TORONTO – If you’re a hockey fan with a high definition television set, you want to see as many games as possible in crisp, clear HD.
And if your favorite regional National Hockey League team is playing on Rogers Sportsnet, you don’t want to hear the technical and league reasons why there is poker on Sportsnet HD (shot in standard definition) while the game (shot in HD) appears in fuzzier analog on the SD Sportsnet channel.
The reasons why that was, was confusing enough for those of us in the industry, let alone a regular hockey fan.
Years ago,…
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TORONTO – Canada’s big three wireless incumbents will be wearing handcuffs when the advanced wireless spectrum auction begins on May 27, 2008.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice was in Toronto this afternoon to announce the rules of engagement when the federal government auctions off the 105 MHz worth of spectrum. The auction itself will take two to three weeks.
Of that spectrum, 40 MHz will be set aside for new wireless entrants to bid on alone. The remaining 65 MHz will be open to everyone. “The spectrum being set aside amounts to less than 14% of the total mobile spectrum…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Communications has taken aim again at the Canadian Television Fund. In a full-page advertisement on the back of the sports section of Saturday’s edition of the Ottawa Citizen, Shaw asks: “What do you call a $250 million boondoggle?” The answer, also in all capital letters, reads the ad: “The Canadian Television Fund.”
The advertisement notes the CTF has lost is way, and has “little to show” for the $2.5 billion it has spent on promoting and developing quality TV programming in Canada.
“Who made the decisions to spend billions of your dollars only to achieve so…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has told Shaw Communications that it must appear at a public hearing on January 15th over the company’s apparent refusal to simultaneously substitute certain over-the-air digital television signals.
After a complaint filed by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters in June that said neither Shaw Cablesystems nor its sister satellite company Star Choice were performing their simultaneous substitution duties as required under the broadcast distribution undertaking regulations, the Commission issued decisions on the matter in August.
The Regulator directed Shaw Cablesystems and Star Choice, to do the sim-subbing (substituting a Canadian TV signal over an American…
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TORONTO – Sony Entertainment Television Asia (SET Asia) and NDTV, two channels owned by the Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN), have launched on Shaw Cable.
SET is a Hindi-language, 24-hour general interest entertainment channel from India that is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“We are very pleased to add both Sony and NDTV to our compelling South Asian lineup on Shaw Cable in western Canada. ATN’s flagship channel is already available on Shaw with the finest of programming from Both ZEE TV and STAR PLUS, along with ATN Alpha ETC Punjabi and B4U (Bollywood For You) the Movie…
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OTTAWA – The membership of the House of Commons Standing Committees on Canadian Heritage and Industry – the two with the most impact on the cable, radio, television and telecom industries were announced this week.
New members are in bold.
The members of the Heritage Committee are: Chair: Gary Schellenberger (Conservative, Perth-Wellington, ON); vice-chairs: Mauril Bélanger (Liberal, Ottawa-Vanier, ON) and Maria Mourani (Bloc Quebecois, Ahuntsic, QC); Members: Jim Abbott (C, Kootenay-Columbia, BC), Dave Batters (C, Palliser, SK), Gord Brown (C, Leeds-Grenville, ON), Ed Fast (C, Abbotsford, BC), Hedy Fry (L, Vancouver Centre), Luc Malo (Bloc, Vercheres-Les Patriotes, QC), Francis…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC announced yesterday that it has junked its idea to allow limited access to confidential information between parties in a dispute.
As first reported by Cartt.ca, the Commission said about a month ago it was “of the view that there may be instances where, in order for a party to be able to participate meaningfully in a proceeding, it must receive some access to confidential information. In order to allow for meaningful participation while respecting the confidential nature of certain information, the Commission proposes to grant confidential access under certain conditions in broadcasting and telecom…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has once again brought back its popular televised Christmas fire for customers to tune in to.
Shaw Cable and Star Choice customers can cozy up in front of their TVs this holiday season to enjoy all the figurative warmth of a natural, flickering fire set to soothing holiday music “without the hassle of chopping and hauling wood and stoking flames,” says the company.
"The holiday fire log is a tradition at Star Choice that our viewers eagerly anticipate," said Peter Bissonnette, president of Shaw Communications. "Our stellar cast of fire log and hand is what…
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TORONTO – A weekend of free Movie Central programming is coming up in western Canada.
The free preview goes from 6 p.m. MT (5 p.m. PT) on Friday, Nov. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 11 at midnight. It will be available through Shaw Communications, as Bell ExpressVu, MTS, SaskTel, TELUS, Access Communications, and Westman Communications.
During the free preview, viewers can see first-run Hollywood hits and the newest HBO and Showtime series, including episodes of Dexter, Flight of the Conchords, Entourage and Californication, and feature presentations such as The Last King of Scotland, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, School for Scoundrels and…
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OTTAWA – In his speech to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention today at lunch, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said he has heard the complaints from the industry (after first making some complaints of his own, see related story) and made a few significant changes to the 2008 calendar.
First, the policy review hearings on broadcast distribution undertakings (cable, satellite, telco TV and others) and specialty services has been pushed back to April 7. They had been scheduled to begin February 4th (after having previously been set for January).
Also new is the broadcasters’ demands that fee for…
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