TORONTO and MONTREAL – Rogers Sportsnet is partnering with Quebecor-owned TVA on the new French-language sports channel TVA Sports that will launch nationally on September 12.
The new channel plans to air more than 60 Toronto Blue Jays baseball games and 25 regional Ottawa Senators hockey games (Rogers owns the English-language broadcast rights to these properties, plus the Blue Jays team). TVA Sports has declared itself the official broadcaster of Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact, plus has signed a multi-year agreement with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for live fights and The Ultimate Fighter series (which also airs on Rogers Sportsnet).
The…
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MONTREAL – Montreal’s Metro 14 will launch in high definition this Saturday.
The Channel Zero-owned station also confirmed that it will be launching in HD on Cogeco systems around the Montréal area later this fall. It is currently available on Videotron, Bell TV, Shaw Direct Rogers, and over-the-air in HD.
New to channel’s fall primetime lineup, which debuts September 12, are series The Insider, Hart of Dixie, and The Secret Circle, plus a new morning show that will premier in early October.
www.metro14.ca
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CALGARY – Shaw Direct added 13 new local channels to its basic service in markets across the country on Monday.
The new channels include Global Regina, Okanagan, and Maritimes (Saint John); CTV Kitchener and Saskatoon; CityTV Winnipeg; and CBC Charlottetown.
French-language offerings include TVA Abitibi; SRC Trois Rivieres and Regina; Montreal’s multilingual Metro14; Teletoon Retro French; and TFO which will be available August 29.
www.shawdirect.ca
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC released two reports Monday which it says reiterates its commitment to official-language minority communities (OLMC).
The reports, Annual report on results – Implementation of Section 41 of the Official Languages Act (2010-2011) and Results-Based Action Plan – Implementation of Section 41 of the Official Languages Act (2011-2014) highlight recent CRTC decisions which the Commission claims “will lead to improved access to broadcasting and telecommunications services, and increased OLMC representation within the broadcasting system”.
“OLMCs have increased their participation in processes that affect their development. They have shared their viewpoints and priorities,” said CRTC…
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A MONTH FROM TODAY, Canadian Cable Systems Alliance members, their supporters and suppliers will gather at the Fairmont Tremblant in Mont Tremblant Quebec for Connect 2011, its yearly conference and annual general meeting.
The gathering will begin Sunday with a board meeting and CCSA members-only sessions, followed by an evening President’s Reception for all attendees.
After breakfast on Monday, September 19, Rob McCann of Clearcable Networks will host a technical session “to talk about recent development relevant to independent operators,” said CCSA president and CEO Alyson Townsend.
After that will be the popular trade show (last year’s, held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, is pictured below)…
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CALGARY – Shaw Direct has chosen speech analytics technology from Nexidia for its three call centres as it strives to improve upon its level of customer service.
Nexidia’s integrated recording and analytics solution will allow Shaw Direct to quickly access and analyze recorded audio from its contact centre customer interactions in French and English, as well as identify and improve areas like average handle time, first call resolution, sales and process effectiveness.
"We have a history of award-winning customer service which we’re very proud of, but we’re always looking for new ways to amaze our customers with the support we give them,"…
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CALGARY – Speculation on just what Shaw Communications will do on the wireless front has been rampant since the winter when the company decided to shelve its HSPA build in the face of high costs and accelerating next generation technology.
Rumours of a pact with Rogers Communications to build a national LTE network were pretty hot for a while and others are guessing the big cable and broadband company just might forget about cellular altogether and go for a wi-fi strategy.
Back in June, Shaw CEO Brad Shaw told Cartt.ca the company would have a decision “over…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has approved a trio of new specialty channels, including a five-year license for Shaw Television to operate Shaw Media Sports, a national, English-language service that has been licensed as a Category C service.
Shaw is the latest media company to apply and receive permission to operate a sports channel, since the CRTC opened up competition in the mainstream sports segment. Rogers, CBC and MLSE have previously applied to the regulator and been approved to launch their respective sports channels, but one wonders what big name sports rights are left for another new sports channel to acquire.
Category…
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GATINEAU – While Shaw Communications continues to evaluate technologies for its plan to launch a wireless service in Western Canada, Scotia Capital Equity Research re-entered the debate by suggesting in a report published last week Shaw should not restrict its wireless solution to 4G/LTE but also consider cable Wi-Fi.
Scotia Capital (among others) had earlier speculated that Shaw team up with Rogers Communications to build a national LTE network.
“We think negotiations may still be ongoing, but we would like to point out another potential option for Shaw, one which we believe could turn out to be just as effective as…
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GATINEAU – Back in June of 2007 when CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein was just about five months on the job, the Commission denied CTVglobemedia’s request to keep the Citytv stations as part of the company’s purchase of CHUM Limited.
Since CTVgm (now Bell Media) already owned CFTO-TV in Toronto along with existing stations competing in Citytv’s other markets, the Regulator held firm to its one broadcast station per market policy of the same language, disallowing that portion of the sale. Weeks later, Rogers Communications stepped forward to buy the Citytv stations.
When it issued its decision then, the…
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