TORONTO – Technology Cancon will begin airing south of the border this fall on G4techTV. Call for Help, the first Canadian-produced G4techTV Canada television production, will be back into the homes of American fans in September on G4, the national cable and satellite network available in 53 million homes in the United States.
Call for Help airs at 6 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. PT weeknights on G4techTV Canada (which is owned jointly by Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications and operated by Rogers in Toronto).
This is the second international…
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VICTORIA – Shaw Digital Cable customers can now see Fox HD if they have the correct box and television set.
The company made the announcement today. The channel will be added at no additional charge.
"The inclusion of Fox HD in our lineup adds to the superior entertainment experience that HD customers enjoy," said Colin Patterson, vice-president, operations of Shaw Communications, in the press release. "The HD content on the channel is among the best available and we know it will be an instant favourite with our customers."
Fox HD is the third addition in the last year to…
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AT LAST COUNT, THERE WERE 103 submissions to the three-person panel in charge of Industry Canada’s Telecom Policy Review.
Boy, do they have some summer/fall reading in front of them.
Not counting appendices, Telus’ submission is 266 pages. Bell’s submission is on a CD ROM and is over a thousand. I wish Dr. Gerri Sinclair, Hank Intven, and André Tremblay the best of luck wading through this sea of advice, recommendations – and in some cases, outright silliness. They’re all telecom talents and will come up with something good, we hope.
Players have until September 15th to respond to…
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MONTREAL – Videotron is adding telephony customers as fast as it can keep up and the company announced today that it is rolling out its residential cable telephone service in Montreal.
Consumer response to Videotron’s new product has been strong and as of August 12, six months after the service was launched, more than 62,500 customers in Laval, the South Shore, the West Island and the Quebec City area had made the switch.
Those numbers make Videotron the leader among telecom companies in Canada that provide telephone service via IP (Internet Protocol) technology, but early reports out of Shaw,…
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EDMONTON – According to the Telecommunication Workers Union (TWU) and the B.C. and Alberta Federations of Labour, four Calgary radio stations refuse to run radio spots in support of locked-out Telus workers. The radio campaign calls on customers to disconnect from Telus.
The 30-second radio spots, which start today, will run four-to-five times daily in Edmonton, Fort McMurray and throughout B.C. It’s considered a “heavy rotation,” notes Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) President Gil McGowan, of the three week campaign, with a substantial budget of over $250,000 ($120,000 going for Alberta placement).
The four radio stations allegedly refusing to…
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PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. – Municipally-owned telco CityTel acquired the remaining Monarch Cable systems last week from owner Bill Yuill and announced an overhaul of its corporate governance, too.
Monarch had approximately 12,000 cable customers in Prince Rupert and the nearby communities of Terrace, Kitimat, Smithers, Houston, Hazelton, Telkwa, Port Edward and Stewart. Monarch was founded in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and Shaw Communications purchased those systems in 2003 for $90 million. Monarch acquired the B.C. systems, the former Okanagan Skeena Group, from Telemedia, in 2000.
The $23.5 million deal is scheduled to close on August 31st, with Commission approval to…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has teamed up with VOXCOM Security Systems to provide an end-to-end security solution for the cable company’s Digital Phone Service customers.
VOXCOM is able to transfer a customer’s existing monitoring services to their Emergency Response Centre at no additional cost and without any interruptions in service.
Thousands of customers in Western Canada have changed their traditional home phone service to Shaw in the past six months. Most have kept their home phone number, they have kept their home phone equipment, and they have even maintained their existing home security system, says the company.
"Our commitment…
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SASKATOON – Just days after Shaw Communications made its announcement, SaskTel today said it, too, has entered into a video on demand agreement with Paramount Pictures in Canada for the provincial telco’s Max TV digital television service.
This agreement provides VOD rights for current and library titles such as Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Jim Carrey; Team America: World Police, featuring the voices of Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Coach Carter, starring Samuel L. Jackson.
"We are pleased to expand our VOD distribution into Canada and look forward to further enhancing the VOD experience…
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PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – Vista Broadcast Group, a single-station operation until recently, is ramping up its operations with several purchases, the most recent of which is its agreement to purchase Cariboo Central Interior Radio Inc., which was announced this week.
The joint announcement was made by Terry Shepherd – president and managing director of CCIR Inc. and Margot Micallef, chair and CEO of Vista Broadcast Group. Terms of the sale, which is subject to CRTC approval, were not disclosed.
Vista Broadcast Group is the owner of CJSU-FM (SUN FM)in Duncan, British Columbia (on Vancouver Island) and recently announced that…
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CALGARY – Shaw Cablesystems announced a new video on demand agreement with Paramount Pictures. Shaw is the first Canadian company to come to a VOD deal with the movie and TV company.
Shaw Digital customers across Western Canada will now have access to some of today’s most popular hit titles such as Coach Carter, Alfie, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Team America World Police and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
"The addition of Paramount Pictures complements Shaw Video on Demand’s ever-evolving library of movies," said Peter Bissonnette, president, Shaw Communications, in a release. "With over 1,700 titles now…
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