scrambled and continue to work hard to fill hundreds of hours of airtime with older, or “classic” games, recorded best-of or blooper shows, previously unaired programming like strongman competitions, esports, some experiments in new programming and talk shows and other regular programming now done at hosts homes (Ed note: We enjoyed the 1980 NHL All-Star game – Wayne Gretzky’s first and…
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