Sun News is licensed the same as CTV News Channel and CBC News Network. Distributors became free to add or remove them from their systems as they wished, though no one would dare try to take away TSN. If it wasn’t for this reclassification, Sun News Network might not have been allowed to exist in the first place because of genre protection.Īll this to say that as of 2011, those news and sports channels no longer had mandatory carriage. As are TSN 1-5, Sportsnet East/Ontario/West/Pacific, Sportsnet One, RDS/RDS2 and TVA Sports/TVA Sports 2. It put two types of channels into this category: national news channels and mainstream sports channels.ĬBC News Network, CTV News Channel, Sun News Network, RDI and LCN are all Category C channels. The Category 2 channels became “Category B” services.Īnd there was a third category created, Category C, which were for services that the commission decided were mature enough that they could compete directly with each other with common conditions of licence. The old analog channels (like MuchMusic, YTV and Bravo) combined with the Category 1 digital channels to become “Category A” services, which maintained those carriage rights and genre protection. In 2011, the CRTC reclassified specialty channels. This differed from “Category 2” channels (BBC Canada, Discovery Science, MuchRetro and NHL Network are among many examples) where carriage was freely negotiated between the broadcaster and the distributor, and the services could compete directly with each other. They also benefitted from genre protection, meaning no one could start up a new channel that did the same thing as them. Digital cable and satellite distributors were required to have these channels on their systems, though they remained discretionary for the consumer. The “Category 1” that Kent refers to is an outdated term for a class of licence issued by the CRTC for the first digital-only specialty channels (ones that weren’t added to analog cable systems). Channels like Cottage Life (formerly Bold), Documentary, G4, ichannel and OUTtv. There are several problems with this argument, some of which are because of the complexities of CRTC specialty channel licenses. Thornhill MP Peter Kent, a former news anchor, was among many to place the blame squarely on the broadcast regulator, incorrectly suggesting that its failure to give it “mandatory cable carriage” like CBC and CTV news channels was the culprit. It wasn’t because of the CRTCīlame for Sun News demise: CRTC decision to refuse Cat 1 mandatory cable carriage status equal to CBC/CTV news nets From my similarly biased perch, I offer my own take. So who or what is at fault for Sun News’s failure? Everyone has their own theory, usually based on their personal politics and biased world view. Not because I agreed with Sun News, because I thought they did good journalism or was even a fan, but because it was one of the few channels on Canadian television that produced most of its own programming. And while some people are dancing on Sun’s grave, others are defending the network (even one prominent liberal) or at least expressing sympathy with those who are out of work.Ĭount me among those who are disappointed. They range from the anonymous video operators and editors working behind the scenes to high-profile hosts like David Akin. And during the commercials (like Tie Domi selling phones), Beatrice Vaisman presented “hard news headlines” - none of which were about reports of the network’s impending demise.Ībout 150 people are now unemployed. John Robson with a “special report” that was really just an essay on artificial intelligence. Lilley on gun seizures in High River, Alta. The last broadcast featured the usual Sun News programming: Levant talking about radical Muslims in Canada. Ezra Levant finished his show with a see-you-tomorrow, a promise he can’t fulfill. There was no chance for staff to say goodbye on air. This is the email Sun News employees received 39 seconds after the network went off air #sunnewsnetwork #SunNews /Fcxz5fKbaJ Sadly, the numerous obstacles to carriage that we encountered spelled the end of this venture.Īnd vice-president Kory Teneycke sent out an email to staff: 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. Sun News notice on Videotron’s cable systemĪt the same time, owner Quebecor Media sent out a statement:
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