HISTORY OF BV! MEDIA

Since its inception in 1995, BV! Media has continued to innovate and is staking its claim as an Internet leader in Canada.

1995:

  • February 1: The launch of the BRANCHEZ-VOUS! e-mail newsletter, initially intended for communications and marketing professionals.
  • September 19: In Montréal, the launch of the BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com website, first independent portal in Quebec, which began as a "What's new?" type feature on the French-language Internet.
  • October: launch, by André Cyr, of the Matinternet website, designed as an online daily newspaper. (This site is now integrated within BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com as its News section, called BRANCHEZ-VOUS! Matin.)

1996:

  • The launch of the bénéfice.net website (today part of BRANCHEZ-VOUS! Affaires).
  • BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com receives a “Web d’or” (Golden Web) Award, owing to a vote of French-speaking Internet users.
  • May: the launch of Magazine BRANCHEZ-VOUS!, the first print magazine in Quebec devoted to the Internet (published until 1999).

1997:

1998:

  • The launch of the TROUVEZ.com and MesNouvelles.com websites (MesNouvelles.com was later integrated within BRANCHEZ-VOUS! Matin, which is the News section of BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com).
  • April 28: launch, by the Parent brothers Ghislain, Gilles and Réal, of the Showbizz.net web site.

1999:

  • January 19: launch of the HumourQuebec.com website by Émile Girard. (This site is now part of the Showbizz.net entertainment news portal.)
  • The launch of the RENCONTREZ.com and MonEntreprise.com websites.
  • BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com receives the award for “Best Portal” at the Boomerang Awards Gala organized by Infopresse Magazine.
  • bénéfice.net receives the Internet Impact Award, in the “Work” category at the Internet World Canada trade show in Toronto.

2000:

2001:

  • January 17: BRANCHEZ-VOUS! inc. (formerly Invention Media inc.) becomes a publicly-owned corporation listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BZV (later replaced by the current BVM symbol).
  • The launch of the MonAutomobile.com website. (This site was later renamed BRANCHEZ-VOUS! Auto and forms the Automotive section of BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com.)

2004:

  • At the 10th Boomerang Awards organized by Infopresse Magazine, Patrick Pierra, BRANCHEZ-VOUS! founder, receives a Prix Hommage Tribute Award from Radio-Canada.ca for being a Quebec Internet pioneer.
  • August 1st: the launch of the LeCinema.ca website by Sébastien Légaré and Stéphanie Nolin. (This site is now the Movies section of Showbizz.net.)

2005:

  • June : Gino Coutu becomes President and CEO for NetWorldMedia, and enlarges the company’s operations to website advertising representation and display advertising
  • September : The BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com portal celebrates its 10th anniversary by launching a video portal, BRANCHEZ-VOUS.tv featuring a performance by Quebec group “Loco Locass”.

2006:

  • September 1st: the launch of the Fanatique.ca website by Émile Girard. (Fanatique.ca is now the Sports section of BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com.)

2008:

  • March: acquisition of Fanatique.ca and HumourQuebec.com
  • April: acquisition of Showbizz.net and Matin.qc.ca (previously called Matinternet), which then belonged to Genex Communications. (Showbizz.net now forms the Entertainment section of BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com, while Matin.qc.ca, now called BRANCHEZ-VOUS! Matin, forms its News section.)
  • May: acquisition of LeCinema.ca, which is now the Movies section of Showbizz.net
  • September 10: the launch of MaTerre.ca, which now forms the Environment section of BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com
  • October: acquisition of NetWorldMedia, a large Canadian advertising network, which later merged with the BRANCHEZ-VOUS! Network to become the BV! Media Network.
  • December 1st: the launch of a beta version of BRANCHEZ-VOUS! Mobile, the mobile version of BRANCHEZ-VOUS.com, at BVmobile.com

2009:

  • April: the BRANCHEZ-VOUS! corporation becomes BV! Media and its stock symbol on the TSX Venture Exchange becomes BVM.
  • May: the launch of the “BRANCHEZ-VOUS! sur iPhone” application.
  • June: BV! Media is listed in the Next 100 group in the renowned Profit 100 ranking by Profit magazine.
  • December : BV! Media ranks 1st in Quebec and 8th in Canada among Internet ad networks, according to comScore.

2010:

  • January : opening of a sales office in Toronto

To find out what we’ve been up to recently, please read our latest Press Releases.