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…
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TORONTO – Bruce Claassen didn’t want to be the bad guy. He wanted to be the white knight who saved CKX-TV Brandon and used it as a springboard to build another national TV network.
With the market for smaller TV stations set in the $1-range (and with Shaw Communications having backed down from its much-ballyhooed calling-of-CTV’s-“bluff”) Claassen announced in July that his investment vehicle, Bluepoint Investments, would purchase the beleaguered station from owner CTVglobemedia as the start of Bluepoint’s grander plan to become a major media player.
But, after “trying everything to make it work,” Claassen said he made…
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OTTAWA – Charles King is leaving well-known communications and government lobbying firm Earnscliffe Strategy Group in order to become vice-president, government relations for Shaw Communications, starting October 5th.
King has been at Earnscliffe for a dozen years and knows the ins and outs of Ottawa well. He was recognized this year by The Hill Times newspaper as one of the top 100 Ottawa lobbyists.
From 1988 to 1994, he worked at the National Liberal Party Headquarters in various positions, including Executive Assistant to the President. In 1994, he joined the office of the Human Resources Development Minister and also served in…
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BRANDON – The final newscast of CKX-TV Brandon will happen tomorrow at 6 p.m., station owner CTVglobemedia told staff Thursday evening. Thirty-nine employees will lose their jobs.
The company that had announced in July that it was purchasing the station, Bluepoint Investments, has walked away from the $1 deal to buy it, a surprised CTVgm CEO Ivan Fecan told employees today, calling a letter he received from Bluepoint late Thursday an “unanticipated development”.
“Bottom line, they didn’t think there was a sustainable business without satellite coverage, which they cannot get,” said Fecan in a memo to staff.
“Brandon, like many of…
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EDMONTON – Using some of the most inflammatory language we’ve seen in a press release (invoking both a rodent and the seal hunt), supporters of pay TV service Super Channel are calling for people to boycott Rogers Cable.
The must-carry pay channel is currently operating under creditor protection and the Allard-family-owned service recently won a victory at the CRTC, where the Regulator said Rogers wasn’t marketing the new service fairly, as we reported nearly two weeks ago.
Super Channel also has a civil case pending against Rogers.
But the press release, issued Tuesday evening by “The Friends of Super Channel”…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has announced a senior note offering of $1.25 billion which it says will be used to repay debt, and could be used for “potential acquisitions”.
The senior unsecured notes will be due in 2019, and will be made available in Canada and the U.S. under Shaw’s previously filed shelf prospectus, pursuant to an agency agreement with TD Securities Inc. acting as lead agent.
Closing is scheduled to occur on October 1, 2009 and, based on the closing purchase price, the effective yield of the notes if held to maturity, is 5.692%.
Moody’s Investors Service assigned a Baa3 rating…
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GATINEAU – Thanks to the recent edict from the federal government telling the CRTC it must hold a public hearing into the fee for carriage issue (even though the Regulator has long had a public process in the works), the Commission is now mulling what it’s going to do with two hearings on the exact same issue now scheduled a month apart.
As readers will have followed, the CRTC scheduled a fall hearing (BNC 2009-411) earlier this year to consider group licensing for broadcasters and fee for carriage for local conventional TV stations. While the hearing was amended from…
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THE BIG BROADCASTERS and BDUs fought this, but by September 14th, those companies had to file their aggregate financial data from their 2008 fiscal years with the Commission.
On the weekend, the CRTC posted the figures on its web site and since the industry it currently roiling over the continuing fee-for-carriage debate, we looked at the numbers largely through that prism.
After spending several hours examining a lot of the data, I can tell you the most lucrative place to work is Bell TV – which paid its 1,398 employees an average salary of $90,136 – or CTV, whose average…
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CALGARY – Shaw has announced that it will redeem all of its outstanding U.S.$440 million 8.25% senior notes that are due April 11, 2010.
The redemption price will be payable in cash, and the redemption date will be October 13, 2009.
www.shaw.ca
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SASKATOON – Corus Custom Networks has inked a service agreement with Display Systems International (DSI) to provide data for its television scrolling guides.
Corus Custom Networks, a Corus Entertainment company, provides scrolling guide television services to all of Shaw Cable’s locations.
DSI has been operating since 1983 and its current line of products, which include LineUp and the Elite series of character generators, are installed in various cable operations across North America.
www.displaysystemsintl.comwww.corusent.com
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