OMNI Television to Launch in HDTV Articles / OMNI1 Posted by RAD on Oct 08, 2004 - 08:21 PM Effective Wednesday, October 13th, both OMNI.1 and OMNI.2 will be broadcasting in High Definition Television (HDTV), with their signals available exclusively via Rogers (Cable) Television. Channels allocated on the HD tier are 275 for OMNI.1 and 276 for OMNI.2. "As Rogers OMNI Television enters its 25th year of diversity broadcasting, we also usher in a new era of technology for our viewers," says Kelly Colasanti, Vice President of Operations and Engineering for Rogers Media Television. "Launching two multilingual/multicultural channels in HDTV reaffirms OMNI's place as a world class broadcaster on par with any other." OMNI's five language newscasts - Cantonese, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese and South Asian - will all be available in widescreen format. Other in-studio productions, including more than a dozen diversity language programmes, and Pomeriggio Italiano, OMNI.1's mid-afternoon newscast for Italian speaking viewers, will be accessible in HDTV. Viewers can also enjoy certain acquired programmes such as Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queen's in widescreen. Further HDTV programming will be added to OMNI's schedule as it becomes available. Rogers OMNI Television, consisting of diversity television stations OMNI.1 (CFMT) and OMNI.2, is a free over-the-air system owned by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Media: Television division. Combined, the OMNI stations have significantly expanded the variety of languages, number of hours and choice of programming being offered for ethnocultural communities throughout the province of Ontario, providing programming in more than 40 languages to ethnocultural groups encompassing close to 50 communities. With the launch of OMNI.2 in September 2002, ethnic programming on OMNI.1 (CFMT) now principally serves the local European, Latino and Caribbean communities, while OMNI.2's programming reflects the local Pan Asian and African population. This article is from CHANNEL CANADA   http://www.channelcanada.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.channelcanada.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=580