Montréal, November 30, 2006 Videotron is adding three new high-definition (HD) stations to its channel line-up to give its illico Digital TV service the largest selection of French-language HD stations in its service area. On Friday, December 1, 2006, VRAK.TV HD, Historia HD and Séries+ HD will be added to Videotron's list of HD channels, which already includes Super Écran HD, Canal D HD, Ztélé HD, Canal Vie HD and Radio-Canada HD (SRC), bringing the total number of French-language stations available in high definition on illico HD set-top boxes to eight. The new HD service will be available to Videotron customers in the Montréal, Saguenay, Gatineau, Lachute, Sorel, Papineauville, Buckingham, Rockland, Maniwaki and Mont-Laurier areas.
Also, as of December, Videotron will begin delivering enhanced HD services to its subscribers in the Québec City area over a fully modernized network of impeccable quality, following a $30 million upgrade which has created one of the most advanced networks in Canada.
"As Québec's largest television distribution company reaching over 2.4 million households and serving over 1.5 million of them, we are proud to be expanding our high-definition offering for French-speaking illico Digital TV subscribers once again," said Claude Sauvé, Vice President, Television Distribution Contents, VOD, Internet and Wireless, Videotron. "In a regulatory environment in which we are subject to many limitations that force us to juggle the combination of analog, digital and HD programming we deliver over a single network, we are pleased to offer our customers an increasingly varied range of HD channels picked to offer viewers the best possible experience."
Videotron's offers TV channels and Video on Demand in HD
With the addition of the three new services, Videotron's illico Digital TV service now carries a total of 23 HD channels. In addition to the above-mentioned French-language HD channels, illico subscribers equipped with an HD set-top box and HD television set who subscribe to the digital versions of the channels available in HD can also see CBC, The Movie Network and U.S. networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS in high definition. In addition, for $5.99 per month, they can subscribe to the following HD channels: CTV, Global and City TV from Toronto, as well as Rogers Sportsnet, TSN and Fox. HD movies and events are also available through illico on Demand which lets customers watch the programs they have ordered when they wish and as many times as they wish over a 24-hour period. Finally, HD subscribers have access to a line-up of movies and events on two à la carte Viewer's Choice HD channels.
Videotron Ltd. (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, Internet access services, residential telephone service and now wireless telephone service. Videotron is a leader in new technologies with its illico interactive television system and its broadband network, which supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable television, and other services. As of September 30, 2006, Videotron was serving 1,553,000 cable television customers in Québec; including 585,000 illico subscribers. Videotron is also the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 769,000 subscribers to its cable modem and dial-up services. In addition, Videotron provides residential and business telephone services to more than 344,000 customers in Québec and has been offering wireless telephone service since August 2006.
