NEWS AND EVENTS

Rogers and BCE Already Have the Apple iTV in Their Labs, Controlled with Voice and Hand Gestures

Monday February 6, 2012 5:49 pm PST by Arnold Kim

The Globe and Mail reports that Apple is actively seeking launch partnerships with Canada's Rogers Communications and BCE Inc. to offer their upcoming Apple TV.

“They’re not closed to doing it with one [company] or doing it with two,” said one source who is familiar with the talks. “They’re looking for a partner. They’re looking for someone with wireless and broadband capabilities.”

According to the newspaper, these companies already have the Apple iTV in their labs.

Siri voice control is reportedly integrated into Apple's new television to help viewers make programming choices. Viewers can then control the TV with voice or hand gestures. Even an on-screen keyboard can be invoked without any special hardware (emphasis ours):

An on-screen keyboard, meanwhile, can also be activated in a similar manner, allowing viewers to surf the web, conduct video chats and use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook – all without any physical interface.

The paper isn't clear about the sourcing of the details for the hand gesture control, and later cites an analyst for some other details. They do seem to specifically have a source with knowledge of the matter.

The Globe and Mail is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper.

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TSN Radio 1050 Launches 'The Sport Market'

2012-02-03

TSN Radio 1050 is launching the weekly sports business show The Sport Market on Saturdays at 10 a.m. ET, beginning Saturday, Feb. 4. The one-hour show will feature informative, provocative and entertaining looks at the biggest sports uusiness storylines of the week. Saturday's inaugural show is part of TSN Radio 1050's Super Bowl XLVI weekend and will heavily focus on the business of the Super Bowl on both sides of the border.

The Sport Market will be available in the Greater Toronto Area on AM 1050 and nationally online at TSN.ca/Radio. The show will also be syndicated on TEAM 1040 in Vancouver on Saturdays from 7 to 8 a.m. PT. A three-hour version of The Sport Market, focusing on the Vancouver market, debuted on TEAM 1040 in 2008 and continues to air every Saturday from 8 to 11 a.m. PT.

The Sport Market will be hosted by Tom Mayenknecht, veteran sports marketing and communications executive; Brian Cooper, President and CEO of S&E Sponsorship Group; and Steve McAllister, Managing Editor of Yahoo! Sports Canada. The industry veterans will draw on their extensive experience and connections to go behind the scenes and uncover the sports business stories that matter the most to sports fans.

Each week, The Sport Market will go deep on sports broadcast and television ratings, along with sports marketing, management, finance, law, public relations, and philanthropy. The show will also feature insights on and trends in sports stadiums, sports music and sports movies.

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CTV To Launch London 2012 Believe Campaign

2012-02-01
CTV announced today that it will launch its new Believe promotional campaign in support of its broadcast of the London 2012 Olympic Games during its exclusive coverage of Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday. Featuring the voices of Canadian actors Ellen Page and Gordon Pinsent on CTV and TSN, the campaign begins just after the six-month countdown to London 2012 was marked on January 27. Additionally, the network will use the opportunity to debut more than one hundred versions of never-seen-before, on-air creative, supporting CTV's star-studded mid-season schedule and upcoming programming on Bell Media specialty channels.

"The Super Bowl is not only an amazing platform for clients to reach their customers by the millions, but it is also a tremendous opportunity for us to introduce, tease, and launch campaigns for upcoming programming on CTV and other Bell Media properties," said Rick Lewchuk, Senior Vice-President, Bell Media Agency. "In addition to introducing the stunning new London 2012 Believe campaign, we are keeping the overall Super Bowl viewing experience as fresh as possible with a wide range of brand-new creative."

The original award-winning Believe campaign debuted in advance of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games - helping to inspire a nation and introduce Canadians to its Olympic heroes. The London 2012 Believe campaign rekindles the incredible feeling of national pride that grew out of Vancouver 2010, engaging new Canadians by showcasing how the Olympic spirit of Believe has spread to their homelands. Showcasing both Canadian and international athletes, the production involved three separate crews shooting over six months across Canada, the U.S., India, China, the Philippines, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Jamaica, Scotland, and England to create the look and feel of a trailer for a dramatic feature film.

The Bell Media Agency will also unveil new creative for upcoming sporting events including TSN's TradeCentre, NCAA March Madness, Scotties Tournament of Hearts, and the 100th Grey Cup, as well as promote the upcoming original CTV documentary Darkness and Hope: Depression, Sports and Me in support of next Wednesday's Bell Let's Talk Day.

In the six-month rollout of this year's campaign, a total of 29 different image spots of various lengths have been produced to air on CTV and TSN, and in French on RDS. Academy Award nominee Ellen Page and legendary Gemini Award-winning actor Gordon Pinsent voice the promos airing on CTV and TSN respectively. The RDS campaign spots are voiced by popular Quebecois actor Pierre Lebeau. The Vancouver 2010 Believe campaign has been internationally recognized, winning 13 PromaxBDA Awards, including the World Gold for "Live Event Campaign."

The campaign was created, developed, and produced by the award-winning Bell Media Agency. Rick Lewchuk is Senior Vice-President, Bell Media Agency and Brand Strategy. Sandy Fraser is Senior Director of Olympic Promotion.

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LETTER OF AGREEMENT - 2012 OLYMPIC SUMMER GAMES