OTTAWA – Five consumer and public advocacy groups have demanded that Minister of Industry Christian Paradis take action to prohibit Rogers Communications from acquiring spectrum from Shaw Communications, calling the deal “contrary to the original AWS auction rules of the set-aside” and contrary to “your Ministry’s clear policy to preserve that spectrum for new wireless entrants.”
The groups signing the January 21 letter were the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC), OpenMedia.ca, the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) and the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of British Columbia (COSCO).
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TORONTO – Rogers Media's OMNI Television plans to deliver even more hit Bollywood programming, community-focused multilingual newscasts, and exclusive cultural event coverage with the re-launch of OMNI.2 in Ontario. Beginning January 21, the new schedule for OMNI.2 will include an additional 35 hours of ethnic-focused programming featuring original multilingual documentaries, exclusive Canadian coverage of such favourites as the Indian Film Industry Awards, and of course more Bollywood shows. OMNI.2 is the only conventional station in the Ontario market to deliver all ethnic-focused programming says the company.
With an increased focus on content geared towards the…
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TORONTO – CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada is facing off on the 2nd screen in a big way this Saturday to kick of its 60th season. Budweiser is sponsoring Facebook and Twitter pages where fans can login during national broadcasts and interact with in-game features that reflect the live game action.
HNIC says Hockey Night in Canada: 2nd Screen presented by Budweiser gives viewers new ways to interact and engage with the game through smartphones, tablets and computers. Fans can login at Facebook and test their knowledge and try their luck at predicting team and…
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WATERLOO – Visa has approved Research In Motion’s secure mobile payments solution using NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. RIM's Secure Element Manager (SEM) is the backend solution for carriers that can securely manage credentials on SIM (subscriber identity module) cards installed in all types of NFC-capable mobile devices. Visa's approval builds on the joint initiative by Telus, Rogers and Bell for their deployment of mobile payments in Canada through EnStream.
"The approval from Visa of RIM's SEM solution is an important step in that it will enable carriers to support Visa issuing banks and financial…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media Inc. has asked the CRTC to amend two conditions of license for The Score to enable it to slightly increase (from 10% to 15% of its schedule) the amount of analysis, interpretation and documentary programming it can provide in order to compete with online services offered by TSN, CBS Sports and ESPN. It also wants to push back mandatory news updates every 15-minutes when its airing live sports events to just once an hour.
Rogers purchased Score Media Inc. this past summer for $171 million and its specialty station The Score currently…
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TORONTO – Moody's Investors Service says Rogers Communications pending $700 million transaction with Shaw Communications to acquire Hamilton Ontario-based Mountain Cablevision and to secure Shaw’s AWS spectrum holdings in 2014 is “credit-positive and ratings-neutral since investment returns realized over time will off-set initial credit metric dilution.”
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TORONTO and CALGARY – Rogers Communications said late Monday afternoon it plans to pay Shaw Communications $700 million to acquire Hamilton Ontario-based Mountain Cablevision and to secure Shaw’s AWS spectrum holdings in 2014.
The deal will also see Shaw purchase Rogers' one-third interest in TVtropolis for $59 million, giving it 100% of the specialty channel, and Shaw will enter into negotiations with Rogers for the provision of certain services in Western Canada. The press release did not specify what those services will be although Shaw CEO Brad Shaw hinted where some co-operation is being worked on.
The decision to option the…
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MARKHAM – The Ontario Association of Broadcasters will be holding their 8th Annual Career Development Day on March 18th at 1:00 p.m. at Rogers Media, 333 Bloor Street East in Toronto.
Career Day 2013 will include a panel discussion entitled, “Carving your Path in Broadcasting.” The discussion, moderated by Jim Carr, Director, OAB and Professor, Seneca College, will highlight success stories, what skills will secure your future job and how to get started in broadcasting.
The day is highlighted by roundtable discussions that will include broadcasters from all areas of radio and television. This is…
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TORONTO – Rogers viewers can now preview ABC Spark, the “millennial” network that was launched last March by Corus Entertainment.
The preview will enable viewers to sample hit series such as Switched at Birth, Bunheads, and The Lying Game until February 4. ABC Spark, the “destination for millennial viewers,” is based on the U.S. brand ABC Family. The channel is newly available to Rogers customers on channels 69 and 214. The free preview coincides with the recent launch of ABC Spark's winter schedule as well as the new Rogers feed, making the channel available in…
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TORONTO – Hollywood Suite’s four HD commercial-free movie channels are now available to Cogeco Cable digital customers throughout Ontario. Featuring over 400 HD movies per month, uncut and unedited, Hollywood Suite is: WarnerFilms (channel 875), MGM Channel (channel 874), Sony Movie Channel (channel 873), AXN Movies (channel 872). Cogeco Cable HD TV customers can now enjoy a free preview of all 4 Hollywood Suite movie channels until March 31st, 2013.
“Kicking off the New Year with a bang, Hollywood Suite offers Cogeco Cable customers an incredible variety of blockbuster titles on four stunning HD channels” said Ron…
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