Rogers OMNI Television is launching online newscasts targeting Canada’s multilingual communities in Cantonese, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese and South Asian editions of OMNI News starting on Nov. 13 – becoming the first multilingual broadcaster outside of the nation’s two official languages. The five daily 60-90-second streamed updates will be made available on www.omnitv.ca/ontario by late afternoon Mondays through Fridays.

Rogers Media Television director of public relations and consumer marketing Andrea Gagliardi says the launch is a response to the demand. Gagliardi says Rogers OMNI Television will be reviewing the online audience response to the launch prior to opening up the new avenues to advertisers and marketers – much like the already-live ICC Cricket World segments (which currently pre-rolls an RBC spot).

‘Down the road, once we’re able to get an idea what kind of traffic we’re generating on the video content portions of our site, we’ll be able to put packages together for either current or new clients that combine the traditional on-air with the online,’ says Gagliardi. ‘That could include everything from banner ads to actual 10-second billboards or spots running prior to the newscast or at the backend of the newscasts.’