TORONTO – Rogers is airing a new television series, but this one is available solely on its community TV channel.
The new comedy series, Sketchersons TV, is written and performed by Toronto-based sketch troupe The Sketchersons and produced by Generator Films. The award-winning troupe, well known in Toronto for their weekly stage sketch show ‘Sunday Night Live’, uses talk-show and commercial parodies to offer an amusing spin on mundane everyday life.
“Rogers TV is always looking for local content, driven by Toronto community members”, said Rogers TV Toronto station manager, Annie Hadida, in a statement. “Sketchersons TV is one of many new…
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TORONTO – Canada’s wireless carriers were pleased to read on Cartt.ca that Industry Minister Tony Clement is going to make the auction of the 700 MHz wireless spectrum a priority of his ministry,
“We’re happy he’s saying, ‘bring it on’,” Rogers Communications senior vice-president of regulatory, Ken Engelhart, told Cartt.ca.“We agree with Minister Clement, that (the auction) should be brought on fairly quickly.”
The 700 MHz spectrum, of course, is what our conventional broadcasters use to transmit analog TV signals right now. They face a deadline of August 31, 2011 to get off that spectrum (shutting off their analog transmitters)…
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PART OF THE RATIONALE behind Bell Canada’s purchase of CTV is that the mobile and broadband spaces are unregulated – and that content exclusives will be part of the game when attracting and retaining subscribers who want to see their video content on their iPads, BlackBerrys or PCs, as well as their TVs.
Bell CEO George Cope told us as much when we asked him about it during the press conference announcing the deal last week.
However, to paraphrase what Telus has been saying for a while now: “Not so fast, consolidators.”
The Bell/CTV deal was excellent timing for the…
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TORONTO and CALGARY – Add Shaw to the short list of distributors who have added Rogers Sportsnet One to their programming rosters.
Starting Wednesday, Shaw said that “the vast majority” of its customers will receive Sportsnet One as part of their existing television package. The channel will be available to all Shaw digital TV customers in a free preview until October 31, and then be added to the Shaw Digital TV, HD Plus, and HD Sports packages.
Shaw Direct customers will have Sportsnet One included in the English and French Essentials package, and in the HD Sports packages.
"As customer advocates, we’ve…
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CANADIAN WIRELESS CUSTOMERS ARE hungry for a deal. According to brand new research, they are seeing the big ad campaigns and know they can shop around more than they ever have – and they’ll take their business to the best rate.
While all the wireless providers, new or incumbent, talk a great game about providing the best customer service, the highest speeds, the greatest apps and handsets, and the strongest, most reliable network – all lovely marketing bullet points – they only work to a degree.
Exclusive research from Toronto’s Solutions Research Group and Cartt.ca shows that when it comes to…
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TORONTO – Bell and Telus could be the winners when the 700 MHz wireless spectrum hits the auction block, predicts one industry analyst.
Responding to Cartt.ca’s report that Industry Minister Clement may accelerate the 700 MHz mobile spectrum auction in Canada, Canaccord Genuity managing director and head of Canadian research, Dvai Ghose, told investors Monday that the two big telcos appear to have an advantage over Rogers because they share spectrum, while Rogers does not have a national spectrum sharing partner.
“We also believe that the 700 MHz auction poses a key risk to cash flow and dividend growth for…
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TORONTO – Astral and Rogers have finalized a content deal that will see programming from TMN, HBO Canada, Mpix, Family Channel and Playhouse Disney added to the cable co’s TV, on-line and on demand platforms.
Under the terms of the new agreement, popular programming like True Blood, Hung and Entourage will now be available to Rogers’ customers with matching cable subscriptions as part of Rogers On Demand Online.
In addition, Astral’s Playhouse Disney channel will launch as part of Rogers’ Digital VIP cable package, as well as on RODO and its on demand service. Family Channel, which has until now…
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TORONTO – Bell Canada’s announcement this morning that it will spend $1.3 billion for all of CTV looks like a bid to protect and power a lot of its asset engines with a lot of superb oil and fuel.
The deal comes with $1.7 billion in debt, and factoring in Bell’s 15% ownership of CTVglobemedia, places a total value of $3.2 billion on CTV. The Globe and Mail newspaper has been carved out, as the Thomson family will take majority ownership of the paper.
If approved (and this doesn’t look to ring any Regulatory warning bells) the new company will…
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TORONTO – With nearly 10% of its cable base signed up for its Rogers On Demand On-line service, Rogers said Friday that it will add on-line rentals to its broadband portal starting next month.
At launch, all Canadians with an Internet connection will be able to click the rentals tab to browse, review, preview and rent new release movies at the same time as they become available in the video store for $4.99, or select various library titles for $3.99. With each movie rental, customers have 30 days to start the film and 48 hours to view it as many times as they…
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GATINEAU – Canada’s major cable companies and telcos are squaring off against MTS Allstream and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre over the CRTC’s authority to mandate broadband as an essential service.
Comments filed with the CRTC in late August show that Bell Canada, Telus and all of the large cablecos are, not surprisingly, opposed to any Commission intervention on this matter, while PIAC and MTS firmly believe that the CRTC can make broadband essential.
The issue has become a central theme in an ongoing proceeding on a broad variety of telecom matters, generally referred to as the obligation to…
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