NEW YORK and TORONTO – Shaw Media’s History has picked up a fourth season of the acclaimed drama series Vikings.
The renewal comes with five episodes remaining in the series’ third season, which airs Thursdays at 10:00 PM ET/PT.
Vikings tells the extraordinary tales of the lives and epic adventures of these warriors and portrays life in the Dark Ages through the eyes of Viking society. The gripping family saga of Ragnar (Travis Fimmel), Rollo (Clive Standen), Lagertha (Canadian Katheryn Winnick) and Bjorn (Canadian Alexander Ludwig) continues in season three as alliances and loyal friendships are questioned, faith is catechized and…
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TORONTO – Shaw Media and Shaftesbury’s digital studio Smokebomb Entertainment have joined forces with brand agency shift2 and Schick Quattro for Women on MsLabelled, a new fashion-focused multiplatform comedy series aimed at female millennials.
Designed to run both online and on air, MsLabelled is a witty, vlog-style series set in the fast-paced, high-pressure world of fashion. The 20 x four-minutes series features and is executive produced by Jeanne Beker, and stars Rebecca Liddiard as Ella (pictured), a young fashionista who tries to find her own voice in the industry by launching an upstart fashion blog, after landing a job at…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s publicly traded television service providers combined lost a record 65,000 TV subscribers in their respective 2014 fiscal years (November 30/December 31, 2013 to November 30/December 31, 2014), up sharply from just a few hundred lost in their 2013 fiscal years, according to a new report released today
New research from Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services also shows that the publicly traded TV service providers lost 21,380 TV subscribers combined in their 2014 fiscal fourth quarters, almost double the 11,323 lost in the same periods in 2013.
“The trend continues to show the…
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GATINEAU – There are always some interesting figures which emerge with the publishing of the annual aggregate returns of the large carriers and broadcasters by the CRTC.
Below are a few highlights from the data filed by Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV companies (we’ll look at the conventional TV, pay and specialty and radio numbers later) for the broadcast year ended August 31, 2014.
Of the subscriber losses suffered by the large, established TV carriers (cable and satellite brands Rogers Cable, Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct, Videotron, Bell Satellite TV, Cogeco Cable and Eastlink) almost all went to…
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OTTAWA – While some have yet to react and others have decried the CRTC’s decisions today on the carriage portion of the Commission’s TV Policy Review, the overall reaction has ranged from generally positive to indifferent. Bell Canada and Quebecor Media have chosen not to respond as yet.
Shaw Communications president and CEO Brad Shaw:
“We support the Government’s direction and the Commission’s commitment to maximize choice for Canadians – as citizens, producers, and consumers. We are pleased that the Commission has built on the foundation of previous Talk TV decisions to support a bold yet balanced and orderly policy framework…
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OTTAWA – Announcing the most recent round of Let’s Talk TV decisions last week, CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais spoke about the need to create fewer, higher quality Canadian TV shows instead of a larger number of mixed quality television – and to build a more sustainable production sector populated by larger, well-capitalized firms.
In essence, he was saying less is more. However, those who make the shows believe, conversely, less will only lead to less.
Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-86, released on March 12, made a number of significant changes to Canadian content rules. Chief among…
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CALGARY – Shaw has launched the WWE Network, just in time for Wrestlemania 31.
Available immediately for Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct customers, the subscription-based network offers premium wrestling programming, including all 12 live WWE pay-per-view events, original series and documentaries and exclusive on-demand content for $11.99 per month.
Shaw customers who subscribe to the WWE network also get access to the WWE App. Available online and for download on mobile devices, the WWE App features 24/7 streaming of scheduled WWE programming, an on-demand library, and provides subscribers with an exclusive second screen companion experience while watching WWE Network programs on…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has returned applications filed by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC) challenging the tied selling of streaming services CraveTV and shomi to existing TV subscription services, citing Thursday’s Let’s Talk decisions.
A March 12 letter addressed to the consumer groups and signed by secretary general John Traversy said that the PIAC-CAC applications “would benefit from taking into consideration the Commission’s clarifications” in BRP 2015-86 in which the CRTC said that it would add a hybrid VoD service as a new type of exempt undertaking. “Accordingly, by majority decision, the…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s broadcasters aren’t about to give up spectrum and go through another digital upgrade again without being paid for moving – and believe some of the funds coming from the next big wireless auction must be re-directed towards a new local television production fund.
First comments were due into Industry Canada Wednesday on its consultation into repurposing the 600 MHz band – the slice of spectrum upon which much of the country’s TV signals ride.
While most agree that harmonizing our bandwidth plan framework with the United States is a good idea, independent broadcasters and vertically integrated media and…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC unveiled sweeping changes to the Canadian TV broadcasting system earlier today. The Regulator has eliminated genre protection rules, shifted from Canadian content exhibition quotas to spending requirements and created a new class of online video-on-demand (VOD) services.
In a speech to the Canadian Club of Ottawa, Commission chair Jean-Pierre Blais underscored the need to adapt the broadcasting system to meet the realities of today where “people watch content in the ways, on the devices and at the times that most suit them.” He acknowledged that content is still king, but added that the viewer is now…
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