CCR Short Takes

Bell ExpressVu releases dual tuner, high-def PVRBell Canada announced June 15 it was launching a dual tuner, high-definition (HD) personal video recorder (PVR), the 9200 model. It will be available across Canada in early July for a purchase price of $599 or it can be rented for $25 per month. The PVR allows TV viewers to record up to 180 hours of standard definition programming or 25 hours of HD programming; record up to three HD programs while watching two playback events at the same time; manipulate the size and location of the picture-in-picture (PIP) feature (even with a non-PIP television); and navigate channels and schedule viewing or recording times for upcoming shows. "Bell is making it simple for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who either own or plan to buy a high-definition television to enjoy the ultimate viewing experience," said Bell Express Vu president Gary Smith. CTF supports 46 projectsThe Canadian Television Fund (CTF) announced June 22 that it was supporting 46 projects and contributing $1.3 million to English-language TV development financing. The projects receiving financing in this first round of the selective component include five from the Atlantic region, four from Quebec, 23 from Ontario and Nunavut, and 14 from the West. Among the projects receiving development financing are the documentary Fat Camp (Ziji Film and Television Ltd.), the drama The Criminal (Ciné Télé Action), Vengence – The Story of the Donnelly Massacre (Screen Door Inc.), and North of 60 Movie Last (Alberta Filmworks Movie Last Inc.). Source Cable to launch portable telephone serviceHamilton ON-based Source Cable Ltd. said June 8 that it is launching a digital telephone service in September for its residential and small business customers. Source Cable president Dan Campbell said that cable customers will not need a high-speed Internet connection to obtain the digital telephone service, which will include local and long-distance calls and popular digital features such call answer and call display. Campbell also said that the digital telephone service is portable, which will allow customers to take it with them when they travel. Bell ExpressVu adds new trivia channel to iTV offeringsBell ExpressVu on June 14 said that it had added BuzzTime Trivia to its lineup of interactive television (iTV) offerings. The service, available on channel 550 to over 900,000 households across the country, lets viewers answer questions from a wide variety of categories using their remote controls. BuzzTime Trivia, from NTN Trivia – which delivers similar interactive trivia games to bars and restaurants across North America – features 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week on-demand access to 160,000 questions, six categories of topics, and multi-player capabilities. BuzzTime Trivia costs $3 per month, or $1.50 for all-day play. "Look for Bell ExpressVu to offer more on-demand information and entertainment services that help our customers simplify their lives, interact with on-screen content and enhance their TV viewing experience," said Bell ExpressVu president Gary Smith. Rogers’ digital, analog viewers get RAI on free previewRogers Cable said June 17 that it put the Italian public broadcaster’s RAI International channel on free preview for its non-digital cable customers in Ontario. It can be viewed on channel 59 until June 26. Digital TV customers to the cableco can watch the channel on free preview on channel 610 until July 15. "Since Rogers launched RAI International in early June to its digital cable subscribers, the interest in this channel has exceeded our expectations," said Rogers Cable VP and general manager of cable David Purdy. "We want to offer all our non-digital cable customers a free preview, so they can see the range of programming that RAI International has to offer." RAI International costs $2.45 per month for its digital TV subscribers. Cogeco Cable comes to terms with CUPE employeesCogeco Cable said June 21 that it has ratified two agreements with its employees affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) as of June 1. The two collective agreements in question, which expired on December 31, 2002, have been renewed until December 31, 2008. They call for a 2% lump sum to be paid to the workers upon signature, and a pay increase of 2% annually for 2005 through to 2008 respectively. Channel M claims significant growth in viewershipVancouver-based Channel M says that it has had significant growth in viewership according to a survey conducted for the second year by Ipsos-Reid of the over-the-air ethnic TV station’s audience in lower mainland B.C. According to the survey, 59% of Mandarin speakers, 52% of Cantonese, and 75% of Punjabi speakers surveyed watched Channel M on a weekly basis. The report also noted that in the 2004-05 season, prime-time viewership to Channel M has grown in the Mandarin-speaking community by 46%, in the Cantonese-speaking community by 42% and in the Punjabi-speaking community by 15%. The station also noted that 61,456 viewers tune in to its nightly news. Channel M says it commissioned Ipsos-Reid to examine its audience because the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) measures English-speaking audiences, but not non-English speaking ones. DaVinci’s expands reachto 90% of U.S. cable homesCBC’s TV drama DaVinci’s Inquest can be viewed in more than 90% of the United States, it was announced June 14. Stations that have recently picked up the Canadian series include WGN (Chicago), KXAS (Dallas-Ft. Worth), WJLA (Washington, DC), KHOU (Houston), WBAL (Baltimore) and KSWB (San Diego). The agreement was made possible by Program Partners, a global production and distribution company that has signed a worldwide distribution deal for the show with Vancouver-based Thunderbird Films Inc. Haddock Entertainment and Barna-Alpher Productions produce the show. The full slate of 91 episodes of DaVinci’s Inquest first became available in the U.S. market in early 2005. "Stations have responded to the outstanding production values of this critically-acclaimed show. Time and again we hear that DaVinci’s Inquest is unlike anything else available this fall in syndication," said Josh Raphaelson of Program Partners.

CCR Short Takes

Broadcast | June 24, 2005

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