MONTREAL – Radio-Canada’s ICI Tou.tv is launching a new premium service called Extra, in collaboration with Rogers and Telus who are offering it free to their wireless customers.
The French-language online video on-demand service currently offers 1,200 titles free as part of its basic entertainment service for Canadians. The soon-to-be-launched Extra will be home to a selection of over 400 new French titles, including series Top of the Lake, known in French as Au bout du lac (2014 Golden Globe nominee for best miniseries, starring Elisabeth Moss, winner for best actress), and Spiral, known in French as Engrenages (International Emmy nominee…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media’s new specialty channel FXX is gearing up for its April 1st launch with a programming slate that will include original FX scripted series, acquired movies and series, and original Canadian programs.
Billed as “the younger-skewing funnier extension of FX Canada”, the channel will mirror its U.S. counterpart with a roster of established hit comedies, such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Eastbound & Down, The League, Legit, and Wilfred, as well as new series Ali G: Rezurection, new animated comedy Chozen, and the Canadian-filmed black comedy Fargo, (pictured) based on the Coen brothers' Oscar-winning film.
FXX will…
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TORONTO – Calling 2013 “a pretty good year”, SaskTel president and CEO Ron Styles said this week that the provincial Crown corporation will come close to its financial targets ($1.2 billion in revenue, $93 million in net income) when it announces its annual results in April.
Styles was in Toronto on Monday and sat down with Cartt.ca to discuss the year past, the year ahead and some of the challenges posed by current regulatory uncertainty in Canada’s telecom industry.
The past year saw SaskTel continually add capacity to its wired and wireless network, continue to grow its fibre to the premises…
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to Kathleen Ham, vice-president of federal regulatory affairs for number four U.S. wireless provider T-Mobile, the Federal Communications Commission should look to the results of Canada’s 700 MHz wireless auction for instruction.
In a blog-post on February 28, Ham noted that “adopting reasonable spectrum aggregation limits is the best possible approach to maintaining a healthy, competitive wireless industry.” As readers and other industry watchers here will recall, Industry Canada placed limits on the amount of spectrum our established big three, Rogers, Telus and Bell could acquire in the auction which just wrapped…
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TORONTO and BUFFALO – The much-hyped ‘Bills in Toronto’ series may be in jeopardy after an announcement Wednesday postponed the 2014 Buffalo Bills regular season game for at least a year, allowing the communications behemoth and struggling NFL team time to ponder how to “deliver a better fan experience”.
Rogers Media president Keith Pelley and Buffalo Bills president and CEO Russ Brandon issued a joint statement saying that game will return to the Bills’ Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, and that the two organizations “will use this time to collectively evaluate opportunities to enhance future games”.
“We are committed to continuing our…
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TORONTO – CBC/Radio-Canada is readying more than 90 hours of fully accessible TV broadcasts and more than 250 hours of online coverage of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
Coverage begins Friday, March 7 at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT with the opening ceremony, and continues with daily coverage through to the closing ceremony on Sunday, March 16. Other members of the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s (CPC) broadcast and digital media consortium include Sportsnet, Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), Yahoo Sports Canada and SendtoNews.
CBC/Radio-Canada will lead the creation of broadcast content for the consortium which will air on Sportsnet and AMI, while Yahoo…
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TORONTO – With the inaugural CommTech East Show just weeks away, organizers have confirmed an engaging lineup of speakers and diverse sessions.
Scheduled for April 15 and 16, 2014 at the Mississauga Convention Centre, the more than 25 sessions will include topics such as:
– If FTTH is the Future, What Happens Before Then?;
– LTE Interference on Broadband Cable TV Services;
– Damage Prevention by the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance;
– Why Batteries Fail – Backup Battery System Testing and Maintenance; and
– Wireless Interference 101.
The exhibitor forum will showcase over 2,000 products and services from more than 80 North American manufacturers and…
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MONTREAL – Growth in both its television and publishing division helped to drive up 2013 profits at TVA Group.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013, consolidated adjusted operating income was $60.6 million, up from $42.5 million in 2012, due to a 42.6% increase from the television segment ($14.5 million) and the publishing segment ($3.6 million).
The Quebecor–owned communications company said its TV increases are attributable to the exclusion of Sun News’ results, which have not been consolidated since July 2012, recognition of retroactive royalties for distant signal retransmission, and the implementation of an expense reduction plan, which offset decreases in…
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OTTAWA – Industry Canada has blocked a request by NextWave to transfer 83 spectrum licences to Rogers and Bell-owned Inukshuk, citing competitive concerns.
Industry Minister James Moore issued the decision Thursday, saying that after considering this request under the new spectrum licence transfer framework, Industry Canada determined that this licence transfer would “lead to unacceptable levels of concentration of spectrum in the hands of incumbent carriers that negatively affects competition in our wireless sector”.
“We will not approve any spectrum transfer request that results in excessive spectrum concentration for Canada's largest wireless companies, which negatively affects competition in the telecommunications sector”,…
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TORONTO – Shaw Media launched the new History Go app Thursday, just in time for season two of the hit series Vikings which airs Thursdays at 10:00 PM ET/PT, beginning February 27.
Available on iOS, Android, and history.ca, History Go offers History subscribers almost 300 hours of programming, including season one of Vikings, and popular series Yukon Gold, Ice Pilots NWT and Pawn Stars. The app is available now with Shaw, Shaw Direct, Rogers and several CCSA distributors, and will be available to Telus Optik TV and Cogeco Cable Canada subscribers next month.
“History Go is a strong addition to Shaw’s…
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