Montréal, June 3, 2005 – Vidéotron is pleased to announce that the long-awaited international television channel RAI International will be available to subscribers to its illico digital television service in the Montréal and Gatineau areas starting 2:30 p.m., June 5, 2005. The announcement follows the decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to add RAI International to the list of eligible satellite services.
RAI International is the international service of Italy's largest television network. It broadcasts the best programs from Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana to 238 countries around the world. RAI International offers varied content 24 hours a day, including news, culture, cooking, sports, films and original programs.
RAI International's target audience consists of Italian communities abroad and people who are interested in Italy and Italian culture. There are more than 250,000 people of Italian descent in the greater Montréal area alone.
Quebecers of Italian origin have long wanted to be able to pick up RAI, said Claude Sauvé, Vice President, Programming, Vidéotron. Vidéotron is pleased to be able to offer them this unique showcase for Italian culture at last. Adding RAI International to the 14 specialty channels in languages other than French and English that we already carry is another step in our strategy to improve services to our multicultural clientele.
RAI International will be available on channel 249 on illico Digital TV and can be included in any of Vidéotron's digital television packages under certain conditions.
RAI UNSCRAMBLED IN JUNE
In order to give subscribers to illico Digital TV, and members of the Italian community in particular, a taste of RAI's diverse, high-quality programming, Vidéotron will unscramble the channel from June 5 to July 7, 2005. RAI International's full schedule is available on the Web at www.international.rai.it/engl/whoweare/index.shtml.
SPECIAL ON CANAL VOX
Canal Vox (Cable 9) will carry the special program L'ITALIANA live on Sunday, June 5, from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The show, produced by RAI International to mark its Canadian debut, will be entirely devoted to Italian Canadians. It will be beamed around 1 the world, in Italian, from three Canadian cities: Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver. The Montréal segment will feature Italian singer Umberto Tozzi and will be broadcast from the Théâtre St-Denis. Prime Minister Paul Martin and Minister Liza Frulla are expected to take part in the event. Canal Vox is carrying the program so that all members of the Italian community can watch the very first program broadcast on the RAI channel in Canada.
The special will of course also be carried by the RAI service, available on channel 249 to subscribers to illico Digital TV.
Vidéotron ltée (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 and residential telephone service. Vidéotron 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. Vidéotron serves 1,455,000 cable television customers in Québec; including over 356,000 illico subscribers. Vidéotron is also the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 554,000 subscribers to its cable modem and dial-up services. As well, Vidéotron provides residential telephone service to more than 23,000 customers in South Shore Montréal and Laval.
