Tag: corus

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Mobile Syrup

Pluto TV free streaming app is now available in Canada

Ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV is now available in Canada.

The free FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) streaming platform says that it features over 100 channels and over 20,000 hours of content, including series like NCIS, Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, Judge Judy and more. Canadian series include Love it or List It, Chopped Canada and Border Security are also part of the Canadian version of the app.

The service’s free channels include Pluto Comedy, Pluto TV Drama, Pluto Action, Christmas 365 and of course, The Asylum, which offers the cinematic masterpiece, Sharknado, alongside other “mockbuster,” b-level films, and more. Of course, there’s also a channel dedicated to CSI called, as you may have guessed, the CSI Channel. It’s worth noting that the Paramount-owned streaming service is launching through a partnership with Corus.

Paramount also offers its Paramount+ streaming service in Canada, which is home to notable content like Yellowstone, 1883, Seal Team, the painfully awful Halo TV show, and more. The company recently increased the cost of the platform to $9.99/mo or $99.99/year. It’s likely that older Paramount content will appear on Pluto TV given it’s entirely free, while the companies’ more premium offerings will still be found on Paramount+.

Pluto TV is available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, and Samsung and LG smart TVs.

Image credit: Shutterstock

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Mobile Syrup

Corus to launch Teletoon+ family streaming service on September 1

Corus Entertainment will launch a new family-focused streaming service called Teletoon+ on September 1st.

Nick+, Corus’ previous kids and family streaming service, will transition to Teletoon+ on this date. The new Teletoon+ platform will then offer “thousands” of hours of kid-friendly programming, including Batman: The Animated Series, Teen Titans Go!, DC Super Hero Girls, Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? and Looney Tunes Cartoons.

Teletoon+ will also feature exclusive titles like Bugs Bunny Builders and Batwheels when they launch in the future. Corus says new content will be added to the service daily.

Teletoon+ won’t be available as a standalone service, however. Instead, Corus will offer it through Amazon Prime Video Channels, the Bell Fibe TV App and set-top-box, Virgin Plus and RiverTV for only $5.99/month.

Image credit: Warner Bros.

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Mobile Syrup

Corus warns Rogers/Shaw merger could hurt Global News

Corus Entertainment is arguing that local news in Canada could take a substantial hit if federal regulators allow Rogers to complete its purchase of Shaw.

Corus spun off from Shaw in 1999 and currently operates a number of Canadian television channels, including W Network, HGTV Canada, Showcase, Food Network Canada, and — most important to this story — Global Television and News.

According to reporting from The Globe and Mail, Corus still receives around $12 million per year from Shaw, as per a federal rule that broadcast distributors must redirect five percent of their broadcasting revenues towards supporting Canadian content and local news.

In a letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Corus warned that Global News would suffer without this five percent, as Rogers has already indicated that, should the acquisition go through, those funds would be redirected to its own news property, City TV.

Corus further contended that the loss in funding could reduce the quality of local news in cities and regions where Global News is already the primary — if not sole — broadcast news outlet.

Rogers’ purchase of Shaw, announced in March 2021 and valued at $26 billion, is currently under review by the CRTC, Canada’s Competition Bureau, and the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

A number of parties have chimed in for and against the purchase.

For example, competitor telecom companies and internet service providers including Bell, Telus, Quebecor and Teksavvy have all come out swinging against the merger, echoing industry experts’ concerns that the deal will reduce competition and result in higher prices and fewer options for consumers.

Meanwhile, some analysts are suggesting that the deal could go through, provided Rogers sell off Freedom Mobile and Shaw Mobile to address concerns that the acquisition would give it an unfair monopoly in Canada’s wireless market.

According to The Globe and Mail, the CRTC received over 300 interventions during their call for comments on the acquisition, which closed on September 13th.

The public hearing is scheduled for November 22nd.

Source: The Globe and Mail