TORONTO – TVO and TVOKids programs have joined Rogers On Demand.
Rogers’ digital cable customers can tune in to current affairs programs such as past episodes of The Agenda with Steve Paikin, while younger viewers will find TVOKids’ educational programs like Gisèle’s Big Backyard (for ages 2-5) and The Space (for ages 6-9). TVO documentaries will also be available for a rental fee of $1.99 per movie on Rogers On Demand.
The high definition version of TVO will also join Rogers’ digital basic package, and has begun rolling out the service in the Greater Toronto Area. In the coming weeks, TVOHD will…
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OTTAWA – When it comes to licensing the 28GHz band, Canada’s wireless operators generally agree with Industry Canada’s proposed framework, documents submitted to the department via its call for comments reveal.
Telus, however, is concerned about the first-come, first-served approach advocated by the department in its consultation. Given the rapid growth of mobile networks and mobile data services, the need for longer-term backhaul network planning is paramount and a FCFS process may act as a barrier, the company states in its submission.
“Telus is of the view that the FCFS model needs to be ‘tweaked’ to allow…
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TORONTO and FENELON FALLS, Ont. – Independent cable company Cable Cable is the first non-Rogers carrier to sign up for Rogers Sportsnet One, the new 24/7 sports channel launched last week.
General manager Mike Fiorini told Cartt.ca it was a move he felt he had to make, saying there were a number of customers who expressed their frustration at not being able to find Toronto Blue Jays games on their dials. Sportsnet One had three Jays games over the past weekend and has 23 more on the schedule through the end of the baseball season.
The channel also has NHL,…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications has donated $50,000 to the Canadian Red Cross to help victims of the floods in Pakistan, and has launched a text-to-donate campaign for its wireless customers.
All funds raised will support the Red Cross in providing food, clothing and shelter to the millions of residents left homeless as a result of the devastating floods that struck the country about three weeks ago.
"Our thoughts are with everyone who is affected by the floods in Pakistan as they face this difficult time. We believe every bit of support will make a difference," said Edward Rogers, EVP of emerging…
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TORONTO – CTV shuffled senior management this week in the wake of Keith Pelley’s surprise departure to Rogers Media.
Phil King has been promoted from president of TSN to president of sports and EVP of programming for CTV Inc., effective immediately. Reporting to CTV president and CEO Ivan Fecan, King assumes control over all of CTV’s sports interests, including TSN, RDS, TSN2, RIS Info Sports, NHL Network and ESPN Classic. Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium will also report through King to Fecan, the company said Thursday. King is scheduled to announce succession plans at TSN and Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium…
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OTTAWA – Should broadband be deemed an essential service for all Canadians in the same way as basic telephone service?
Count the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) firmly on the ‘yes’ side of that question. In a new report called Is Broadband Basic Service, the Ottawa-based consumer organization details how Canada could benefit from such a plan, and how countries like Japan and the European Union have been successful thanks to policy and infrastructure investments that make broadband service a basic right for their citizens. All of which stands in contrast to Canada where no such regime exists –…
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WHY WOULD KEITH PELLEY move to Rogers Communications? That’s the question the industry is asking this week. There are many speculative answers, but let’s try to look at some facts before we lob our own opinion-grenades.
Pelley is a sports guy. A TV guy. A sports TV guy. He’s a heck of a broadcast executive who is still riding a massive wave of goodwill generated by the stellar Winter Olympics broadcast, one which he constructed from the ground up and oversaw. He and his people did a terrific job and with a bit of downtime between now and…
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OTTAWA – Depending on how you look at it, the CRTC sided with both Torstar and Rogers Communications over the carriage dispute of Torstar shopping channel ShopTV. Or neither.
After a public hearing on the matter last month, the Commission offered concessions to both parties in a decision Wednesday. It supported Torstar’s claim that Rogers is offside on the Commission’s 1:1 regulation which says for each BDU-owned channel carried, there must be a similar unaffiliated channel also offered.
“…the Commission determines that where Rogers is counting the House of Commons programming service as a third-party exempt service in order to…
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FINALLY, A CANADIAN, PUBLICLY traded wireline telco has made a real commitment to the future, despite what the country’s financial community thinks.
MTS Allstream has been absolutely crucified in the markets this month for daring to cut its quarterly dividend in order to try to properly prepare the company for what’s next by launching a $125 million fibre to the home overhaul. Good for Pierre Blouin and his team for deciding that if the company is to continue in the wired communications game and gain a real competitive advantage in its service areas, it had to make the fibre-to-the-home switch,…
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TORONTO – Keith Pelley has been hired as president of Rogers Media, the company announced this morning.
He will succeed Tony Viner, who in May announced his plan to retire, beginning September 7.
Pelley, 46, will report to Rogers Communications president and CEO Nadir Mohamed and will have overall responsibility for Rogers Media properties including Rogers Broadcasting, Rogers Publishing, Rogers Digital Media, Rogers Sportsnet, the Shopping Channel, the Toronto Blue Jays and Rogers Centre.
He was most recently executive vice-president of strategic planning at CTV and president of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium (however, with Rogers as a main partner in…
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