THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Municipally-owned telco Thunder Bay Telecom was granted cable TV and video on demand licenses by the CRTC today.
The small telco becomes the latest in a line of traditional Canadian telephone companies, large or small, to be granted such a license.
While it’s not known when the new service will launch, TBayTel will go up against incumbent MSO Shaw Communications in its northwestern Ontario properties, which include Thunder Bay and the surrounding area, as well as some other smaller communities.
www.crtc.gc.ca www.tbaytel.net
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CALGARY – Shaw Cable launched it last month, now sister distributor Star Choice will soon be offering the high definition photo service called The Frame, beginning Thursday.
The channel is a 24-hour HD, commercial-free photographic art service showcasing visual imagery from celebrated artists and photographers worldwide. “From exclusive fine art collections to award-winning photographs, The Frame will allow viewers to experience the world of illustrious photography and art in HD from the comfort of their own living rooms,” says the press release.
The Frame will offer photography and art lovers awe-inspiring images from 16 galleries to start with, including…
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CALGARY – This can be a spooky time to be a public company, given the volatility in the markets these days.
So when the swirling vortex of rumors begin – about anything – it’s hard to stop it. Just a bit of bad news can turn into many guesses and innuendo for some companies.
So it seems with Shaw Communications, anyway. Last week, company president Peter Bissonnette, 61, suffered what the company is calling “a mild heart attack,” has had a stent put in and is now resting at home.
People in the industry are putting that together with…
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OTTAWA – CTV News Toronto national editor and weekday anchor Ken Shaw will receive the 2008 Gold Ribbon Award for Outstanding Community Service by an Individual Broadcaster on November 4 at the CAB conference in Ottawa.
Shaw has supported many causes, including Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada, ProAction Cops and Kids, the Empire Club of Canada, and the Abilities Centre.
He has also helps with CTV’s various community outreach initiatives such as fundraisers, dinners, galas, walks and concerts, along with appearing in PSAs for the Greater Toronto United Way and Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank.
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IN LESS THAN FIVE months, all American full power television broadcasters are required to shut off their analog transmitters.
In Canadian border regions, this could present an opportunity as those remaining Canadian viewers who have resisted cable or satellite TV for so long, instead picking up a number of American TV stations with their rabbit ears. Unless they invest in some digital rabbit ears and a new television, they’ll need help getting the programming they are used to.
For example, in Windsor there are 22 stations available off-air, most from the other side of the border Detroit, Mich., and…
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LOUISVILLE, Colo. – Dr. Richard Green told the CableLabs executive committee last week in New York that he intends to retire as CEO when his current contract expires in December 2009, the organization announced today.
The committee agreed to begin a search for a successor immediately in order to complete an orderly transition prior to Green’s departure. The group also reaffirmed a strong industry commitment to the work and program of CableLabs.
“The entire industry is indebted to Dick for building and managing one of the most successful development laboratories in the country. CableLabs has and will continue to…
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ANYONE WHO HAS spent longer than five minutes in this industry knows that the lead question Canadian viewers most often have for us is: “Why can’t I get HBO here?” (Actually, it’s very often “why the he** can’t I get HBO?!!)
Finally, we can tell them, “we do have HBO in Canada.” It’s not the exact HBO Americans get because it does have a 30% Cancon requirement, but it’s a lot closer than the way the dominant American pay channel’s programming has historically been available here.
As reported by Cartt.ca Monday morning, Astral Media (owners of The Movie…
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CALGARY – While we can’t say for sure if the green and gold fans of the Edmonton Eskimos played a part, Shaw Communications announced today it will add TSN2 in HD and SD to the channel lineups of Shaw Cable and Star Choice on September 19.
"As TSN expands its service, we are excited to bring its new sports offering to our Shaw customers," said Peter Bissonnette, president of Shaw Communications, in a release.
As Cartt.ca had reported, Shaw was one of the big four MSOs/DTH operators which hadn’t added the sports channel right at its launch. But, with…
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TORONTO – In seven years, newcomers to the wireless game in Canada will have about 8.2 million Canadian wireless subscribers (about 24% of the market), says a new report published Tuesday by Toronto’s Convergence Consulting Group.
And just about all of those subs will be tied to three big new wireless players, Globalive, Shaw Communications and Videotron.
At the end of 2015, those three companies “will each have a 7% share,” says the report.
Approximately 75% of new entrant subscribers will be consumer postpaid. Those customers currently comprise 53% of all Canadian wireless subscribers, but the company estimates that…
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TORONTO – While Bell TV announced on the weekend it has added TSN2 to its channel roster, watch for more pressure to come on a couple of other Canadian carriers from their local football fans later this week.
Bell TV (formerly ExpressVu) is the first of the “big four” carriers (Shaw/Star Choice, Rogers and Videotron being the others) to begin carrying TSN’s secondary channel. TSN2 will air live games when the main network has something of a higher priority scheduled, as well as some taped shows and tape-delayed games.
As reported earlier this week by Cartt.ca, TSN has been…
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