Village Gamer

Until now, viewers with low or no sight only knew what television sounded like. And for many other Canadians living with disabilities and seniors, enjoying TV viewing often is a challenge. Now there is a new and unique TV channel that will respond to the many access challenges faced by more than 5 million Canadians plus their families, relatives and friends. It’s called The Accessible Channel or TAC for short, and it goes on air coast to coast at 6 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, December 3rd, the United Nations International Day for Persons with Disabilities. All TAC programming will be broadcast in open description and closed-captioned. This will allow blind, low-vision, deaf, hard of hearing and many others to tune into TAC at any time during the day or night and KNOW that they will be able to enjoy television.

TAC was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in the summer of 2007 as a mandatory basic digital open description specialty TV service. That means it will be part of the basic digital service of all cable and satellite services distributing TV programming. The service will be operated by an independent not-for-profit company controlled by The National Broadcast Reading Service Inc. NBRS is a charity set up in 1990 to operate VoicePrint, a mandatory audio programming service that enhances access to print publications for blind Canadians and low-vision, print-restricted and senior listeners. The mission of both TAC and VoicePrint is to enhance access to media for millions of Canadians. Each is operated without government funding.

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Chuck Gammage Animation’s new facility will coincide with the studio’s recently stronger focus on nontraditional and 3D animation.

Toronto – Chuck Gammage Animation, an internationally acclaimed animation production company and commercial animation service facility, announced today that it is changing its downtown Toronto address.

After three years at its current downtown location, the company is moving to a state-of-the-art production facility in Toronto’s Trinity-Niagara neighbourhood, an up-and-coming hub for Canada’s design, entertainment and high-tech industries.

“We’re excited to be moving to this vibrant new location where we’ll be down the street from some of the world’s premiere entertainment companies,” Tammy Semen, producer. “This move also comes at a time when Chuck Gammage is switching its focus to emerging forms of digital animation while recruiting outstanding new talent. So this new space will reflect the company’s fresh outlook.”
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Premier Provider of Mobile TV and Video Solutions Selected for Work on Rogers Vision, the First Fully-Integrated Mobile Video and Radio Service in Canada

Toronto – QuickPlay Media, the premier provider of mobile TV and video solutions, today announced it has been named a finalist in the “Best Mobile Video and TV Service” category at Visiongain’s Mobile Entertainment Awards 2008. The awards, which recognize the technologies, companies, innovations and campaigns that moved the industry forward in 2008, have chosen QuickPlay Media for its role in powering Rogers Vision, a made-for-mobile experience that gives customers access to streaming video and radio at broadband speeds on select handsets. Rogers Vision is exclusively offered by Rogers Wireless, Canada’s largest wireless provider of voice and data services.

“The continued evolution of mobile devices and networks has created the perfect opportunity to transform the mobile phone into a legitimate entertainment resource,” said Wayne Purboo, president and CEO, QuickPlay Media. “QuickPlay empowers customers to take full advantage of this opportunity by giving them the ability to easily and efficiently provide consumers with a high-quality and compelling media viewing experience. We are extremely honored to have these efforts, and specifically the work we have done Rogers Vision, recognized by the global mobile entertainment community.
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