CBC/Radio-Canada Daily News: Coming soon to an Air Canada seatback near you

OTTAWA, Nov. 15 /CNW/ - Staying up-to-date while travelling is about to get a whole lot easier. Starting this month, passengers on Air Canada flights will have on-demand access to high-quality daily news programming produced by CBC in English and by Radio-Canada in French. Content will be available at their fingertips, on their personal seatback video screen. The service will be rolled out in stages across Air Canada's fleet.

The launch of the new on-demand daily news service is the latest addition to Air Canada's in-flight entertainment offering. Passengers will now be able to get their fix of news, business, sports, weather and entertainment reports produced exclusively for Air Canada by the national public broadcaster. Content will be presented in convenient 30-minute packages - one in French and another in English - and updated twice daily.

"We're proud to be able to make our news available on the country's largest airline," said Jennifer McGuire, General Manager and Editor in Chief, CBC News. "On the ground or now in the air, Canadians can enjoy their national public broadcaster's services in more places and ways than ever before."

"Air Canada and CBC/Radio-Canada share a similar mission of connecting Canadians with one another and Canada with the world. We are therefore pleased to enrich our on-board programming with the addition of CBC/Radio-Canada daily news," said Craig Landry, Vice President, Marketing, Air Canada. "Our customers have told us they would appreciate the ability to access the latest news on-demand from our seatback in-flight entertainment system. No matter where in the world our customers travel, they will have ready access to a Canadian perspective on the world."

"For CBC/Radio-Canada, this provides yet another way of providing our content to Canadians, wherever, whenever and however they want it," said Michel Tremblay, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Strategy and Business Partnerships, CBC/Radio-Canada.

Air Canada is pleased to launch CBC/Radio-Canada's daily news on its award-winning, seatback in-flight entertainment system, which offers customers hundreds of hours of personalized, on-demand digital audio-visual information and entertainment programming. The delivery of an on-demand service is a new step in CBC/Radio-Canada's long history of providing Air Canada travelers with in-flight daily news, a service that now dates back more than 20 years.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, Internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages, plus seven languages for international audiences. In 2011, CBC/Radio-Canada is celebrating 75 years of serving Canadians and being at the centre of the democratic, social and cultural life of Canada. 

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international full-service airline providing scheduled and charter air transportation for passengers and cargo to more than 170 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and serves 31 million customers annually. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 59 destinations in Canada, 59 in the United States and 60 in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,167 destinations in 181 countries. Air Canada customers can collect Aeroplan miles for future rewards through Canada's leading loyalty program, and Top Tier members enjoy reciprocal frequent flyer benefits including lounge and priority services.

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