From a media release:

Bell Media to Launch New Streaming Service Devoted Exclusively to Exceptional TV

• “Project Latte” to feature best-in-class programming from Hollywood and around the world
• HBO’s seminal library including THE SOPRANOS, THE WIRE, and SEX AND THE CITY is first exclusive content confirmed for Canada’s premium streaming service
• New subscription on-demand service to deliver more than 10,000 hours of quality TV content

Bell Media announced today it will soon launch a new video streaming service devoted exclusively to the best content on television. From the company with more than a decade of leadership delivering Canada’s most-watched and most-acclaimed television programming across the Pay, Specialty, and Network TV landscapes, the on-demand subscription service, currently code-named “Project Latte”, will feature thousands of hours of content representing TV’s top premium brands including, it was confirmed today, HBO. With content from all key Hollywood major and independent studios, “Project Latte” does not duplicate existing services, but instead features additive and exclusive programming.

Now available to every TV provider in Canada, “Project Latte” is designed to enhance the value of the subscription television ecosystem. “Project Latte” will therefore be made available to all TV subscribers in the country, pending agreements with participating TV providers, on their traditional set-top box, as well as via mobile apps, the web, and other platforms including game consoles and Smart TVs. Additional details will be announced in the weeks to come.

“We built Project Latte as a complementary service that will delight and amaze viewers with thousands of hours of premium entertainment available on-demand and on the device of their choice,” said Kevin Crull, President, Bell Media. “Project Latte addresses a significant gap in the Canadian TV system and allows TV providers to greatly enhance the value they provide to their clients. We are incredibly excited about the potential for this product and how it fits into our overall portfolio of Canada’s best television brands and programs.”

“If you like TV, you will love Project Latte’s program lineup,” said Mike Cosentino, Senior Vice-President, Programming, Bell Media. “Our singular focus on TV series, along with our established studio relationships in Hollywood and beyond, means we are uniquely positioned and hyper-focused on delivering the best TV programs to the most-devoted TV lovers. While our extensive HBO deal is a game-changer and instantly makes us a viewer favourite, HBO content comprises only 10% of our planned inventory at launch. Stay tuned as Project Latte’s complete lineup is revealed in the weeks to come.”

HBO is the first of many world-class content partners announced for “Project Latte”, which, further to Bell Media’s previously announced agreement, will be the Canadian home of the entire off-air library of HBO’s iconic programming catalogue. As confirmed today, “Project Latte” will feature the entire HBO scripted library, featuring some of the most-celebrated television programming of all time. In addition to THE SOPRANOS and SEX AND THE CITY, additional Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning HBO classic series to be available on “Project Latte” include SIX FEET UNDER, BAND OF BROTHERS, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, BIG LOVE, ENTOURAGE, OZ, IN TREATMENT, HUNG, ROME, and DEADWOOD, among others. “Project Latte” will also feature creator David Simon’s newly re-mastered version of THE WIRE, which will be presented in HD for the first time.

“Project Latte” will also showcase the complete HBO Films catalogue of nearly 100 titles that have been the recipients of countless Academy®, Golden Globe, Peabody, and Emmy Awards, as well as the Palme d’Or and other film festival accolades. Among the selections are ELEPHANT, AMERICAN SPLENDOUR, BEHIND THE CANDELABRA, GAME CHANGE, TEMPLE GRANDIN, CONSPIRACY, THE GATHERING STORM, THE NORMAL HEART, and GREY GARDENS.

As well, “Project Latte” is the home to more than 150 titles from the HBO Documentaries library, including Academy Award-nominated 4 LITTLE GIRLS, the Emmy and Peabody award-winning WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS, SIX BY SONDHEIM, and the recent festival favourite SEDUCED AND ABANDONED.

Finally, “Project Latte” will exclusively feature HBO’s lineup of close to 160 iconic stand-up comedy specials featuring some of the biggest names in comedy of all time, including George Carlin, Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Maher, Dennis Miller, Louis C.K., Sarah Silverman, Margaret Cho, and more.

About “Project Latte”
Created for TV lovers and devoted exclusively to television, “Project Latte” is Canada’s premium subscription on-demand service, providing the most robust lineup of hit television content in the country. From TV’s most-acclaimed dramas and beloved comedies to documentaries, music, and factual programming, “Project Latte” will feature more than 10,000 hours of non-kids TV programming, with more than 350 unique TV titles. Designed to complement traditional television, the video service gives viewers the ability to watch thousands of hours of hit past and present TV series. Available to all TV providers, “Project Latte” will be delivered via set-top box, apps, online, and other platforms. “Project Latte” is from Bell Media, Canada’s premier multi-media company.

From Sean Tepper of the Toronto Star:

From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

Ice Pilots N.W.T. enters final season
The McBryan clan are perhaps the closest thing Canadians have to the quirky, combative Robertsons of A&E’s Duck Dynasty. Just add ice. But instead of making duck hunting paraphernalia like the Louisiana based Robertsons, the McBryan family business is about flying vintage planes in Yellowknife, where they run a passenger and cargo service. Continue reading.

From Alex Strachan of Canada.com:

Ice Pilots NWT preps for its final flight in Season 6
t was that kind of year for Mike (Mikey) McBryan, public face of the family-owned Buffalo Airways in Hay River, N.W.T., and one of the de facto stars of History’s popular docuseries Ice Pilots NWT. There was the Curtiss C-46 Commando that blew an engine and caught fire while taxiing down a Yellowknife airport runway last December. No one was hurt — thankfully — but still. Continue reading.

From a media release:

RICK MERCER TO HOST THE 2014 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE GALA

• The 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize will be broadcast on CBC Television at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. AT / 10:30 NT) on Monday, November 10, 2014

CBC has announced that Rick Mercer will host the 2014 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE gala on Monday, November 10, 2014. Mercer will join presenters Kim Coates, Jessica Paré and Naomi Klein on stage to celebrate the finest works in Canadian fiction for the year.

The shortlist is:

• The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis
• Tell by Frances Itani
• Us Conductors by Sean Michaels
• The Girl Who Was Saturday Night by Heather O’Neill
• All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
• The Ever After of Ashwin Rao by Padma Viswanathan

The SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE gala will be broadcast at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. AT /10:30 NT) on CBC Television from the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Toronto. It will also be live-streamed on CBC Books with a concurrent live chat, enabling Canadians across the country to be part of the Giller experience. With the finalists being celebrated and an author awarded the prize that night, the presenters will join the authors onstage to celebrate the year’s biggest achievements in Canadian arts and letters. An appearance on Q the following morning will be the first national broadcast feature interview for this year’s winner.

The six authors on this year’s shortlist were selected by a distinguished jury made up of some of the finest writers in North America and the UK: Canadian author Shauna Singh Baldwin, British novelist Justin Cartwright and American writer Francine Prose.