OTTAWA – Telesat announced the successful launch today of a new Anik G1 satellite from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.
Anik G1 will be located at 107.3 degrees West providing a range of communications services, including carrying 16 extended Ku-band transponders contracted to Shaw Direct for 15 years. Shaw Direct currently uses Telesat’s Anik F1R satellite at 107.3 West for its Canadian DTH services. The addition of Anik G1 at the same orbital location means Shaw Direct will be able to add over 100 HD channels for their subscribers.
The new Anik G1 will…
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TORONTO – Fans tuning in to the third-season finale of Showcase’s original series Lost Girl this Sunday will be able to interact with their favourite characters at the same with a new mobile app for iOS and Android that launches the same day.
Lost Girl: The Game is Showcase’s all-new mobile app that connects the show’s fans worldwide by delivering a fully interactive social gaming experience. Featuring an original storyline written by the show’s staff, fans can create a customized character from the show's Fae world that they can use to navigate through mysteries set in…
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TORONTO – The CBC, Bell Media and Shaw Media are the top three English broadcaster recipients of Performance Envelope allocations for 2013-2014 as announced today by the Canada Media Fund.
Of the CMF’s program budget of $360.7 million, $173.3 million has been allotted in Performance Envelopes for 21 English broadcasters. CBC will receive $58.1 million, Bell Media $32.6 million and Shaw Media will receive $27.3 million. Thirteen French broadcasters will share $85.7 million, of which Radio-Canada will receive $32,7million, Groupe TVA $22 million and Astral (French) $16.4 million.
CMF’s envelope system was designed to…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications Inc. reported today that consolidated revenue for its second quarter and for the year to date was $1.25 billion and $2.57 billion, respectively, each up 2% over the comparable periods last year.
Net income was $182 million for Q2 FY2013 and $417 million for the six months ended February 28, 2013, compared to $178 million and $380 million respectively for the same periods last year. Total operating income before amortization increased 9% to $538 million over the comparable quarterly period, and the year-to-date amount of $1.14 billion was up 8%.
Free…
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HALIFAX and FREDERICTON – Shaw Media-owned Global News announced it is rebranding its Global Maritimes operations to Global Halifax and Global New Brunswick as part of its mandate to tell more locally-focused stories.
The separation of Global Maritimes into the two new stations, which takes places April 15, moves both Global Halifax and Global New Brunswick from being an amalgamated regional news source to focusing more on local stories in both areas. Global is highlighting the move with new programming and the hiring of new on-air talent
The two stations will continue to share some…
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MONTREAL – Bell says it wants to help its internet customers practice safer surfing with its launch today of a new McAfee Security feature.
Bell Internet customers will automatically be transferred to one of three McAfee Security from Bell tiers: Good, Better or Best. Customers currently using free Bell Internet security will receive the Good package at no extra charge. Bell Internet customers with enhanced security services will be moved to the corresponding Better and Best security packages. McAfee Security from Bell is compatible with both Windows and Mac.
“Bell Internet customers want to focus…
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CALGARY, ALTA – Think a 100G network is fast? That’s so two years ago. Shaw Communications, in conjunction with Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent, announced today it has completed a successful field trial – the first in North America – of 400 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) data transmission over an existing optical link carrying live network traffic.
The trial ran over a 400-kilometre route between Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta using Shaw’s current transport network, designed for speeds up to 100 Gbps. Using Alcatel-Lucent’s 1830 PSS with the 400G Photonic Service Engine (PSE), Shaw says the technology doubled the capacity of…
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OTTAWA – Competition in Canada’s wireless industry could be hampered by more stringent spectrum licence transfer regulation, new entrants and incumbents alike are telling Industry Canada.
Rogers Communications warns the department that its proposal will lead to an inefficient market where the existing secondary trading market for spectrum licences will become limited as some operators will see their options to sell spectrum holdings constrained. These new rules could “dampen new entry by increasing the risks associated with selling their business to the highest bidder if they fail to establish a viable wireless business” and “possibly result in lawsuits by aggrieved…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Cable companies reported a modest growth in revenues and subscribers in 2012, while satellite companies recorded a decline in these categories, according to the CRTC’s statistical and financial results for the industry released today.
Combined revenues for both cable and satellite companies increased by 4.2% from $13.5 billion in 2011 to $14.1 billion in 2012. Similarly, the total number of subscribers (which includes customers subscribed to IPTV services such as Bell’s Fibe TV or Telus’ Optik TV), rose by 1% from 11.4 million to 11.5 million. (We checked with the CRTC and the only…
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GATINEAU – There's no Say No To Bell campaign this time around, but most of Bell's major competitors have again told the CRTC they are strongly against the takeover of Astral Media by BCE, even with the new promises to divest English-language TV assets.
Quebecor, Rogers and Telus all said they were against the deal in submissions sent to the Commission on Friday, the deadline for interventions in the new application for change of ownership.
Quebecor Media, which owns the Vidéotron cable provider and broadcaster TVA, "asks the Commission to categorically refuse the approval of the revised application," saying it would…
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