I FINALLY HAVE A RESPONSE to something CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais asked we reporters – in absentia, mind you – during day eight of September’s Talk TV hearing, the day set aside for accessibility issues.
“I asked others beforehand – now they may be listening elsewhere – but the media table, which was chock-a-block last week, seems to be completely empty now,” chairman Blais said on September 17th. “And I'm struck, because members of the community you serve presumably buy goods and services – goods and services that are made by people that advertise in newspapers and other electronic media.
“Why…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Customers of Rogers and Shaw will get their first look at subscription streaming service shomi on Tuesday.
While negotiations continue with other Canadian BDUs, shomi, a subscriber-authenticated streaming video service, will only be available in beta first to Rogers and Shaw Internet or cable customers, as the two companies co-own the venture.
Eligible Rogers customers can sign up and begin a 30-day free trial, after which customers can enjoy shomi for only $8.99 per month. The same terms apply to Shaw customers.
As an added benefit to select Rogers customers, shomi will be automatically included for Rogers Hybrid Fibre 50…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The radio industry, electronic media’s elder statesman, is not in trouble and the sky is not falling, but radio broadcasters need to do a better job at promoting their advertising success stories to keep marketers from becoming too distracted by the “shiny, new toy” (a.k.a. digital audio streaming services).
That was the rallying call delivered by Erica Farber, president and CEO of the U.S.-based Radio Advertising Bureau, during an industry executive town hall session at the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ Connection 2014 conference, held Thursday in Toronto. “Success stories work,” she said. “We do not do a good…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Univision Canada launched a high definition version of its signal Friday, becoming the first national all-Spanish language TV channel in the country to do so.
The channel is currently available in over 1.8 million Canadian homes through TV providers including Rogers 780, Bell TV 699, Bell Fibe 867, Shaw 508, Vidéotron 248 and MTS channel 517.
Owned and operated by TLN, Univision Canada’s programming lineup includes daily news, award-winning telenovelas, talk shows, live music specials, and soccer coverage, complemented by made-in-Canada community programming.
www.univisioncanada.ca
Continue Reading
TORONTO – John Bitove will step down as chairman of the board of Sirius XM Canada at its next annual meeting in January, and will be replaced by Tony Viner, current member of the board of directors and audit committee chair, as well as former president of Rogers Media.
The audio entertainment company made the announcement Thursday in conjunction with the release of its fourth quarter and fiscal 2014 year-end results.
"It is hard to believe when we started the process of bringing satellite radio to Canada in 2002 that one day we would grow from zero to 2.6 million subscribers,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers is teaming up with digital media company Vice Media to produce and distribute youth-focussed Canadian content for mobiles, tablets, computers and TV screens, here at home and around the world.
The announcement, made Thursday morning in Toronto, said that Vice Canada properties will form part of a $100 million joint venture between the two companies that will include a new multimedia production facility in Toronto, Vice Canada Studio; a dedicated Canadian TV channel called the Vice TV Network that will launch next year; and fresh mobile content, including exclusives for Rogers and Fido customers.
Vice launched in Montreal in 1994 as…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – We don’t know what it is (although there is much speculation in the Twitterverse), but Rogers CEO Guy Laurence will be making a “REALLY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT” in Toronto’s Entertainment District this morning.
We’re told it’s not supposed to be anything that will move the financial markets in any direction and it appears to be an announcement from the Rogers Media division, not Cable or Wireless. Beyond that, we don’t know. The press release promises it will be "ground-breaking", however. We don't think it's shomi-related though, since the launch party for…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The CBC announced Wednesday it has purchased the broadcast and multiplatform rights to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang Korea and the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. However, it won’t be working alone.
The public broadcaster also announced a broad partnership with both Bell Media and Rogers Media to bring “unprecedented” coverage of the Games to Canadians on all platforms.
While financial details of the rights purchase were not announced, the deal was termed an “extension” of the existing deal the CBC signed for the 2014 and 2016 Games. “We gave an offer…
Continue Reading
BELLEVUE, WA – Bell placed first in two of Canada’s biggest three markets for wireless speed and reliability, according to tests done by an independent mobile analytics firm.
In its second set of reports on Canada's mobile experience, U.S.-based RootMetrics posted results from its more than 71,000 data, call and text tests, performed using the same phones that consumers can purchase, off the shelves, at their operator’s stores.
The company tested Bell’s Rogers’ and Telus’ networks in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, in addition to regional networks Wind (in Toronto and Vancouver) and Videotron (in Montreal). It conducted the tests in a…
Continue Reading
TORONTO and MARKHAM – Rogers’ sports scores and stats channel Sportsnews has settled in to channel 500 in the Rogers Cable lineup using the Audience software platform produced by Capital Networks.
The channel, billed as a 24/7 source for sports scores and information, ties in to Rogers’ ample NHL coverage with the ‘Red Light look’ (pictured) two hours prior to the day’s first hockey game and continues while live NHL games are being played. The channel features live scores, stats and Twitter feeds from various Rogers personalities, all displayed within seconds via the Audience data automation capabilities.
“On a busy night…
Continue Reading
