Updated re Star, Gazette, Post, Hollywood Reporter
Feedback varies, but Quebecor's plan to launch a national all-news TV channel has been receiving a lot of ink.
Details of "Fox News North" were announced this morning during a press conference at the Toronto Sun.
Sun Media has launched "The Sun News TV Channel" to outline its intentions and collect "pledge to view" e-mails.
Stories and columns:
Peter Worthington, co-founder of the Toronto Sun
Bill Harris, Sun TV writer
Bill Brioux, former Toronto Sun TV writer
Globe and Mail story by Susan Krashinsky
Toronto Star story by Robert Benzie
Montreal Gazette story by Jamie Sturgeon
Reuters story by David Ljunggren and Euan Rocha
Hollywood Reporter story by Etan Vlessing
CBC News
Canadian Press story on CTV
Quebecor/Sun Media press release on Marketwire
National Post story by Chris Selley
Feedback varies, but Quebecor's plan to launch a national all-news TV channel has been receiving a lot of ink.
Details of "Fox News North" were announced this morning during a press conference at the Toronto Sun.
Sun Media has launched "The Sun News TV Channel" to outline its intentions and collect "pledge to view" e-mails.
Stories and columns:
Peter Worthington, co-founder of the Toronto Sun
Bill Harris, Sun TV writer
Bill Brioux, former Toronto Sun TV writer
Globe and Mail story by Susan Krashinsky
Toronto Star story by Robert Benzie
Montreal Gazette story by Jamie Sturgeon
Reuters story by David Ljunggren and Euan Rocha
Hollywood Reporter story by Etan Vlessing
CBC News
Canadian Press story on CTV
Quebecor/Sun Media press release on Marketwire
National Post story by Chris Selley
And the majority of posts on those stories reflect how dumb an idea this is.
ReplyDeleteThis is the iceberg that's going to sink the Titanic.
The new TV web site: suntvnews. Maybe it's just me but doesn't sunt rhyme with ...?
ReplyDeleteAn indication of things to come: The site uses the cheapest possible $2 photos from bottom-end picture site iStockphoto.com. I guess they couldn't afford Sun Media pictures.
The site has a "Sun Careers, Come join our team" banner. None of the smiling people in the photo work for the Sun. It's a fake, store-bought iStock photo which was made from several individual pictures blended together. I guess it was impossible to find a group of smiling Sun employees.
PKP quote: "We will invest what we think is appropriate to make this company, or this specific business profitable," Nuf said.
Kory Teneycke: "We're taking on the mainstream media...."
But Sun Media *is* the mainstream media. And, Quebecor is old-school, middle-aged white-guy corporate cronyism at its finest, otherwise the deal behind this venture would never have happened.
Interesting to see if they will get their broadcast license changed. While the Conservative feds will probably rubberstamp this (see above, re: deal behind this), remember why the original A-channel (Toronto) station was refused its license to broadcast daily news. This license is still in effect today.
Will the CRTC grow a spine and take a stand against media ownership concentration? Canwest was (is?) a good (bad) example of media ownership concentration, but it was just split up to separate TV from newspapers.
CTV and Globe+Mail is a slightly different situation as the Globe is a one-off national paper. But when CTV bought Chum/City, the CRTC ordered CTV to sell off some TV assets.
Now, Sun newspapers and Sun TV are planning to operate in the same area(s) with the same/similar content ? Will other TV broadcasters oppose the license change as they did when the A-channel (Toronto) started up?
What will happen to everyone's favourite Canoe-TV?
What about all the A-Channel (Sun TV) folks who, uh, took "early retirement"? Will they be offered a return to work (at lower salaries, of course)?
I guess we'll just have to stayed tuned for the next episode of, "As the Sun sets"
Just in case you missed it or didn't see the banner at the press conference, the new TV venture is promoting itself as:
ReplyDeleteHARD ...
STRAIGHT...
>>"Peladeau said the new network would create some jobs, but stressed the company is relying on a convergence model, in which its journalists file print and web stories, as well as shoot video. He did not indicate how much Quebecor would invest in the news operations, saying only that it would invest enough to make the business profitable." (Canadian Press story)
ReplyDeleteIn other words, a glorified Sun TV Grille Room? Should we read this as about to be put together on the cheap, with reporters being expected to fill in as right-wing opinion flaks?
Considering the production values of Sun TV are about a half step up from Wayne's World - although Sun TV would die for Wayne and Garth's ratings - the morphing into an all-news network should be a hoot. Is the resurrection of SCTV nigh?
ReplyDelete"Fox News North" --ouch!
ReplyDeleteNow we need a Jon Stewart North!
Signed,
MISSISSAUGAWATCH
@12:32. I respect SCTV. @MISSISSAUGAWATCH. I respect Jon Stewart.
ReplyDelete@Anyone else who even remotely believes this will be a fantastic, state-of-the-art network like FOX News in the U.S., be realistic here ... given Quebecor's track record for top-notch quality (!) ... you will all learn to respect SCTV, Jon Stewart, even Family Guy's Quahog News and The Simpsons' Kent Brockman even more once Sun TV News goes to air.
Fox News??
ReplyDeleteMegan Fox is going to have her own TV show?
She'll be wearing a bikini like a Sunshine Girl?
Hey, I'm watching!
Ya know, if PKP was smart (ha!) he would've bought "Naked News". Perfect fit for Sun Media. Think of the cross-promotion opportunities through the paper's Sunshine Girl. Naked News people are TV-trained and its studio is already set up and running.
The CRTC turned down the Sun News TV application for a new Category-1 license but it will review all TV licenses after October 2011 when Canada fully switches over to digital TV. Digital means more bandwidth will be available than the current analog.
ReplyDeleteCategory-1 means the channel would have been part of all basic cable packages, and it would have been automatically available to everyone.
Quebecor can still apply for a news broadcasting license, but the new channel would not necessarily be part of any basic cable package. Unless any cable carrier (Videotron?) is feeling extra-friendly, this would mean that viewers would have to pay extra to get the new Sun channel.