TORONTO – HBO Canada is offering another free sampling opportunity for three of its “buzzworthy series” following their broadcast premieres.
The channel said that the first episodes from HBO’s new dramedy Looking, the second season of Cinemax’s Banshee, and Season 3 of HBO’s Golden Globe Award-winning series Girls are available now on HBOCanada.com, TMN GO, Movie Central On Demand, and via on-demand platforms of participating television providers.
All new HBO programming airs day-and-date with HBO in the U.S. In Eastern Canada, episodes are available on TMN GO, HBOCanada.com, and HBO Canada OnDemand. In Western Canada, episodes will be available…
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TORONTO – Showcase is harnessing video game advertising, event marketing, and the fear of contagions to spread the word on its new sci-fi series Helix.
The four-week campaign, targeting adults 25-54 with a special focus on Toronto, Kitchener, London and Ottawa, is anchored by one of the two key taglines – “The Truth will Spread” and “Play God. Pay The Price”. Banner ads are appearing in high profile video games such as Need for Speed Shift, Fight Night, Madden NFL, NBA Jam and NHL. In addition to promoted tweets and trends leading into the launch of the series, display banners…
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SEVERAL SOURCES have told Cartt.ca over the past number of weeks that Rogers Communications has grabbed the over-the-top bull by the horns and has been signing a massive number of content deals and at least one significant partnership agreement (if not more) in an effort to battle back against Netflix in Canada by launching a new, national, OTT video portal.
Our multiple sources (all of whom requested anonymity for business reasons) have told Cartt.ca that Rogers is spending over $100 million buying all the video content windows available from as many rights holders (such as Disney/ABC, Warner Bros., 20th Century…
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TORONTO – ichannel, bpm:tv and The Pet Network owner Stornoway Communications has hired Allan Schwebel and Gary Sappleton as content distribution consultant and director of marketing, respectively.
Schwebel will serve as primary liaison between Stornoway and its distribution partners in negotiating carriage agreements and supporting strategic planning initiatives to enhance subscriber growth opportunities. Previously VP of affiliate sales and marketing for CHUM Television and EVP/GM for CHUM Satellite Services Limited, Schwebel has, since 2010, provided content distribution, regulatory and sales support for independent broadcasters including BBC Kids, Knowledge Network, Hollywood Suite and GUSTO.
As director of marketing, Sappleton will be responsible…
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TORONTO – Corus Entertainment said Monday that it officially closed its acquisition of Historia, Séries+ and the remaining 50% of Teletoon Canada Inc. on January 1, 2014.
After receiving the CRTC’s blessing on the deal late last month, Corus now owns 100% of Historia, Séries+ and Teletoon Canada (which includes Teletoon, Télétoon, Teletoon Retro, Télétoon Rétro and Cartoon Network). Last April, Corus also consolidated its ownership of ABC Spark and divested its 20% interest in Food Network Canada to corporate cousin Shaw Communications.
Corus said that the net cash consideration for these assets is $481 million Cdn. and was paid…
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By Lesley Hunter
ST. JOHN’S – Newfoundland and Labrador broadcasting icon Geoff Stirling, founding chairman of the board of Newfoundland Broadcasting, died peacefully at his home in Torbay, NL on December 21st. He was 92.
Born in St. John’s in 1921, Stirling founded the weekly newspaper Sunday Herald in 1946, now known as the Newfoundland Herald. He brought radio and commercial television to the province with the launch of CJON-AM radio in 1951, followed four years later by CJON-TV which later became known as the NTV network. In 1977 he launched the first FM radio station in Newfoundland , now known as OZ-FM .
Outside of Newfoundland, Stirling…
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MONTREAL – CTAM Canada’s newly elected board of directors for 2014 includes a number of familiar names and faces.
The executive committee is:
– Gary Pelletier from Stingray Digital as President;
– Drew Robinson from Shaw Media as Vice-President;
– Jennifer Salmon from CCSA as Secretary; and
– Jeff Taylor from Rogers Communications as Treasurer.
The newly elected 2014 board selected the new chapter executive along with committee chairperson assignments, following the last meeting of the 2013 board on December 10th.
Joining the organization are Valerie Heroux from Videotron, Anne Lavigueur from Cogeco, Lisa Purdy from BBC Kids, Andy Garrett from Eastlink, Leanne Shearer from Bell…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is expected to rule this week on Corus Entertainment’s request to buy French specialty channels Historia and Series+ and the piece of Teletoon (including its other animation brands) it does not yet own.
Corus agreed to purchase the assets last March as part of the divestitures required as conditions of Bell Media’s purchase of Astral Media. While Corus already held 50% of Teletoon/Télétoon (as well as Teletoon Retro in English and French, and the Cartoon Network) with Astral, it owned neither of the two French specialties, both of which had been split…
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MONTREAL – Bell Media is making ten of its French-language specialty channels available for free to subscribers of Bell Satellite TV, Bell Fibe TV, Cogeco Cable, Shaw Direct, Videotron, and select other service providers.
The month-long free preview, dubbed Le Grand Débrouillage (The Great Freeview), runs from December 12 to January 12, 2014 and includes Canal Vie, Canal D, Ztélé, Historia, Séries+, VRAK TV, Disney Junior (French), MusiquePlus, MusiMax, and RDS Info.
The event also includes a contest where viewers have a chance to win $25,000. Bell Media is promoting Le Grand Débrouillage with a multi-platform campaign on television, radio, out-of-home,…
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OTTAWA – Leveraging a long line of food and lifestyle programming already under his belt, Chris Knight is taking his next gig, Gusto TV, to the Canadian TV masses this week.
With shows like Cook Like a Chef, Licence to Grill, The Great Canadian Food Show and Road Grill part of Knight’s pedigree Gusto is “a natural extension” to what he was already doing. The concept behind the channel came in 2009, when as he says, he looked at media concentration that was taking place then and realized “I was running out of guys to make TV shows for.”
Thus…
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