TORONTO – The high definition television subscribers of Bell TV say they love their nature and sports channels, according to a new Angus Reid survey done for independent broadcaster High Fidelity HDTV.
Leading the way is Oasis HD, a nature and natural history channel owned and run by Toronto-based High Fidelity HDTV Inc. According to the survey, Oasis HD is the high definition television channel most-often talked about or recommended to others.
Among the 505 Bell TV subscribers surveyed – who had at least one HiFi channel – Oasis HD ranked ahead of Bell’s other HD offerings (see chart).
"We have known…
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GATINEAU – We could have a story here about the CBC’s plea for a skinny basic.
We could have re-analyzed its re-demands for new revenue in the form of a wholesale fee and how forcefully its executives argued it needs one, despite how detractors point out it already gets a billion dollars from taxpayers and as a public broadcaster an increase from that stream seems more appropriate.
We could have expended more words on Bell’s SD Freesat proposal and how the company re-iterated it will resist new fees to local broadcasters no matter what right to negotiate might be enshrined in…
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CALGARY – Shaw Cable and its satellite brethren Shaw Direct added a number of new programming services to their respective lineups this week.
Shaw Direct will launch History HD later this month, bringing its HD channel total to 58. The channel will be added to its ‘HD Extra’ theme package.
Shaw Cable expanded its cultural programming with the addition of TV Polonia, Commonwealth Broadcasting Network, and TLN en Espanol.
The company also added Treehouse video-on-demand for its digital cable customers, and family entertainment channel Nickelodeon to its cable and satellite lineups.
www.shawdirect.cawww.shaw.ca
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TORONTO, November 16, 2009 – Last week, home improvement specialty channel DIY Network Canada launched a consumer advertising campaign to build awareness of the brand new channel and notify existing and potential subscribers of a free preview currently available through Rogers, Bell TV and Shaw Direct.
DIY, a Canwest channel, launched last month, replacing the Fine Living, as Cartt.ca reported.
The national three week campaign consists of print, radio, on-air and online executions targeting adults 25-54 “with a bulls-eye of 35-year-old males and their partners,” says the release.
Humorous…
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CALGARY – Shaw has re-launched its video-on-demand website to make it easier for its customers to order movies and sporting events
In addition to the new look and feel, Shaw said in a press release that its digital TV customers will also experience improved search capabilities, filtering and sorting.
Shaw also announced that Super Channel subscribers will be able to access Super Channel VOD through the new website beginning November 3, 2009.
www.vod.shaw.ca
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IF YOU JUDGED BY the various ad campaigns, Facebook pages and Twitter streams, you’d be thinking that the hearing beginning today in Gatineau is only about whether or not conventional broadcasters should get a fee for their signal.
Well, granting the broadcasters the right to negotiate a fee for carriage of their local TV signals is a foregone conclusion. I’m convinced this will happen. The term “negotiation for value” – which has begun to replace “fee-for-carriage” in the industry lexicon – was coined by CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein himself earlier this year and while I’m not necessarily opposed to…
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OTTAWA – We choked a little on our coffee when we read the co-signers, but a letter to Industry Minister Tony Clement – to be printed Monday in an ad in the Hill Times newspaper – urges him to respect the Telecom Act as he reviews the CRTC’s decision on Globalive’s lack of Canadian ownership.
Signed by western competitors Telus and Shaw Communications, along with the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association (which often doesn’t see eye-to-eye with carriers) and wireless newbie Public Mobile, the letter reinforces to the Minister that the CRTC was and is right to tell Globalive…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has issued $650 million worth of senior unsecured notes which the company said could be put towards investments in wireless.
The net proceeds of the offering will be also used for “general corporate purposes, working capital and capital expenditures”, Shaw said in a statement. The senior notes will be made available in Canada and the U.S. and closing is scheduled for November 9, 2009.
Moody’s Investors Service assigned a rating of Baa3 to the notes. Shaw’s senior unsecured debt rating is also Baa3 and its ratings outlook is stable.
"We believe that a wireless product is strategically important to…
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DENVER–Striving to chop energy costs, protect the environment, and placate increasingly demanding regulators, major North American cable operators are starting to take steps to cut power consumption and carbon emissions.
In a “green” general session staged here at last week’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2009, executives from four large MSOs and two prominent cable trade groups spelled out ways that cable providers are beginning to reduce their carbon footprints. They also discussed promising measures that cable operators can adopt to cut pollution further in the future.
D’Arcy Brown, director of optical transport and facilities, network planning group, for Rogers Cable Communications,…
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TORONTO – Canada’s self proclaimed “Latino superstation” TLN Telelatino turns 25 this month, and will debut new programming and grassroots community initiatives to celebrate the milestone.
The trilingual Spanish, Italian and English network will air late night talk show Lopez Tonight starting Monday, featuring Mexican comedian, actor, writer, and producer George Lopez. TLN also announced that it is the new exclusive Canadian rightsholder of the Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) with games from 48 European soccer clubs.
“November will be a special month for us," said president Aldo Di Felice, in the announcement. "It will embody and celebrate TLN’s quarter century as a leader in delivering…
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