TORONTO – Rogers Cable announced Wednesday it had expanded its multicultural programming lineup to 78 ethnic channels in more than 20 languages.
Four new ethnic services have launched on Rogers Cable in the last two months. The channels are: TL Novelas América (channel 576), a Spanish-language service broadcasting six Mexican soap operas per day; SunTV (channel 619), a Tamil-language general entertainment service offering everything from blockbuster movies, soaps and live news to game shows; New Tang Dynasty TV (channel 630), an independent Chinese broadcaster with over 50 reporting stations around the world; and GMA Pinoy TV (channel 646), a Tagalog-language (Filipino) general entertainment service offering entertainment shows and soap operas, etc.
These channels are available to Rogers digital cable customers in Ontario.
“In a diverse country like Canada, we’re setting the bar higher by offering the most multicultural channels,” said David Purdy, vice-president of Video Product Management for Rogers Cable. “Rogers is committed to providing choice to our customers and delivering programming that reflects our ethnic diversity. We are dedicated to bringing services from around the world home, ultimately helping our customers stay connected with places of importance to them.”
Rogers said in a media release that its commitment to multicultural programming began in September 1972, when it became the first Canadian cable provider to dedicate airtime on a community channel to under-serviced ethnic communities. This Toronto-based station, Channel 33, eventually became multilingual television station MTV, which merged with a station called MTV2 to become CFMT, or OMNI.
By January 2006, Rogers was offering 43 multicultural channels, and less than three years later, the number had increased to over 70.
Editor’s note: Clarifies that Channel 33 had several other incarnations before becoming OMNI.
