While Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. are getting the ball rolling on 4K broadcasting in Canada with a heavy emphasis on sports, others feel food, nature, music videos and outdoor adventure programming are also the kinds of content that would work well in ultra-high definition. Chris Knight, CEO at Ottawa-based Gusto TV, said in a phone interview that the kind of food programming his company is involved in — if shot and produced properly — can result in extremely defined, crisp and beautiful imagery that penetrates the viewer, not just on a visual level, but on a physiological level. “Food is a very unique genre for television in that if I do my job properly, I can make you hungry,” Knight said. “And hunger is a physiological reaction where your...
Prices for TV subscriptions in the coming pick-and-pay era will be one of the main factors determining how over-the-top (OTT) video services are affected, say experts, noting that competitive pricing in TV packages might curb the cord-cutting trend. Earlier this year, the CRTC announced that TV providers will have to offer skinny basic TV packages, starting in March of next year, for no more than $25 a month. This package will include public-interest, educational, some community, and local and regional channels. Emilia Zboralska, a researcher of communication and culture at...
The Canadian wearable market is expected to get shipments of 1.4 million units by the end of 2015, up almost 55 per cent from 905,000 last year, according to International Data Corp. The...
A South Korean company is aiming to provide blind people with the first-ever braille-display smartwatch this year, and a representative from the Canadian Institute for the Blind (CNIB) says it...
Streaming is often perceived as a competitor to the traditional TV system, but the introduction of a new service in the U.S. raises the possibility that instead of one replacing the other, the two could merge into a new hybrid...
The number of Canadian broadband subscribers among the major publicly traded telecom service providers exceeded television subscribers for the first time in 2014. Data compiled by The Wire Report shows the overall number of TV subscribers at these companies, as recorded at the end of their last fiscal years, fell by almost...
The CRTC has dismissed a complaint by BCE Inc. against Rogers Communications Inc.’s GamePlus service, ruling that Rogers could offer the NHL hockey app exclusively to its own customers because the content wasn’t produced primarily for traditional television. The regulator said in the decision that the CRTC “encourages innovation in programming and considers that the way that Rogers offers GamePlus complies with the Digital Media Exemption Order.” Rogers launched GamePlus last fall as a second-screen app that gives customers access to extra camera angles and additional content including interviews and analysis. It is available only to customers who subscribe to...
As new over-the-top (OTT) services continue to be launched both in Canada and the United States, online alternatives for live sports have also been increasing. But in a world where live sports...
As the new year approaches, Canadian wireless carriers of all sizes await a CRTC decision on domestic roaming that could, in the words of one analyst, “disrupt” the industry with...