Radio-Canada announced the expansion of its French language multiplatform offering with the upcoming launch of EXTRA. This new premium entertainment service will be available on ICI Tou.tv, the ultimate destination for French programming across multiple screens. Thanks to a recent agreement with Rogers Communications and TELUS, the additional rich content offering will be available to more francophone Canadians.
In addition to the 1,200 titles that ICI Tou.tv offers for free as part of its basic entertainment service for Canadians, EXTRA will be home to a growing selection of over 400 French new titles. Rogers and TELUS consumer postpaid customers will enjoy both the basic and premium EXTRA viewing experience on ICI Tou.tv on the device of their choice at no extra charge. The additional EXTRA specialty offering will be available through a monthly subscription for non Rogers and TELUS customers.
ICI Tou.tv will launch by the end of March an updated, streamlined interface and add French titles in high definition (HD) to its expanding content catalogue. Rogers and TELUS consumer postpaid customers can access EXTRA content and the HD experience at no extra charge by simply creating a new personal user profile on the ICI Tou.tv website or through the downloadable App.
EXTRA will include series like Top of the Lake, known in French as Au bout du lac (2014 Golden Globe nominee for best miniseries, starring Elisabeth Moss, winner for best actress), and Spiral, known in French as Engrenages (International Emmy nominee for best drama series, 2011). These movies and shows are available. Every month, new full series will be added to the EXTRA catalogue.
Marie-Philippe Bouchard, General Manager, Music and Digital Services at Radio-Canada, emphasized the scope of the agreement with Rogers and TELUS Quebec: "Radio-Canada is delighted with this collaboration, which consolidates our leadership in a rapidly expanding market. The agreement will help diversify our revenue and take ICI Tou.tv to a new level. It shows our desire to offer ever-greater choice in an enhanced service that keeps pace with changing TV viewing habits."
"This agreement represents much more than a simple collaboration for us. It is an opportunity to provide all our francophone subscribers, across Canada, access to quality French content, on the screen of their choice. Powered by Rogers LTE, Canada's fastest LTE network, our wireless customers will enjoy the ultimate viewing experience with ICI Tou.tv, including crisp video and fast download speeds," affirms Sylvain Roy, President Quebec, Rogers Communications.
"Our customers want access to their favourite content anytime, anyplace," said Clément Audet, TELUS Quebec Vice-President, Consumer Market. "With this new agreement, we are reinventing our business model to offer the most popular web French content in Canada, including the new EXTRA selection, free of charge. Our customers will be able to enjoy a multiplatform experience as they watch ICI Tou.tv content, whether on Télé OPTIK, the web or mobile devices, thanks to the country's most reliable 4G LTE network."
A BRAND-NEW SITE TO BE DISCOVERED
Averaging 3.7 million video views each month, the ICI Tou.tv site will include new, personalized features so that users can tailor the offering to their individual preferences. They'll be able to navigate more easily to the content they're looking for.
EXTRA will further enhance ICI Tou.tv's current offering, which includes ICI Radio-Canada Télé's best shows, original webseries, much-loved classics, and a selection of shows from many other national and international public broadcasters, including Télé-Québec and TFO.
ICI Tou.tv has recorded over 138 million video views since its launch in January 2010. Mobile views on the platform jumped 44% between 2012 and 2013 (data for iOS and mobile site only).
