CALGARY – Shaw is bulking up its video-on-demand (VOD) lineup and offering “value-based rental programs” for its digital boxes “as consumers nest at home during the economic slow-down”.
Shaw says that its VOD business is booming, and accordingly is extending its partnerships with the major film studios to offer VOD releases on the same day they arrive on DVD rental shelves. In fact it added the Mickey Rourke title The Wrestler to its lineup on Tuesday, the same date it was released on DVD and Blu Ray in Canada.
"We are experiencing an increased demand for VOD services, up 74% compared to…
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TORONTO – Canada’s television industry is not in crisis, Rogers told Parliament’s Heritage Committee in Ottawa on Monday.
Encouraging the Committee to evaluate CTV and Canwest’s broadcast assets “as the sum of their parts, not as though each segment were a standalone business”, the cable giant argued strongly against the notion of fee-for-carriage which has been advocated by conventional broadcasters CTV and Canwest.
"Fee for carriage would set up the worst of all public policy solutions, a two tier taxation system,” said Phil Lind, vice chairman of Rogers Communications, in an announcement. “Those who subscribe to cable or…
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TORONTO – Rogers Cable has designed a new web tool to give customers online access in order to manage their Rogers home phone service.
Called the ‘Home and Away Online-Manager’, customers can manage their calling features, such as call forwarding and ring settings, as well as receive voicemail messages by logging in to the designated portal.
"Home and Away Online-Manager brings together our Rogers Home Phone and Rogers Hi-Speed Internet services in a powerful way that allows our customers to simplify their lives," said Phil Hartling, vice president of consumer services, in the announcement. "This is yet another example of our…
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MORALE BUILDING FOR soldiers fighting wars has long been a staple of western armies.
Bob Hope was one of the most famous of such giving entertainers, gathering his friends for tours of American Army bases in various hotspots around the world.
Canada’s version of the USO involves, of course, something a little more Canadian: hockey.
Each year Canada has been in Afghanistan, military brass arranges a trip by some famous hockey players for a quick ball hockey tournament in the primary NATO forces base. Normally, they bring along a broadcaster or two to help call the games – adding…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has found in favour of Rogers Cable Communications over a complaint from a political candidate regarding an election debate program broadcast on its community channel Rogers TV. The Commission received a complaint from John Turmel on September 24, 2007, who, at that time, was a political candidate in the riding of Brant, ON. Brant is a mostly rural municipality located approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Toronto.
Rogers TV taped a program involving a debate between six candidates in the riding of Brant, one of whom was Turmel, on September 18, 2007. The program was to be broadcast…
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TORONTO – It’s a years-old Commission file that is over a pretty small amount of money when you consider the size of the companies involved, but Rogers Communications intends on going to court to resolve a six-year old battle over punctuation, contract rights, and paying a million dollars more for renting space on about 100,000 hydro poles in New Brunswick.
This week, the CRTC issued what will probably be its last decision on what’s become known as the “comma case”, effectively dismissing Rogers’ complaint yet again.
With the help of RCI’s EVP…
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TORONTO – One of High Fidelity HDTV’s digital specialty channels, the all-nature Oasis HD, said this week it has signed on as a presenting sponsor for the Canadian broadcast of the 2009 Masters Tournament along side of Acura and Rolex.
(The independent broadcaster also owns all-high-def channels Rush HD, Treasure HD and Equator HD.)
While it might be a little unusual for the Canadian broadcasters TSN, RDS and Global Television to be promoting another TV outlet during their broadcasts, Oasis bought the sponsorship from Graham Sanborn Media, the Toronto company which owns the Canadian broadcast rights to The Masters…
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TORONTO – TLN Telelatino Network is making its Italian 24 hour news channel ‘SKY TG 24 Canada’ available for free to Bell TV and Rogers digital subscribers to provide information on Monday’s earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy to the Italian Canadian community.
The network, in collaboration with Sky Italia, is based on SKY Tg24, Italy’s leading news source which gives viewers “a direct link to around-the-clock coverage of European and world affairs”, the press release said. SKY TG 24 Canada will be in free preview throughout April.
TLN Television will also complement SKY TG 24 Canada’s coverage of the earthquake with…
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TORONTO – BBM has released its top-line radio statistics for January 5 through March 1, 2009, including the first report using data from portable people meters (PPM) from the Montreal market.
Highlights from Montreal, which reviewed data from December 1 through March 1, 2009, showed that Astral Media-owned news talk station CJAD dominated the Anglo market with a 25.6% share. They were followed by CJFM FM (Astral’s Virgin station), Corus’ “lite” rock focused CFQR FM and CBC Radio One (CBME FM) at 16%, 14% and 12.4%, respectively.
The leaders in Montreal’s Franco markets were CFGL FM with a 15.5%…
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The 2009 Canadian Telecom Summit is fast approaching.
Held June 15 – 17 in Toronto, the event promises to cover all segments of the Canadian telecommunications and IT industries, and bring together leaders from all constituencies – service providers, manufacturers, applications providers, policy makers and regulators.
This year’s Summit will feature 17 keynote addresses, 70 speakers, three days of programming, plus networking opportunities with hundreds of industry leaders and customers.
Confirmed participants to date are Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of Research In Motion, and Nadir Mohamed, president and CEO of Rogers Communications. The Chair of the CRTC, Konrad von…
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