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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TORONTO – Rogers Media said Thursday that it will not take part in any bidding for the Canadian broadcast rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games as it is pulling out of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.
The decision will not affect the company’s plans to help show more than 5,000 hours of coverage of London 2012, in conjunction with CTV. Under the current consortium agreement, which spans the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and 2012 London Summer Games, Rogers Media is a 20% stakeholder of the consortium while the remaining 80% interest is controlled by CTV.
The Olympic Games in…
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SINCE SEPTEMBER IS OFTEN viewed as the “new year” for those in the television business, we’ve used Labour Day week each year since Cartt.ca’s launch in 2005 to look back at the top stories of the past 12 months.
It’s good fun and very instructive for us at Cartt.ca to pause, study and see what resonated with readers among the approximately 2,000 stories we have published since September 1, 2010 (that’s almost eight per working day).
In examining our analytics to see just what stories were most-viewed between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011,, it’s not surprising to see the…
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KITCHENER, ON – CTV Southwestern Ontario is now available to more viewers after being added to the Shaw Direct lineup and to Rogers Cable’s high definition offering.
CTV Southwestern Ontario serves a huge portion of the south west part of the province from Hamilton to Windsor, and Lake Erie to Georgian Bay, including the Bruce Peninsula. In addition to three daily newscasts, the channel produces original local programs including entertainment and culture show The Beat and current affairs program Provincewide.
“CTV Southwestern Ontario strives to bring the best news, and entertainment programming to the community,” said station VP and GM, Dennis Watson,…
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WITH CEO BRAD SHAW telling us a few weeks ago that Shaw Communications will have an announcement on its wireless intentions before Labour Day weekend, the speculation is that the company will finally reveal what it plans to do on the wireless front sometime today (Sept. 1).
Besides, who wants to bury such news the Friday (tomorrow) before the last long weekend of the summer.
Back in the winter, Shaw Communications decided to stop its traditional wireless build and reassess its options. Some thought a partnership with Rogers was in the works, others were speculating on the purchase by Shaw…
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