CTV has launched a new video-on-demand service on CTV.ca, using the same technology as its sister channel’s recently introduced MTV Overdrive.

The CTV Broadband Network features four ‘channels’ – news, shows, eTalk and Discovery Channel – with full-length episodes of the net’s original programming, including Instant Star, Degrassi: The Next Generation and Degrassi ‘webisodes’ seen previously on Nickelodeon’s The N. Canadian Idol, however, is presented as a series of clips.

The news includes the full, latest edition of CTV National News, local headlines and hourly highlights from Report on Business Television. Discovery Channel runs Daily Planet and the travel show Valerie Pringle Has Left the Building.

The series are reruns from the 2005/06 season, though by fall the network plans to put new eps online concurrent with their airdates, at midnight the following day.

The exception is Instant Star. New eps of the teen drama will go online 24 hours before the actual broadcasts – part of an experiment to generate buzz among the show’s young viewers. Season two of Instant Star debuts July 17 online, July 18 on TV.

All content is streamed at 750 Kbps and 29.9 frames per second and can be played full screen – essentially the same as watching a regular television, minus the couch.

CTV will roll out a second phase in the fall, introducing a better player, more shows and ads beyond the current pre-roll, in-house spots that play before each show. CTV says MTV Overdrive is serving as the tech, advertising and programming ‘incubator’ for all of CTV’s broadband efforts.

Meanwhile, the network has also launched a mobile service for its news programs and ROBTv, available through Bell Mobility.

The mobile news includes a three-minute run of headlines, updated hourly throughout the day, and hourly ROBTv news, including analyst ratings and interviews with business leaders. The content is repackaged from the on-air versions.

CTV plans to add advertising, but faces some technical and user challenges, says Kris Faibish, VP of digital media.

‘Some content speaks to advertising and other content not so much,’ says Faibish, who isn’t keen on interrupting the already-short mobile shows.

‘You really have to find the appropriate way to present or represent a sponsor, and that isn’t necessarily something as clunky as an ad cut into the middle of a show on mobile,’ she says.

Bell would not disclose how many of its customers own the types of phones needed to access the service, which is offered as part of its ‘Fuel Me’ bundle.

CBC.ca, CHUM relaunch sites

Not to be left out, CBC and CHUM have also relaunched their web properties.

Redesigned for its 10th anniversary, CBC.ca now features a new look and a single page for its video content, which includes the full version of The National and programming from across the network, from the arts show The Scene to Newsworld’s The Hour.

But Sue Gardner, senior director of CBC.ca, admits there is currently ‘no rhyme or reason’ to when a show gets posted online. It can go live, as with the news hour Canada Now, or 24 hours after the fact. She says CBC is working on automating the process and firming up posting schedules.

Except for the news, very few videos are full episodes, because of ongoing rights, says Gardner, and the video quality is not as good as CTV’s. There is also no full-screen option, but there is extensive support for mobile.

The redesign is the result of a 2005 survey of 5,000 site visitors, unrelated to the two-year study that led to the recent redesign of CBC TV in January.

Meanwhile, CHUM Television’s Pulse24.com has relaunched as CityNews.ca with a redesign, greater user interactivity (users can submit stories and photos) and the introduction of on-demand broadband video, dubbed ‘News Director.’

News Director allows the user to customize the newscast based on areas of interest, and all video is searchable. Also added are the obligatory daily blogs from CHUM personalities such as Breakfast Television’s Kevin Frankish and continually updated RSS news feeds for devices such as iPods.