Quebecor boss Pierre Karl Péladeau unveiled plans for the launch of Canoe.TV at the nextMEDIA conference in Toronto on Nov. 28. He noted that Quebecor Media has a range of TV and print assets, plus its web portal, Canoe, and that Canoe.TV will combine them into dedicated English- and French-language web offerings, available free of charge and with mostly Canadian content.
‘Canoe.TV positions our Canoe.ca portal and Quebecor Media at the leading edge of the rapidly growing online video phenomenon that is being driven by strong consumer demand,’ he opined. To monetize Canoe.TV, Quebecor Media will share online advertising revenue with content partners.
Péladeau said Canoe.TV will act as a lead-in to prime-time fare on his traditional over-the-air and cable channels, adding that the most popular online time slot for Internet surfers is from 5 pm to 8 pm weekdays. ‘This online viewing is a sort of head start on reaching audiences before they shift to the prime-time television window from 8 to 11.’
Lifestyle and sports content is set to dominate Canoe.TV via content deals with CBC, the Just For Laughs comedy festival, House and Home and The Fight Network. The webcaster will stream a range of content, from bite-sized clips and teasers to long-form video episodes.
Péladeau painted a picture of print journalists at his Sun newspapers picking up a video camera to produce local and national content for newspaper websites, which will be transferable to Canoe.TV. Similarly, content from Quebecor’s TVA network – including simulcasts of live news broadcasts – and the Sun TV station in Toronto will stream on the upstart webcaster. In addition, Canoe.TV will aggregate content from international broadcasters through five dedicated channels from Toronto-based JumpTV.
Sun TV fare set for Canoe.TV includes the Grill Room sports opinion show, Sunshine Girl TV and the Inside Jam entertainment series. The webcaster will also feature original content, with an early lineup that includes shows like Outrageous Sports, StreetSeen, Wallpaper, Pimp Me Tonight and Naughty or Nice. ‘No, it’s not a sex show – it’s about homes,’ Péladeau told the crowd.
From Playback Daily
