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Merged QMI/Sun Media TV News thread

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E.R. Campbell said:
The CRTC has denied Sun News Network's application for mandatory carriage on basic cable.

I'm not sure Sun News Network has a viable business plan any more.

But there is a much, much bigger issue: why in the name of all that's holy do we need any organization to tell us what we must buy from our cable service provider?

I think I understand the Canadian content argument, I'm just not sure that I accept it.
Here's CP's initial take....
The CRTC has rejected Sun News Network’s request to be carried on basic cable.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission says the upstart network does not meet the criteria for a mandatory distribution order.

The CRTC says the bar is set very high for such an order ....
.... and the CRTC's take ....
.... Given its exceptional nature, the CRTC has set the bar very high for obtaining a mandatory distribution order. The CRTC’s policy requires that a service seeking such an order must clearly demonstrate its exceptional nature and that it achieves important public policy objectives under the Broadcasting Act ....
.... well as an interesting "what's next?" from the CRTC:
Today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) invited Canadians to participate in a review of its policy on the licensing of Canadian national news television services. It also invited comments on the distribution conditions for these services and for foreign news services.

“The diversity of voices is an essential component of our society, particularly as they relate to news and information in the Canadian broadcasting system” said Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC. “Television news channels provide an important public service by ensuring that Canadians are exposed to different opinions and perspectives on matters that concern all citizens. We are concerned that, under the existing rules, Canadian news services are not being given a pride of place in our broadcasting system.”

During the CRTC’s public hearing that began on April 23, 2013, Canadians presented evidence suggesting that the policy on specialty Canadian national news services should be reviewed. The CRTC will focus specifically on the challenges that face new players in this sector, particularly in terms of their distribution. These challenges are not unique to any given service, but rather an indication of a wider and more systemic issue regarding the distribution of Canadian national news services under equitable and commercially reasonable conditions.

The CRTC invites Canadians to comment on a proposed regulatory framework that includes the following:
- distributors must offer all Canadian national news services (not necessarily on basic service)
- distributors must place Canadian news services in close proximity in their channel lineup
- national news services must be available in a package and on a stand-alone basis
- national news services should be offered in the most appropriate packages according to their content.

Those who wish to participate in the CRTC’s proceeding are invited to submit their comments by September 9, 2013. Comments may be submitted by completing the online form, by writing to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2, or by fax at 819-994-0218 ....
 
Related: and not-so-good news for Sun News...

Financial Post link

CRTC rejects Sun News Network’s request to be carried on basic cable


OTTAWA — A bid by Sun News Network to be carried on basic cable has been rejected by Canada’s communications regulator, casting fresh doubts on the future of the controversial upstart broadcaster.


The channel does not meet the criteria for a guaranteed spot on the dial, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission declared today.

But the CRTC also says it will review the way news channels are regulated in Canada.

“The diversity of voices is an essential component of our society, particularly as they relate to news and information in the Canadian broadcasting system,” CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a statement.

“Television news channels provide an important public service by ensuring that Canadians are exposed to different opinions and perspectives on matters that concern all citizens. We are concerned that, under the existing rules, Canadian news services are not being given a pride of place in our broadcasting system.”

It remains unclear what the decision means for the future of the channel, dubbed “Fox News North” by some critics when it made its debut in April 2011.

Three months ago, Sun News executives told the commission that anything short of mandatory carriage would spell the end of the channel.

(...)
 
Why didn't they just say "You're not part of the pedestal sitting liberal elitist left. How dare you espouse your right wing unwashed masses opinions".

It would have been more acceptable than the bullshit claptrap they put out as an excuse to deny access to an organisation that they don't agree with.

Guess the liberals haven't completely forgone government. It would seem, just because they aren't the sitting government, doesn't mean they're not still in power. CRTC, Elections Canada, etc. What next?
 
Sun News will never be Fox North: Tim Harper

The Sun News Network should not be buried, but a better spot on the digital box does not equal influence or viewers
link here http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/08/08/sun_news_will_never_be_fox_north_tim_harper.html

I'm not going to try to edit, I think it is a positive and encouraging view from Both Torstar and CRTC.

It seems the Sun News is not as doomed as one might think, and that's a good thing.

 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/crtc-to-look-at-making-canadian-news-channels-available-to-all/article13656179/#dashboard/follows/

CRTC eyes major change to channel placement on cable

STEVE LADURANTAYE and SIMON HOUPT The Globe and Mail Published Thursday, Aug. 08 2013

The days of guaranteed placement on the Canadian television dial are nearing an end, as the country’s regulator is signalling to broadcasters it may never again grant that privilege to specific channels.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on Thursday rejected a dozen bids for inclusion on basic cable packages, including one by Sun News Network, which had argued it was being treated unfairly by television providers, some of which refused to carry its signal.

The regulator said it was unlikely to force certain channels onto TV lineups in the future and make viewers pay for them through a controversial tool known as “mandatory carriage.” (Basic cable is made up of mandatory channels, plus whichever services the provider bundles with them.)

“The environment has changed. How one thinks about accessing content also has to change,” said Jean-Pierre Blais, the chair of the CRTC, in an interview.

The commission held two weeks of hearings last April to consider adding channels to every basic cable lineup. To qualify for mandatory carriage, a channel must add something unique to the Canadian broadcast system and give a voice to a group that would otherwise not have one.

But with price-conscious consumers threatening to cut their television subscriptions as costs creep higher, and alternative services such as YouTube and Netflix making it easier to watch popular shows, the commission was wary of adding new channels.

If all the bids had been approved, it could have added as much as $2.75 to the average monthly television bill.

The regulator acted cautiously, adding only two channels to the national mandatory lineup, both of them French: Accessible Media, which already exists in English and provides services for viewers who have difficulty with their vision; and Nouveau TV5, which will provide programming about the Francophone experience.

It also granted the special status to the regional service operated by the Legislative Assemblies of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, to cover those law-making bodies. All three channels are operated by not-for-profit organizations.

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and CPAC, which already had mandatory carriage status, had their licences renewed, but they did not receive the boost in the wholesale fees for which they’d hoped.

All of the other applicants were turned away, including Sun, ZoomerMedia’s VisionTV and a channel called Starlight that looked to broadcast Canadian movies. The rejected channels are unlikely to get a second chance to apply: Mr. Blais said he couldn’t foresee any circumstance that would cause him to open the field to applicants again.

“This may very well be the last time,” Mr. Blais said.

Prior to the hearing, Sun had said it would shut down its two-year-old operation if the CRTC didn’t force all cable, satellite, and IPTV systems across the country to carry its signal, and pay it a higher wholesale rate than the average 6 cents per month it is currently receiving. But after the CRTC said Thursday it will look at helping all national news services secure carriage across the country, Sun promised to stay on the air for the time being.

VisionTV also said it no longer believed it needed mandatory carriage to survive.

Starlight, however, said it was “deeply disappointed” by the CRTC’s rejection of its application, and it seems unlikely to continue.

Described Video Guide, a proposed service that would advise viewers where TV shows with described video could be found, said it would file a human rights complaint over its rejection.

The CRTC’s move away from mandatory carriage signals another shift toward a television system that allows consumers more choice, Philip Lind, executive vice-president of regulatory at Rogers Communications Inc., said.

“We are moving toward more and more instances where the customer can really declare what he or she wants to pay for,” he said. “I think it was pretty clear from the outset that the applications were swimming upstream in trying to force customers to pay for something they had no choice in choosing.”

The CRTC intends to begin a consultation process in the fall that could lead to a complete overhaul of how TV services are packaged.

Chris Gerritsen, a Telus Corp. spokesperson, said the company was “pleased that the CRTC has upheld the principle of consumer choice in much of their decision today. We continue to believe in offering our customers great choice and flexibility in the content they consume. We also will continue working with all parties to reach commercial terms that meet the needs of our customers and our shareholders.”
 
I suppose the policy imperative for ideological diversity in news networks is not as strong as the policy imperative for competitive diversity in telecom providers.
 
No more Ezra Levant...

CBC

Sun News Network shuts down
CBC– 4 hours ago

Sun News Network went off the air at 5 a.m. ET Friday after failing to find a new owner.
Programming on the channel was replaced with a Sun TV logo.

Sun Media Corp. issued a statement saying it spent months unsuccessfully trying to find a buyer, but financial losses meant it could not continue to operate.

"This is an unfortunate outcome; shutting down Sun News was certainly not our goal," said Julie Tremblay, President and CEO of Media Group and Sun Media Corporation.

"Over the past four years, we tried everything we could to achieve sufficient market penetration to generate the profits needed to operate a national news channel. Sadly, the numerous obstacles to carriage that we encountered spelled the end of this venture," Tremblay said in a statement

(...SNIPPED)

The network began broadcasting in April 2011, launching a right-of-centre programming schedule, but it has had a constant challenge attracting viewers.
Its supporters blamed the CRTC for not giving it the same access enjoyed by news channels operated by CBC and CTV.

The federal broadcast regulator denied Sun News a guaranteed spot on basic cable TV packages in August  2013.

Data released as part of that application showed that while the network was available to 5.1 million households, it was only attracting, on average, 8,000 viewers at any given time.

That number was far lower than what well-established all-news networks operated by CTV and CBC were reporting. CBC, for example, said it had eight times as many viewers as Sun News.
Hosts courted controversy

When Quebecor launched the station, media pundits quickly dubbed it "Fox News North."

On the first day of broadcasting, Ezra Levant, one of the most controversial hosts of Sun News, showed the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to TV viewers.

(...SNIPPED)
 
Sun News' disappearance will be noticed by few, and lamented by far fewer still. They didn't make Canada better, they just contributed to the toxicity of our discourse. And in the end, they failed. And that's how she goes.
 
There are those who would say they were set up to fail. That might be a hard argument to refute.
 
They embarrassed main stream media.  They hammered home High River, they caught Moose Soup Spence with her diet and downtown hotel suite, they followed the money on Idle No More and the eco-warriors, and they never accepted Trudeau at face value.  No one in Mega-Media Corp bothered and accepted all these stories at face value and even acted as propagandists for some of these stories.  In fact they even took on the conservative establishment if they went too far.  I enjoyed them.
 
Brihard said:
Sun News' disappearance will be noticed by few, and lamented by far fewer still. They didn't make Canada better, they just contributed to the toxicity of our discourse. And in the end, they failed. And that's how she goes.

Agreed.

And this is why we should let the free market decide on the fates of things like CBC television. 
 
I just knew that when I tuned in to Sun News I was getting the facts, and a fair share of truth, this can't be said of Global, CTV, or the CBC. Hell the high river gun grab was over for a week when the CBC reported that some residents were a tad bit upset at the RCMP for doing their job keeping use safe from unsecured guns.
 
Crantor said:
Agreed.

And this is why we should let the free market decide on the fates of things like CBC television.

But the free market didn't (wholly) decide. The CRTC decided. You can't get viewers if they can't find you. I wager we'd be seeing a different story if all the news channels were on an even footing.
 
ModlrMike said:
But the free market didn't (wholly) decide. The CRTC decided. You can't get viewers if they can't find you. I wager we'd be seeing a different story if all the news channels were on an even footing.
:goodpost: :goodpost: :goodpost:
 
ModlrMike said:
But the free mareket didn't (wholly) decide. The CRTC decided. You can't get viewers if they can't find you. I wager we'd be seeing a different story if all the news channels were on an even footing.

There are several stations on my package I have to take, by decree of the CRTC. APTN is one, and I'm pretty sure CTV, CBC, Global and CITY are mandatory as well.

I agree, let the market decide.
 
I just found them too strident....too over the top.

You don't have to scream out something to have you believe it's true.....
 
I liked listening to one of their reporters on news radio here whenever she was on, Kris Simms.  I liked and agreed with her views on the threat of domestic terrorism and other security concerns we face today.  I don't watch TV so, I never had a chance to see their newscasts with the exception of a YouTube video of Ezra here and there.
 
GAP said:
I just found them too strident....too over the top.

You don't have to scream out something to have you believe it's true.....

That is how I feel about it. I'm still not a fan of the Mainstream Media. I would rather surf the blogs and make my own decisions on which of these are the most credible.
 
http://www.therebel.tv/



The Sun has set. So we can curse the darkness, or light a candle. I’m mourning. But I want to build. If you want an independent, conservative media alternative in Canada, let me know. I’ll tell you more soon.

Ezra Levant

Sign up at link if interested.

First Name, Last Name, Email, Province
 
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