CALGARY – Stable growth across its key metrics helped Shaw close out its 2009 fiscal year on solid ground.
Consolidated service revenue for the year ended August 31, 2009 grew 9% over last year to reach $3.39 billion, while service operating income before amortization also improved by 9% to top $1.54 billion.
Basic cable subscribers grew 29,467 to 2.29 million, and digital penetration grew from 40% in 2008 to 57% as Shaw reached 1.29 million digital customers. The company also reported 1.67 million Internet customers and 830,000 digital phone lines. DTH customers for Shaw Direct topped 900,000.
Cable service revenue was up 11%…
Continue Reading
TORONTO –
Whether it’s true IPTV or a version of DSL doesn’t really matter and in a Canadian context anyway, that’s a significant number (right around the total number of people living in Windsor, Ont.). And they are building, experimenting and taking customers away from their primary competitors, cable.
This week in Toronto, a number of the traditional telecom companies which are now offering TV are meeting with the various programmers in Canada and from the States to talk about their expansion plans (more regions, more customers, more channels).
Most are adding channels and capabilities. Some are newer and serve a…
Continue Reading
WHITEHORSE, YT – Northwestel digital television customers in Whitehorse have access to more high definition channels, the company announced this week.
The sports line-up has been improved with the introduction of a new HD pay per view hockey channel and the addition of three new HD channels to the Sports package: The Score HD, The Golf Channel HD and Big Ten Network HD. (Big Ten is also available in SD.)
The Digital Essentials package has been expanded to include six new HD channels, too. Those include: CBC West HD , CTV West HD, Global West HD, Global Toronto HD, Citytv HD…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Shaw has unleashed Canada’s fastest Internet service in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Called ‘High-Speed Nitro’, the service boasts speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps).
Shaw launched the service in Saskatoon, Victoria and Winnipeg earlier this year using DOCSIS 3.0 technology, meaning it is now available to over 3.6 million Canadians.
www.shaw.ca
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Is Canada’s broadband infrastructure lagging or leading that of other countries?
According to a recent report by Canadian telecom consultant Mark Goldberg and Giganomics’ Suzanne Blackwell, that question can be difficult to answer. International comparative statistics have been conflicted on Canada’s broadband performance, in large part due to methodological errors in some of the research that in turn biased the resulting rankings.
The authors are particularly critical of the OECD rankings which they describes as “highly dependent on per country sampling data used”, while its penetration metrics are biased in favour of countries with smaller household sizes. Also, the OECD…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The new board of the new Canadian Media Fund launching in April is new and much smaller – with a much more prominent voice from the companies which must funnel a piece of their revenue into it – but how, exactly, will the administration of this $300 million money pot change as compared to the old CTF?
The BDUs (Rogers, Shaw, Bell, et al), which have to contribute 5% of their revenues to this fund to create Canadian content challenged the way it was run almost three years ago and said they should have more…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Shaw has added The Score and History Television to its high definition programming package Shaw HD Plus.
“High-Definition is in great demand with our customers," said president Peter Bissonnette, in the announcement. "Our customers can now watch History Television and The Score in full HD quality and clarity. We continue to expand our HD line-up with popular and high quality programming services and we are delighted to offer our customers these new services."
In other news, Shaw TV will once again broadcast live coverage of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds games on its community channel.
www.shaw.ca
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Shaw has bulked up its video-on-demand offerings to include eight prime time shows from Global, plus classic movies from the Warner Bros. collection.
Popular new and returning series, including Survivor, Lie to Me, The Good Wife, Family Guy, Glee, Bones, 90210 and NCIS, will be free on VOD to all Shaw digital TV customers until October 18, 2009. After that time, the Global programming will be offered exclusively to Shaw’s ‘Triple Play’ customers, who have the bundled product lines of digital TV, Internet and phone.
Timeless classics like Mutiny on the Bounty, Casablanca, Ben Hur, and An American in Paris have been…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Just in time for Thanksgiving, Shaw is bringing ‘Turkey TV’ to its local channels and to Shaw Direct over the weekend.
Turkey TV will feature continuous coverage of a roasting turkey, surrounded by all the trimmings, including frequent bastings, fire stokings and authentic ‘snap, crackle and pop’ to add ambience to viewers’ holiday weekend plans.
Turkey TV was developed in 2006 based on Shaw’s Christmas ‘fireplace’ video, which first aired in Edmonton in 1986.
www.shaw.ca
Continue Reading
TORONTO – History Television will launch its HD service Thursday on Shaw Cable.
History Television joins Showcase and National Geographic Channel as Canwest’s third specialty channel to launch in high definition.
“History Television HD offers viewers an unparalleled viewing experience, combining stunning clarity with industry-leading content", said Barbara Williams, Canwest’s EVP of content, in the announcement. "With over 90% of our primetime schedule in high definition, we are committed to delivering viewers the very best programming from Canada and around the world."
The channel will be available as part of the Shaw HD Plus package. Canwest confirmed that it is currently in discussions…
Continue Reading
