COMPANIES TO INTRODUCE VIDEO-ON-DEMAND
By Adnews Staff
Alliance Communications Corporation of Toronto and Shaw Communications Inc. of Calgary provided details of a proposed video-on-demand service to the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission yesterday. The service would be a first in Canada. Alliance is a leading film and television production company, while Shaw is a diversified communications business that includes cable systems, radio stations, telecommunications services, high-speed Internet access and paging services. The companies' proposed service would include service in English and French and involve $30 million in development costs. Using a digital set-top box and an on-screen navigational system, consumers would be able to select from a wide variety of films digitally stored on file servers across Canada. In addition to movies, the service would include special events, TV and educational programs.