OTTAWA – Satellite services operator Telesat experienced a “technical anomaly” early Thursday morning resulting in a loss of service to customers of its Anik F2 satellite.
Anik F2 supports a variety of services in Canada and the United States, all of which were affected by the glitch. Shaw Direct and Northwestel are included in the bird’s roster of some 35,000 Canadian customers.
Telesat posted an update on its website saying that it was “in control” of the satellite and all indications are that it is healthy and can be returned to service.
“Telesat is now undertaking to return the satellite to normal…
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OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada said today it will decide whether or not the CRTC has the jurisdiction to institute the fee-for-carriage (or value for signal) regime it okayed in 2010.
When the CRTC made its policy announcement in March of that year, it referred the jurisdictional question to the Federal Court (pre-empting the carriers, who would have done the same thing). Then in March 2011, the Federal Court issued a 2-1 decision saying the CRTC did, in fact, have the right to okay a new value-for-signal policy where off-air TV broadcasters would have the right…
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WHILE SAYING HIS company has not yet decided on a course of action, Bell Canada’s regulatory chief says thanks to the CRTC’s new vertical integration policy, he wants to start over when it comes to our broadcasting laws and its regulation.
(Explained here, the new policy: prohibits exclusives on linear TV content when it comes to mobile and online platforms; bans tied selling of specialty services ensuring BDUs can buy them from programmers one at a time; calls for consumers to be able to buy more specialties one at a time in a pick-and-pay format; outlines a specific code…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has given Shaw Communications the green light to eliminate the rules that require it to keep its DTH service Shaw Direct structurally separate from its corporate sibling Shaw Cable.
In Wednesday’s decision, the Commission noted that the distribution market has become “significantly more competitive” than when the conditions of licence in question were imposed. (Ed note: at that time, some 14 years ago, DTH BDUs were new players in the distribution market and Shaw was the only owner of terrestrial BDU, DTH and SRDU holdings).
The CRTC agreed with Shaw that the rules may place…
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CALGARY – Shaw Direct is adding to its lineup of sports and lifestyle channels.
Viewers may now tune in to the SD or HD version of TVA Sports, or check out Mlle, the first French-language fashion, beauty and wellness channel developed for women.
RDS2 will launch in SD and HD on October 7, followed by regional network TSN Canadiens on October 13th, just in time to kick off the Canadiens’ season opener versus the Calgary Flames.
www.shawdirect.ca
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC’s new policy on vertical integration, released late Wednesday, tries hard to balance the wants of Canadian television viewers with the commercial demands of the country’s largest vertically integrated broadcasters and television distributors, and the needs of the smaller and independent ones.
Following a five day long hearing in June, the new policy offers flexibility to the likes of Bell Media, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Quebecor Media, but also includes a number of safeguards and a code of conduct.
Highlights of the new policy include:
– Companies are prohibited from offering television programs on an exclusive basis to…
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TORONTO – By the end of 2014, new wireless entrants will have captured 4 million or approximately 12% of the Canadian wireless market, up from 5% at year-end 2011, according to a new study from Toronto’s Convergence Consulting.
Part of that is because that the new entrants, not taking into account promotional pricing, can undercut incumbents and their discount brands by more than 58% on combined voice/data pricing, and by more than 83% on data alone, maintains the report Canadian Wireless 2009-2014: Assessing The Impact of New Entrants. But when it comes to voice pricing, incumbents and their discount brands can…
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CALGARY – Shaw Cable will carry both regular season and playoff matchups during its eighth season as the official regional cable broadcaster of the Western Hockey League.
Regular season coverage kicks off September 22 and will include 32 games. The WHL on Shaw will also showcase the 2012 WHL playoffs, including the full series in each of the four rounds plus the WHL championship series as the final teams battle for the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
WHL coverage can be seen across Shaw’s cable systems in western Canada on Shaw TV and on channel 299 on Shaw Direct.
www.shaw.cawww.whl.ca
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CALGARY and WINNIPEG – Fans of Canada’s newest NHL hockey team may now catch the Winnipeg Jets games on Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct or MTS.
Available on Shaw and Shaw Direct starting September 20 for the inaugural pre-season Jets game in Winnipeg, TSN Jets will be available to customers on free preview until December 1st in both standard and high definition. The subscription will then be available for the remainder of the season for $9.95 per month.
MTS TV customers will be able to watch the new channel on free preview until October 31st, and starting October 3rd, sign up for…
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MONTREAL – French-language sports channel RDS2 is gearing up to launch on October 7 at 6 pm ET.
Available in both standard definition and high definition, the new channel promises more than 1,500 hours of live sports action each year including Ottawa Senators games; games from the NFL and CFL, MLB playoffs and World Series; Major League Soccer; Skate Canada; Barclays Premier League; Rugby World Cup; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; IIHF World Junior Hockey and NCAA events.
Bell TV and Shaw Direct have already signed on to offer the channel at launch.
www.rds.ca
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