Search Results for: rogers

Radio / Television News

103-inch plasma TV connects new Sportsnet set

TORONTO – Rogers Sportsnet tore the wrapper off its new flagship show, Sportsnet Connected, on Monday evening, aimed squarely at the young male audience. It was a little irreverent and a little silly (even moreso than sports news programs usually are), the anchors wore jeans, ties are now verboten and I think I saw one host’s hirsute bellybutton (no, not Martine Gaillard’s), while some of the other reporters grew out a soul patch. Most of the chairs have vanished and the anchor desks are either gone or redesigned – and 6 p.m. host Brad Fay looked maybe a little… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Apple sends a shiver through Las Vegas, from San Francisco, with new phone and STB

SAN FRANCISCO – If you’re at all involved in the communications field, you’re at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Cartt.ca has its CE editor there this week, for example. But not Apple. It annually hosts Macworld at the same time as CES, kind of thumbing its nose at the other industry heavyweights who these days are trying hard to emulate Apple’s design, functionality and "cool" factor, especially when it comes to portable music players. Today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs used his Macworld keynote speech to make official two new products that most industry observers were sure… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

TV REVIEW: Can Part II fees be the saviour?

FINAL SUBMISSIONS TO THE CRTC on its conventional television policy review were due in yesterday. Cartt.ca managed to get our hands on eight submissions (unfortunately, none of the companies serving the Francophone market responded to our e-mails), which were filed by parties Wednesday in response to what they were asked – or what others were asked – during the seven-day oral presentations that began on November 27th. (Ed note: Thank goodness broadcasting vice-chair Michel Arpin – who looks as though he’ll be the Commission’s Interim Chair for the time being as the PMO explores more candidates to replace departing… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

HDTV SHOPPING: The good, the bad and the weird from the retail front

NOW THAT MY TWO-AND-a-half year old daughter has outgrown her predilection towards throwing things at our living room television (think keys and golf balls, not stuffed animals), I decided my Christmas gift to the family (okay, to me) would be a new television. I want my HDTV. Last month though, CTAM Canada published a piece of research which said, in essence, that Canadian consumers are not getting enough information on how to get the best high definition experience and too often are leaving the stores without a digital cable or satellite receiver, which is the best way (and… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Update: Alliance Atlantis on the block, could fetch $2.4 billion

TORONTO – Look for CanWest Global’s Australian divestiture to pick up speed. Alliance Atlantis Communications announced Wednesday morning that it is officially on the market, meaning the usual suspects like Corus Entertainment, Astral Media, CanWest Global and maybe Rogers Communications and Quebecor Media will soon be kicking tires and checking service records – if they haven’t already. Bell Globemedia is about to start trying to digest CHUM Ltd. and is probably not going to be in the running, especially since it would probably run afoul of competition rules if it tried to grab both CHUM and Alliance Atlantis. With… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Primus boosts wireless

TORONTO – Primus Canada has expanded its wireless footprint in Canada, the company announced Thursday, giving Primus wireless customers the ability to make wireless calls in regions across the country where more than 93 per cent of Canadians reside. "We know coverage is vital for our wireless customers so we are excited to bring this enhancement to them," said Rob Warden, vice-president, residential marketing, Primus Canada. Primus Canada offers their customers a range of wireless savings packages and handsets to choose from, and aggressive wireless long distance rates. Primus Canada is a subsidiary of Primus Telecommunications of Virginia and… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

COMMENTARY: TV Review tidbits

SOME THOUGHTS ON the TV Policy Review hearings that one day, could grow up to be full-sized columns. ********** ONE OF THE MOST interesting questions at the hearing came late in the day on Monday, December 4th, when Media Awareness Network faced the five-person panel. MNet, as it calls itself, is a non-profit organization with the laudable goal of boosting media literacy among children. The group promotes media and Internet education through its online programs and resources, working with a number of organizations in Canada and elsewhere. Its sponsors include Bell, Shaw, CTV, CHUM, Rogers, Telus and CanWest Global…. Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

The TUESDAY INTERVIEW, Thursday edition: Michael Cowpland, CEO of Internet cable company, ZIM TV

ANYONE WITH EVEN A PASSING knowledge in Canadian technology and software will remember Dr. Michael Cowpland’s Corel Inc. After building a large software company with a very strong product (CorelDraw), hell-bent on taking on Microsoft in other market sectors (such as in word processing with WordPerfect) it fell on hard times after the tech bubble burst. Founder Cowpland was forced out in 2000 after an Ontario Securities Commission investigation. Corel continues however, but in 2001, Cowpland, an engineer, turned his attention to the wireless space and purchased ZIM Technologies. Today, ZIM is a mobile entertainment and Internet TV service… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

200,000 HD customers, HDOD on the way

TORONTO – With holiday sales of HDTV sets expected to soar, Rogers Cable expects to come out of the Christmas season with far more than the 200,000 high definition television consumers it now supports. Since November 2005, Rogers’ HD customers have more than doubled, the company said today. And one in three HD customers are also choosing to take a high definition PVR as their set top box of choice. "HD is the future of television, and if the increase in sales of high definition Sharp AQUOS televisions this holiday season is any indication, there is definitely a growing demand… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

TV REVIEW: Captioning, commercials, Cancon, close Commission conference

GATINEAU – As the seventh and final day of the 2006 CRTC TV Policy Review hearing wound down yesterday, a frustrated group got very wound up, and a broadcasting legend weighed in. In a process that has sometimes gone into excruciating detail about how much more we may pay for our TV universe, how we’ll receive programs, how big a role advertising will play and what we’ll see between the ads – a big problem should have been hard to overlook. But on this day, James Roots, executive director of the Canadian Association of the Deaf, made a passionate… Continue Reading