Omni to offer multilingual broadcasts regionally

Rogers Media is launching its new Omni Regional program nationally today. The multilingual newscasts will be available through all digital basic television packages. Throughout the day, Omni News will be broadcast in Cantonese, Italian, Mandarin and Punjabi editions. Manuel Fonseca, director of Omni lifestyle and entertainment production with Rogers Media, said the mission of Omni Regional is to “deliver much-needed language newscasts to as many Canadian households as possible… no matter where they live.” In addition to the newscasts, Omni Regional will also broadcast 30-minute current affairs talk shows in Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi entitled Focus Cantonese, Focus Mandarin and Focus Punjabi. Local editions will be produced in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver. Rogers Media has also partnered with independent ethnic broadcaster Ici Television in Quebec to offer the daily, multilingual newscasts in the province.

David Beebe inks deal with Toast Studios

Branded content producer and marketing veteran David Beebe has forged a partnership with Toast Studio. The exclusive branded content development deal will see Beebe develop branded entertainment, digital brands and content marketing initiatives through his production company, Content Decoded, exclusively under the Toast Studio banner. Projects developed will include online video content and social/influencer content. The deal will also include a series of strategy workshops under the Content Decoded name, directed at enterprise-level marketing teams. Beebe has previously led efforts at the Marriott Content Studio and Disney/ABC TV Group Digital Content studio.

Videotron to offer IPTV

Quebec BDU Videotron has partnered with Comcast to create its own IPTV service, using technology from Comcast’s Xfinity X1 platform. Manon Brouillette, president and CEO of Videotron, said in a statement that the partnership will strengthen Videotron’s technology offerings. The X1 platform allows TV customers to search and navigate live TV, on-demand movies and shows, web video and apps. No timeline has been announced yet on the roll-out of Videotron’s IPTV service.

Agency of the Year shortlists live

This week, strategy and Media in Canada, unveiled the shortlists for the upcoming Agency of the Year awards. The awards will honour the top media, PR, design, digital and agency of the year. They will be handed out at a gala in Toronto on Nov. 9

Pictured: Beebe at the 2017 BCon Expo