WINNIPEG IS ONE OF THE HOTTER bundling battlegrounds in Canada.
While Shaw is the incumbent video provider and a nascent voice company in the Manitoba capital, MTS Allstream, the provincial telco (which is also a national wholesale and enterprise player) has claimed about 55,000 video customers with MTS TV in Winnipeg – the only city in the province in which it has a cable license.
Customers like the simple bill, the fact they can re-jig their channel lineups on screen or even see e-mails and caller ID on their TVs. Finally, last month, MTS TV added a key piece…
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CALGARY – Shaw Cable will offer regular games from the 2006-2007 NHL season of the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, and Edmonton Oilers on pay per view in Western Canada.
The games will be aired in digital quality with no commercial breaks, featuring pre-game and post-game shows.
Shaw digital subscribers can pay per game at $11.95, or subscribe to all the games aired in the entire season for $109.95 for the Oilers (with 11 games broadcast), $119.95 for the Flames (13 games), and $159.95 for the Canucks (17 games).
“Shaw has always offered top quality sporting events and with the…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications signed a deal with Sunshine Communications to acquire its cable and Internet systems located in and around the boundary area of Grand Forks, B.C., the company announced today.
"We are truly delighted with the acquisition of the Grand Forks, Midway, Greenwood, Rock Creek and Christina Lake cable systems," said Peter Bissonnette, president of Shaw Communications, in the release. "This southern belle of a cable system complements our existing properties in the interior of BC. Grand Forks and the environs offers great synergies with our neighbouring cable operations and further enhances our cable clusters moving southwest…
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OTTAWA – The VOIP decision will stand, with a "but".
Today the CRTC re-affirmed its May 2005 decision on voice over Internet protocol. Federal cabinet told the Commission in May of this year to reconsider that decision after all but one of Canada’s ILEC’s filed an appeal.
However, because of the sheer speed in which Canada’s incumbent local exchange carriers are losing customers, the Commission did signal it’s prepared to alter course when it deems necessary and will already re-examine its March 2006 decision on local forbearance.
Specifically, it "declared that competition in local telephone service is…
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CALGARY – Saying it’s just being consumer-friendly, Shaw Communications today added Rainbow Media’s American Movie Classics to its analog channel lineup.
Shaw is believed to be the first Canadian carrier to offer the 24-hour classic-movie-based network (which also offers some original content, too), even though the channel has been on the CRTC’s eligible satellite list for years.
What’s always held AMC back were the Canadian copyrights it didn’t have, an issue "that’s been dealt with," Shaw Communications president Peter Bissonnette told Cartt.ca this afternoon.
AMC has the Canadian rights to most of its programming and for the titles that…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Communications has added adult channel Red Light District TV to both its Star Choice and Shaw Cable channel lineups.
"Red Light District TV joins Hustler TV as Canada’s most widely distributed adult programming channel," said channel owner Ten Broadcasting, in a press release.
Until now, Red Light was previously only available on Rogers Cable and, thanks an affiliate agreement with the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, on some CCSA member systems.
Ottawa-based Ten Broadcasting offers both of these digital channels in high definition, making it "the world’s first adult broadcaster to offer adult HD programming on a…
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WINNIPEG – So much for the DSL disadvantage.
Cable – and to a lesser extent, satellite – companies have long said one of the advantages they have over DSL-pushed digital television delivered over the telephone companies’ legacy systems was that the thickness of their pipe to the home could deliver HD while DSL could not.
Yesterday, however, MTS TV launched seven high definition channels for its customers in Winnipeg.
"Our HD service provides the range to enjoy all of today’s hit shows and live sports with a crystal clear picture and amazing digital sound,” said Kelvin Shepherd, president, consumer markets…
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WITH THE SALE OF DELTA Cable to Persona Communications, a cable era continues to draw to a close.
The era, of course, is that of the independent, local cable operator. Delta is one of several to be sold (pending CRTC approval) in the past 12 months. Besides Delta, Persona recently purchased Northern Cablevision of Grande Prairie, Alta., and Shaw Cable has been on a bit of a buying spree lately, gobbling up small cablers like Pemberton Cable, Saltspring Cable, Whistler Cable and Norcom Telecommunications.
So, the shock of the Delta announcement (first reported by…
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VANCOUVER – Shaw Cable has added Italian channel RAI International to its digital cable lineup in Vancouver.
"Customers who currently subscribe to Telelatino will have the option of subscribing to RAI International and expanding their Italian programming choices," says the press release. RAI International is the international service of Italy’s largest television broadcaster, and had to battle Telelatino in order to gain access to the eligible satellite list in Canada.
Click here for a little background.
RAI International will be available on Shaw Digital channel 127 until September 15, 2006 at no cost for all Shaw digital cable…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Communications has sold its interests in digital specialty services Biography Channel and G4TechTV to Rogers Communications.
The CRTC approved both transactions on Monday. Rogers Broadcasting is already the operator of both Canadian channels.
Rogers paid Shaw $1 million for its 33.3% stake in G4 and now owns two-thirds of the channel along with Comcast, the parent company of the U.S. channel.
Rogers paid $5 million combined for Shaw’s 40% stake in Biography and A&E Television Networks’ 20% ownership, to take 100% of the service. AETN owns Biography Channel, Stateside.
Rogers has agreed to pay out 10%…
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