TORONTO – As the puck prepares to drop on the World Cup of Hockey 2016 later this month, Sportsnet unveiled its lineup of sponsors for its English-language coverage that will span TV, radio, digital and print platforms.
Sportsnet said that its “broadcast partners” for the eight team international tournament will include Scotiabank, Molson Coors, Advil, Honda, Rogers, Sonnet, Visa, and Sport Chek.
“The World Cup of Hockey is going to be one of the biggest and best events in 2016 and it will be a second-to-none experience for Canadian hockey fans to host it on home ice,” said Anthony Attard, Sportsnet’s…
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This is not another new policy review
GATINEAU – Canada’s major broadcasters say that a time when consumers have more TV viewing choices resulting from new flexible channel packaging rules and the continued inroads from exempt (often foreign) platforms, the CRTC must resist adding to the regulatory restrictions already imposed on their programming services.
The comments come as the Commission wraps up the written phase for this fall’s licence renewal hearing for the country’s major English- and French-language broadcasting groups.
Many interveners have called for more stringent regulation of the large broadcasters. They relate to a number of…
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STARTING SEPTEMBER 7, BROADCAST distributors (a.k.a. cable, IPTV and satellite TV providers) will go before the CRTC trying to convince the regulator they are providing consumers with the choice required under rules adopted last year and that no further regulation is necessary.
Groups representing consumers will be there too, arguing, among other things, the way BDUs are offering the new so-called skinny basic package is inadequate. The Consumers Association of Canada (CAC) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) say the Commission needs to address the issue of unfair practices being employed by some BDUs.
The groups say that…
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TORONTO – Rogers Radio and Shazam today announced today an exclusive partnership that the companies say will bring the best of traditional radio and digital music content together.
Said to be a Canadian first, the partnership includes a local daily countdown show, “The Shazam @ 7 Countdown,” beginning Monday (August 29) at 7 p.m. local time on KiSS 92.5 in Toronto, 91.7 THE BOUNCE in Edmonton, and KiSS RADiO in Vancouver. Using unique, targeted data to feature different playlists in each market, the show highlights the top seven songs of the day, comprised of recently Shazam’d tracks and…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC shouldn’t bow to pressure from the vertically integrated (VI) entities and loosen any regulatory measures on their activities, according to comments from the non-VI broadcast distributors.
In comments to the licence renewals of the large English and French-language ownership groups (for which a public hearing is coming in November), the non-VI BDUs tell the Commission that in fact it needs to strengthen regulations ensuring the VI companies (Rogers, Bell and Quebecor) don’t exhibit any anti-consumer and anti-competitive behaviour.
Telus says the Commission has rules to ensure carriage contracts for TV channels are done on…
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TORONTO – Rogers' and Shaw's streaming service shomi celebrated the first anniversary of its national debut on August 20 by releasing a series of fun facts, but still no subscriber numbers.
One year after launching direct-to-consumers, the TV and movie streamer boasts 118 exclusive series, more than 143 million total video plays, and said that February 15, (which was Family Day in AB, SK, and ON), was its top viewing holiday, followed by Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Other highlights include:
– Peak consumption hours are 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM;
– Top 3 most popular genres are Comedy, Kids & Family,…
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TORONTO – Rogers launched three new TV programming packages this week that include an extra “bonus” specialty channel that customers may swap out each month.
The ‘Select’ package is priced at $49.99 per month for 113 channels, which includes those from its basic ‘Starter’ pack plus TSN, Sportsnet, Treehouse and W Network. The ‘Popular’ package, priced at $74.99 per month, offers 143 channels including those from ‘Select’ in addition to more sports and children’s channels, while ‘Premier’ offers 183 channels, including those from ‘Popular’, plus more movie and lifestyle services, for $99.99 per month.
All of the packages also offer the option to select…
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TORONTO – Bell Media’s Discovery is gearing up for its first-ever nationwide free preview this fall which will include the debut of Frontier, its first original Canadian scripted drama.
Set against the raw backdrop of 1700s Canada, Frontier (pictured) stars Jason Momoa in a thrilling action-adventure series that revolves around warring factions vying for control of the fur trade in a ruthless game of wealth and power. The series will debut on November 6. Other programming highlights include the return of Canada’s Worst Driver and the premier of new original Canadian series Tougher Than It Looks? on October 24.
Discovery’s free preview…
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Thoughts on why Canadian prices are so high
THE CRTC'S RECENT REPORT on Canadian telecom prices (prepared by Nordicity) shows that we pay some of the highest rates in the world.
According to the National Post:
“Canada won gold for the most expensive low-end wireless telephone service and landed silver for premium mobile phone services that include more minutes and data, according to the ninth-annual international telecom price comparison study commissioned by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
It also landed in the Top Three for the most expensive broadband Internet, bundled services and mobile data, which…
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TORONTO – Bell Canada informed its customers last month that it is dropping a number of TV channels from its lineup.
While everyone is dropping ichannel because the parent company, Stornoway Communications, shut it down August 15, some of Bell’s other channel cuts are somewhat surprising.
As of September 1st, Bell is dropping Gusto and on September 27th it has told customers it will remove The Shopping Channel, CNBC, MSNBC, Nickelodeon and Sundance. (See screen cap of the note to customers below. Click it to enlarge.)
The Shopping Channel is a Rogers Media retail channel while American news channels MSNBC and…
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