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 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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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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MONT TREMBLANT – While it may look like the direct, immediate threat of over-the-top video has hit a plateau, don’t be fooled, Clearcable’s Rob McCann told Canadian Cable Systems Alliance delegates this morning.
As the first speaker of the day at the CCSA’s annual Connect conference, McCann woke the independent TV, internet and telecom distributors to news that online video’s growth shows little sign of slowing and that constant network investment is required to keep up with what the likes of Google and Apple are doing.
When companies the size of those two (approximate combined market capitalization, $570 billion) decide to…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC’s decision on new policy for the country’s vertically integrated companies is expected this week, most likely on Wednesday after the markets close, Cartt.ca has learned.
After a five day long hearing in June, the primary issues that emerged were a potential code of conduct that the large companies – Bell Media, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Videotron – must abide by when negotiating for content and/or carriage; exclusive content allowances; the need for a skinny basic programming package; and protections for independent broadcasters and distributors.
Stay tuned – Cartt.ca will have a full report on the new…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has revised its guidelines for all production programs in its Convergent Stream.
The changes to the guidelines, described here, “address the current inconsistencies or conflicts” between the program guidelines and the terms of trade agreement that was reached last April by the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and private broadcasters Astral Television Networks, Bell Media, Rogers Broadcasting, Shaw Media and Corus Entertainment.
The CMF said that it will continue to monitor both the impact of the current changes to the program guidelines and the terms of trade negotiations…
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TORONTO – Three month old Shaw Premium Audience Network (S.P.A.N.) has added CBS.com, TV.com and CNBC.com to its roster of partner sites, which also includes exclusive digital representation agreements with NBC and A+E Networks.
S.P.A.N. is built on Shaw Media’s own broadcast digital properties, including FoodNetwork.ca, GlobalTV.com, HGTV.ca and Showcase.ca, as well as a growing number of partner sites such as AccessHollywood.com, BravoTV.com, MyLifetime.com, and SyFy.com.
Wednesday’s announcement said that S.P.A.N has nearly tripled its on-line reach from 2.2 million to 6.2 million unique visitors since launch, offering advertisers an array of custom…
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CALGARY and SAN JOSE – Shaw Communications’ new Wi-Fi network will provide customers with a far better on-the-go-broadband option than cellular or the hotspot hodge-podge available at coffee shops far and wide, says its network equipment provider.
The big western broadband, cable and TV company announced today what many already knew, that it has chosen Cisco to deploy an “extensive and advanced Wi-Fi network” in Western Canada to provide broadband wireless access to its customers.
The broadband wireless network will be available to Shaw customers in various markets (beginning in the spring in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton) where Wi-Fi access…
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