Shaw Cable has launched the first digital, interactive television channel in Ontario.
The 24-hour Sega Channel, which targets 10- to 15-year-old males, offers 50 video games on demand.
The game menu is rotated monthly, to include new games and old favorites.
The service costs $19.95 a month.
Users must be Shaw Cable subscribers, and have a Sega Genesis 16-bit game system. Shaw provides the adapter which links the two.
‘Video games are a us$8 billion a year business in North America,’ says Ian Jacobs, vice-president of marketing at Shaw. ‘We think it’s a great opportunity to provide this service to a growing market of young customers.’
An independent board in the u.s. rates the games and Shaw does not run games in the most violent categories.
As well, parents have the option of using a password to block out items they don’t want. Jacobs says this feature is important to families that have subscribed.
Shaw is promoting the channel on its cable service as well as through telemarketing and direct mail initiatives to subscribers.
In Ontario, the company is introducing the channel by setting up interactive displays in shopping malls and offering free one-week trials.
Both Rogers Cable and Shaw share ownership of the Sega Channel in Canada.
Shaw subscribers in Calgary, Edmonton and Victoria have had the channel since January and the company has just launched the service in Winnipeg.
A rollout in the rest of the country will take place in the near future.
In Ontario, the Sega Channel is available through Shaw Cable in Scarborough, Pickering, Richmond Hill, Markham and Vaughan, all communities in the Toronto area.
