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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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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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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WINNIPEG – Ruth (Babs) Asper, 78, matriarch of one of Canada’s biggest media families and a major supporter of the arts, passed away Saturday in Winnipeg and was laid to rest Tuesday afternoon. The cause of her death has been attributed to an aortic rupture.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue including Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, and many business leaders. The synagogue is the same location where Asper’s husband, Israel (Izzy) Asper, had his funeral in after suffering a heart attack in 2003 at age 71. The couple had been married over 47…
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TORONTO and OTTAWA – Canada’s creative community used words like “optimistic” and “pleased” to describe their reaction to the CRTC’s group-based licencing policy released Wednesday.
As Cartt.ca reported, Bell, Corus and Shaw will now be required to spend 30% of their revenues on Canadian programming, while Rogers will have to spend at least 23% of its gross annual revenues on Canadian programming for its conventional television stations. Bell and Shaw must allot 5% of their revenues to programs of national interest, Corus 9% and Rogers 2.5%.
Noting that it had hoped that the CRTC would require the English-language broadcasters to spend…
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CANCON’S RULES AND regulations are much like a series of bandages slapped onto the television industry – one here to cover a scrape, another there as salve on a slash. It’s almost impossible to rip any away from this complex patchwork without damaging a broadcast arm or independent production limb.
The tales of woe – accompanied by an orchestra of tiny violins – come from both the broadcast and the creative side of the industry, and the TV doctors have differing opinions on which medicine is the cure for our ailing Cancon system. So what’s the spoonful of sugar…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is expected to hand down its decision on group-based licence renewals for English-language television groups this week, Cartt.ca has learned.
After a week-long public hearing in April, it will be interesting to see how the Commission navigates the big broadcasters’ various takes on Canadian programming expenditure (CPE) and programs of national interest (PNI) proposals. Cartt.ca was there every step of the way during presentations made by Bell Media, Rogers Broadcasting, Corus Entertainment, and Shaw Media, as well as the Independent Broadcast Group which called on the CRTC to establish a new, flexible framework for…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s satellite relay distribution undertakings (SRDUs) should be exempt from licensing requirements, say Canada’s only two SRDU operators – Shaw and Bell – in their submissions to the CRTC’s consultation on that market.
SRDUs transport broadcasting signals to broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) that do not have access to fibre interconnections to receive their television signals, and, are often located in rural and remote parts of the country.
Both Shaw and Bell stress in their submissions dated July 11th that other technologies create enough competition in the signal transportation field to negate the need for licensing requirements….
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