# Merged QMI/Sun Media TV News thread



## The Bread Guy (10 Jun 2010)

This from the Toronto Sun (a QMI paper), shared in accordance with the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the _Copyright  Act_::


> Quebecor has asked the CRTC for permission to create an English-language news network.
> 
> QMI Agency has learned that, if the licence is granted, the network could see the light of day in 2011. The new network would create an alternative source of information and opinion in a tone similar to that of the American Fox News.
> 
> ...



What else is the PM's former spokesperson going to be doing?


> Kory Teneycke, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former communications director, is assuming a new posting as head of media giant Quebecor's Parliament Hill bureau, effectively overseeing coverage of a government for which he was chief spokesman one year ago.
> 
> Teneycke will become vice-president of development for the Montreal-based communications company, publishers of the expansive Sun chain of newspapers, and assume responsibility for the Ottawa bureau, where he will be located, said a joint Sun Media-Quebecor announcement Tuesday ....



And one of the hosts?  If Jane Taber at the Globe is to be believed....


> Fox News of the North has its first television host: David Akin resigned this morning as a parliamentary reporter with Canwest.
> 
> Mr. Akin is now poised to join Sun Media as the Ottawa bureau chief and be a television host. He has a background in television, having worked for CTV.
> 
> ...


....not to mention being a member here  ;D


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## Edward Campbell (10 Jun 2010)

See here and here for more.


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## vonGarvin (10 Jun 2010)

> he Twitters, he blogs, he has a Facebook page, he appears in the Canwest newspapers and he is on television.  ....


That's all well and good, but does he make Julienne Fries?   ;D


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## Bruce Monkhouse (10 Jun 2010)

..and not to mention one of the few media types that, when he was a military correspondent,  came here open and honest and wasn't afraid to ask questions to get a correct story.


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## The Bread Guy (10 Jun 2010)

ERC, obviously I didn't search ENOUGH - mods, if you want to cut/paste/move, feel free.


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## Bruce Monkhouse (10 Jun 2010)

I think this can make a stand-alone topic.
I'm sure some CBC-ites will be along shortly. :duel:


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## Edward Campbell (11 Jun 2010)

Yet more, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from the _Globe and Mail_:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/right-leaning-tv-channel-in-the-works/article1600054/


> *'fox news of the north'*
> Right-leaning TV channel in the works
> *Venture set to cost $100-million over 5 years, with official announcement to come soon*
> 
> ...




It will be interesting to watch: both the programmes and the _Quebecor_ balance sheet.


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## Old Sweat (11 Jun 2010)

Here is a link to a poll on the CBC website. When I last looked at it, it was running 71% for, and 29% against.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/pointofview/2010/06/fox-news-would-you-watch-a-similar-channel-in-canada.html


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## Retired AF Guy (11 Jun 2010)

Old Sweat said:
			
		

> Here is a link to a poll on the CBC website. When I last looked at it, it was running 71% for, and 29% against.
> 
> http://www.cbc.ca/news/pointofview/2010/06/fox-news-would-you-watch-a-similar-channel-in-canada.html



May be that's what's got Don Newman running scared. Here's his spiel on while this shouldn't happen.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/10/f-vp-newman.html


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## MarkOttawa (11 Jun 2010)

From Adrian MacNair:

The Taxpayer Funded CBC Not Happy About “Fox News North” (note my comment)
http://unambig.com/the-taxpayer-funded-cbc-not-happy-about-fox-news-north/#comment-12698

Mark
Ottawa


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## Rifleman62 (11 Jun 2010)

When/if this FNN comes to past, it will further erode CBC's viewership, especially the news division. One problem will be the cable/satellite distributors will charge a premium to customers, like they do for FOX News, to add it to your viewing channels. Some of the cable/satellite distributors have a vested interest in the FNN not becoming established and successful. 


"CTVglobemedia Inc. is 40% owned by The Woodbridge Company, 25% owned by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, 20% owned by Torstar and 15% owned by Bell Canada Enterprises". Torstar owns the Toronto Star, and Bell owns one of two Canadian satellite companies.

"CTVglobemedia Inc. is Canada's premier multimedia company with ownership of CTV, Canada’s #1 television network, and The Globe and Mail, Canada’s #1 national newspaper. CTV Inc. owns and operates 27 conventional stations across the country, with interests in 30 specialty channels, including Canada’s #1 specialty channel, TSN. CTVglobemedia also owns the CHUM Radio Division, which operates 34 radio stations throughout Canada, including CHUM FM, Canada’s # 1 FM station".


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## The Bread Guy (11 Jun 2010)

This caught my eye in Newman's piece:


> .... In the U.S., Fox News .... specializes in drive-by attacks and misrepresentations, and is positively Orwellian at times, claiming to be "fair and balanced" while implying that its competitors aren't.
> 
> The reality is that it mainly spews out propaganda that is dangerously misleading and often factually wrong.
> 
> The parts that aren't wrong are, in some ways, just as dangerous, since they tend to make people comfortable in their prejudices ....


You know the self-help books that say what you hate in others can often be what's wrong with you?


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## Rifleman62 (11 Jun 2010)

I had high hopes for Global National. It is an excellent news cast, but it's getting a bit weak with some gotta news and ex CBC ers. Old news follows. I wonder if he is going over also. I hope so.

Canwest News Service: Saturday, May 1, 2010

After anchoring Global National since its inception in 2001, Kevin Newman announced Friday he will leave the position and the network by the end of August.

"Several months ago, after considerable reflection, I informed Global management of my desire for rest and creative renewal," Newman wrote in an e-mail to Global National staff. "After a period of productive discussion, we have agreed I will be stepping down as anchor and executive editor of Global National at the end of my current contract in August."

Newman, 50, has been a journalist for 26 years and has previously held positions with CBC, CTV News and the U.S.-based ABC News, where he reported for Nightline and Good Morning America.


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## Edward Campbell (12 Jun 2010)

More on the hysterically named _“Fox News North”_ project, this time concerned with the business case against a *hard* _conservative_ orientation, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from the _Globe and Mail_:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/right-wing-television-needs-upscale-market/article1601831/?cmpid=rss1


> Right-wing television needs upscale market
> *Researcher says being too conservative won't attract high-end ad dollars*
> 
> Steven Chase
> ...




So, the business case is for _livelier_ rather than uniformly _conservative_ programming; that makes sense to me because, sadly, news and entertainment have become so inextricably linked that we are no longer sure where one ends and the other begins. For the record, *information ≠ entertainment*.


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## MARS (12 Jun 2010)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> I had high hopes for Global National. It is an excellent news cast,



I have to disagree.  I have always felt they took "the sky is falling" approach to their reporting.  Too alarmist for me.

My 2 fils


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## Retired AF Guy (12 Jun 2010)

From the Steve Chase article: 



> Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a Conservative who works in market research in Toronto said right-wing talk shows – which are almost solely on local AM radio stations – tend to attract an older and downscale audience with far less disposable spending than advertisers prefer. “It’s not the demographic most national advertisers are going after and that’s why talk radio is in local markets.”



To me this sounds like Chase did a little cherry picking; hunt around until you find someone that agrees with you and ignore all of those who don't. Plus, I've always had a problem with anonymous sources. I disagree with the statement "_right-wing talk shows – which are almost solely on local AM radio stations._" As far as I know ALL talk shows, whether right. left or centre, tend to be on the AM dial. Not sure why, but offhand I cant' think of any that are on FM. I will agree that conservatives tend to be older. I'm guessing that when he says "downscale audience" he talking about lower income people. However, I disagree that both groups don't spend money, they do and for that reason are targeted by advertisers. 

I also disagree with the last statement about talk radio and local markets. The reason local markets are targeted is because the advertiser is trying to attract local people to his/her business. Plus, the fact here in Canada we don't have many national talk show hosts. The only one I can think of is Charles Adler* on the Corus network. Now, down in the States its a different show altogether! You have Rush, Glenn Beck, Dennis Miller, just to name three that are syndicated all across the U.S. and who have a large audience that listens to their shows and advertisers. 

All-in-all, I disagree Chase's article, especially, when its based on a single-source. If he quoted five-six different people, then I might think differently. Personally, I think a conservative TV station has a chance here in Canada and that people would be willing to watch it. 

* I thought about Rex Murphy and Rick Mercer, but both work for the CBC which is publicly funded and doesn't have to rely on advertising as much as other TV/radio stations.


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## Rifleman62 (12 Jun 2010)

MARS



> I have always felt they took "the sky is falling"


 and it is entirely the fault of HARPER and the Conservatives!! 





> approach to their reporting.


  CBC and CTV are 





> Too alarmist for me



Keep Your Powder Dry


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## Fishbone Jones (12 Jun 2010)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> When/if this FNN comes to past, it will further erode CBC's viewership, especially the news division. One problem will be the cable/satellite distributors will charge a premium to customers, like they do for FOX News, to add it to your viewing channels. Some of the cable/satellite distributors have a vested interest in the FNN not becoming established and successful.
> 
> 
> "CTVglobemedia Inc. is 40% owned by The Woodbridge Company, 25% owned by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, 20% owned by Torstar and 15% owned by Bell Canada Enterprises". Torstar owns the Toronto Star, and Bell owns one of two Canadian satellite companies.
> "CTVglobemedia Inc. is Canada's premier multimedia company with ownership of CTV, Canada’s #1 television network, and The Globe and Mail, Canada’s #1 national newspaper. CTV Inc. owns and operates 27 conventional stations across the country, with interests in 30 specialty channels, including Canada’s #1 specialty channel, TSN. CTVglobemedia also owns the CHUM Radio Division, which operates 34 radio stations throughout Canada, including CHUM FM, Canada’s # 1 FM station".



.....and the Ontario Teacher's Pension owns Bell, IIRC. If so, in effect a 40% share of CTV Globe.


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## Edward Campbell (14 Jun 2010)

Another recruit, maybe, according to this report, reproduced under the fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from the _Globe and Mail_:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/krista-erickson-leaves-cbc-apparently-to-join-fox-news-north/article1603372/


> Krista Erickson leaves CBC — apparently to join 'Fox News North'
> 
> Jane Taber
> 
> ...




Don Newman must be turning over in his grave … oh, wait, he’s still alive, he just thinks like he died in the 1970s.


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## Old Sweat (14 Jun 2010)

My wife and I are going to a CPC fundraiser at the Ivy Lea Club on Sunday afternoon. Among others, Senator Duffy will be in attendance. If I get a chance, I intend to ask him if he will have his own show.


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## The Bread Guy (14 Jun 2010)

Old Sweat said:
			
		

> My wife and I are going to a CPC fundraiser at the Ivy Lea Club on Sunday afternoon. Among others, Senator Duffy will be in attendance. If I get a chance, I intend to ask him if he will have his own show again.


Fixed that for you  ;D


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## Edward Campbell (14 Jun 2010)

The media are now reporting that QMI will make a public announcement tomorrow.


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## ModlrMike (14 Jun 2010)

I have to admit that the amount of hand wringing and apoplexy on the left makes this an idea worth pursuing.


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## The Bread Guy (15 Jun 2010)

> .... Sun TV News is the label that has been given to Quebecor’s newest media project.
> 
> It’s a TV news channel that wants to “challenge the existing English Canadian TV news establishment,” according to Quebecor Media president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau.
> 
> ...


More here (article), here (Sun TV News site) and here (how to help the proposed new network)


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## Kat Stevens (15 Jun 2010)

MARS said:
			
		

> I have to disagree.  I have always felt they took "the sky is falling" approach to their reporting.  Too alarmist for me.
> 
> My 2 fils



Agreed, they seem to follow the pattern of US news broadcasts; "Tune in at eleven to see which 30 common items in your home will kill your kids".


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## Rifleman62 (15 Jun 2010)

SUN TV will present the sunny side of 





> an attractive mixture of ‘hard news’ reporting during the day and ‘straight talk’ opinion journalism at night


 which does not exist with the constant message from CBC and CTV of: it's all _Harpers's_ and the Conservatives fault and Canada is a disaster.


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## GAP (15 Jun 2010)

Boy, the other outlets sure don't like the idea of Sun News....must be hitting home.... :

Full Pundit: The evil right-wing television network has a name
Article Link

Say hello to Sun News
Thoughts on Canada’s new “home for hard news and straight talk.”

Sun Media’s Peter Worthington thinks Fox News, unlike “CNN or MSNBC or even the CBC, all of which give a slanted and selective view of [the] news of the day,” “has earned the title ‘Fair and Balanced.’ ” It is, he says, just the place to find “opposing views in news commentary” — indeed, it’s “the only channel that specializes in such opinions, most of them reasonable,” and while claiming no inside information, he hopes the new TV network being planned by his Quebecor overlords “matches the versatility, enlightenment and independent alternative view” available on Fox News.

John Moore, in the National Post, thinks … well, let’s just say the exact opposite of all that.

We don’t watch Fox News, so we couldn’t really tell you either way. But they sure can’t both be right!

Having recently attended “the annual gala liberal-group frottage staged … by the Canadian Journalism Foundation,” Terence Corcoran, also writing in the Post, is willing to get behind any venture that might break the stranglehold of the “Atkinson-Star Toronto-centric liberal collective that makes up the core of the Canadian media ideological value-trap.” We think that would make an excellent tag line for Ezra Live.

Stop worrying and love the summits
Andrew Cohen, writing in the Ottawa Citizen, hopes we “use the moment” of the G8 and G20 summits not to complain about the cost, but “to re-think this country abroad” — to “use our prudence, prosperity, history, geography and diversity to our advantage in the world.” This sounds an awful lot like the same old twaddle you’ve heard 150 times before, but Cohen assures us the ideas espoused in Open Canada: A Global Positioning Strategy for a Networked Age, which is a somnambulantly titled report from the Canadian International Council, comprise a good starting point for such a discussion. In other news, Cohen reports that we coould have parlayed the patriotic fervour of the Olympics “into a modest agenda of democratic reform (encouraging youth voting) and physical fitness (addressing childhood obesity),” but that it’s officially too late to do so now … four months later. Pity. “Alexandre Bilodeau votes, so you should too” would’ve been a dynamite campaign.
More on link


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## Rifleman62 (16 Jun 2010)

Picture From: http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2010/06/korytv-application-form-leaked/

"And unlike a lot of Ottawa reporting, the correct answer here isn’t all that nuanced".


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## xena (16 Jun 2010)

ModlrMike said:
			
		

> I have to admit that the amount of hand wringing and apoplexy on the left makes this an idea worth pursuing.


Absolutely!  It seems the CBC'ers doth protest a bit too much (IMHO).  Makes me curious about what they're so worried about.

Are they really that worried that the average Canadian can't think for themselves and have to be spoon fed their opinions by (their and only their!) talking head in a box every evening?


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## Rifleman62 (21 Jun 2010)

The following drival is from: 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/television/john-doyle/fox-news-north-and-you-thought-the-fake-lake-was-barking-mad/article1610820/

Fox News North? And you thought the fake lake was barking mad? 

*Brace yourself for what’s shaping up to be the fake news channel – all fluff, all the time*

John Doyle 
From Monday's Globe and Mail , 
Published on Monday, Jun. 21, 2010 12:00AM EDT

Last updated on Monday, Jun. 21, 2010 10:49AM EDT

.The news that CBC-TV reporter Krista Erickson was leaving the CBC, possibly to join what’s being called “Fox News North,” caught my attention. Dragged me away from the World Cup.

It struck me as proof positive of the truth in a line delivered by Olivia Newton-John in the season finale of Glee: “Brunettes have no place in showbiz.”

Just speculating here, but if it’s anything like the Fox News channel in the United States, it certainly won’t be a news outlet. It will be entertainment. Fluff. Frivolous opinion delivered as fact. That is, showbiz. You’ve heard of the “fake lake”? Well this could end up being the fake-news channel. Brought to you by the people who probably think the fake lake is an okay thing.

The “blond, attractive and dating a politician” Erickson (as my Ottawa colleague Jane Taber put it recently) would be a perfect fit. Right-wingers are as predictable in their news-babe preferences as they are in their conspiracy theories about the CBC. The only brunette you’re likely to find on the proposed channel, a right-wing act of broadcast onanism, is Ezra Levant. That would be Ezra “Bill O’Reilly of the North” Levant.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Oh come on, it’ll be hilarious. Bring it on, I say. We're all in need of a good laugh. The barking-mad Fox News Channel is something that most Canadians have only heard about. They could watch it, because it is widely available here, but hardly anybody can be bothered. Except, obviously, for those behind this new outfit – Quebecor Media President Pierre Karl Péladeau and its VP of development Kory Teneycke.

Teneycke used to be “Our Glorious Leader” Harper’s snippity spokesthingamajig. Recently, he’s been a pundit on CBC News Network, doing his best to imitate a Fox News pundit, all drive-by sneer and shaky foundation. And Teneycke, who is actually a personable fella and a good sport when he’s not making barking-mad remarks on TV, is a keener. He is also a regular correspondent with this column. Not long ago he wrote encouraging me to view Power & Politics on CBC NN because, he said, Levant had demolished author Marci McDonald on it. McDonald has, of course, written a book about the right-wing Christian movement in Canada and its influence on the government of Our Glorious Leader. In Teneycke’s note to me, he described McDonald as an “anti-Christian bigot.”

I laughed out loud when I read that. I imagine if McDonald appeared on this Fox News North, the caption on the screen would be “anti-Christian bigot.” And if I ever appeared, the caption would be, “Left-wing, soccer-loving loony.” I’m sure I won’t be on it, though. Instead, I suspect, it will be Erickson swapping bons mots with a giggly Levant, while Rex Murphy, the Red Green of political pundits, waits off-screen to deliver a thundering denunciation of people who oppose catastrophic oil spills.

Oh my dears it’s going to be tremendous fun, if it happens. An entire channel run by, and aimed at, people who believe that political or social dialogue is advanced by name-calling. The people who support Fox News – here and in the U.S. – must be the most uncivil and foul-mouthed creatures on the planet. They'd give soccer hooligans a run for their money. This is an informed opinion.

When I wrote about the looming arrival of Fox News in Canada in 2004, I got thousands (yes, thousands) of e-mails from Fox News devotees in the U.S. One of the first to arrive was this: “You are a [expletive]. Please don't sleep on your side, because your tiny little brain will roll out your ear, you communist [expletive].”

It was bizarre, bracing and very, very funny. I so look forward to the Canadian version. And this may have escaped the brains behind the outfit, but there is one sure way to justify the existence of the CBC. That is, spend 24 hours a day doing what Fox News does – pundits playing journalists in an ongoing soap opera of left-versus-right. It would make CBC, CTV and Global look very, very good. Go for it. Bring it on. Brunettes need not apply, though, unless they’re male, because this is showbiz, after all.


Can't wait till SUN TV to go on air to see all the criticism.


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## Retired AF Guy (22 Jun 2010)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> The following drival is from:
> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/television/john-doyle/fox-news-north-and-you-thought-the-fake-lake-was-barking-mad/article1610820/
> 
> Fox News North? And you thought the fake lake was barking mad?
> ...



A perfect case of the pot calling the kettle black!


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## Brad Sallows (24 Jun 2010)

I recognize that tone.  Looks to me like Doyle is scared.  A new successful media outlet is going to take away market share from others.


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## GAP (24 Jun 2010)

I got half way through the article before it dawned on me that this is nothing but namecalling, schoolyard stuff......he's scared....


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## Rifleman62 (24 Jun 2010)

Interested???

http://www.suntvnews.ca/?gclid=CPSi89DhuaICFRRUgwodeDxe5A


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## DBA (25 Jun 2010)

GAP said:
			
		

> I got half way through the article before it dawned on me that this is nothing but namecalling, schoolyard stuff......he's scared....



What makes it even more hilarious is this sentence: "An entire channel run by, and aimed at, people who believe that political or social dialogue is advanced by name-calling."


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## The Bread Guy (15 Sep 2010)

> A proposed right-wing, all-news TV network says it's "full steam ahead" despite the sudden resignation of its high-profile and politically connected frontman.
> 
> Kory Teneycke, who until last year was the chief spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, stepped down Wednesday as vice-president of development at Quebecor Media, saying he'd become a liability to the launch of SunTV.
> 
> ...


The intrigue continues - more here.  No more Kory Twitter account, either....


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## OldSolduer (15 Sep 2010)

Plus Margaret Atwood, a "champion" of free speech is calling for the CRTC to deny a license to this network.  I guess if it was called the "Proletarit Network" it would fly!

BTW, Atwood publicly supported the licensing of Al Jezeera.


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## a_majoor (22 Sep 2010)

Look who else is trying to derail QMI:

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/09/22/george-soros-8-most-despicable-acts-1/print/



> *George Soros’ 8 Most Despicable Acts (UPDATED AFTER THREAT BY SOROS’ LAWYERS)*
> 
> Posted By Kathy Shaidle On September 22, 2010 @ 8:00 am In Email,Europe,Fairness Doctrine / Removing Conservatives from the Airwaves,Feature,Funders of the Left,Glenn Beck,Hollywood,Tactics of the Left,Tea Party | 10 Comments
> 
> ...


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## a_majoor (7 Nov 2010)

Sadly, the management of Quebecor seems to have caved. Express your displeasure by suggestign to QMI that you will no longer support thier publications (and by extension their advertisers) if they don't get off the pot and make SUN TV a reality

http://www.quebecor.com/Tools/ContactUs.aspx



> For more information or to share your comments, write to us at the following address or use the form below to send us an email.
> 
> Quebecor
> 612, Saint-Jacques Street
> ...



http://afewfigs.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/unbelievably-sad/
http://nofrakkingconsensus.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/when-is-a-job-offer-not-a-job-offer-part-2/



> *When is a Job Offer Not a Job Offer? (Part 2)
> *
> November 6, 2010
> 
> ...


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## ModlrMike (7 Nov 2010)

Sadly, the left will crow about their victory, when it is, in truth, a defeat. A singular defeat of free speech and alternative point of view. The fact that it was conceived, managed, and funded from outside our country is even sadder, and an even greater defeat.


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## ModlrMike (26 Nov 2010)

Looks like Sun TV is approved after all:

LINK
*CRTC approves Sun TV for broadcast*

Of course it's a subscribe only channel, but at least it's on the air. Interesting to see the comments and scores on CBC.


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## George Wallace (26 Nov 2010)

Will they have the SUN Girl?    >


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## GAP (26 Nov 2010)

ModlrMike said:
			
		

> Looks like Sun TV is approved after all:
> Interesting to see the comments and scores on CBC.



Like these.....


> Sun TV makes FOX "News" looks respectable. Just another piece of NeoCon trash.






> Fox news north, the red necks and morons can plug in thir brains each morning and get programed for the day.


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## OldSolduer (26 Nov 2010)

The sad part is that these folks who say such things would castigate you if you dared to criticize the Mother Corp.


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## ModlrMike (26 Nov 2010)

Jim Seggie said:
			
		

> The sad part is that these folks who say such things would castigate you if you dared to criticize the Mother Corp.



No, the really sad thing is that these same folks believe that the CBC is part of the Harper propaganda machine.


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## The Bread Guy (6 Jan 2011)

..... according to the _Globe & Mail_:


> The former Harper spin doctor who helped advance the Conservative brand is back at the helm of the right-leaning Sun TV News startup as it gets ready to sell its contrarian voice in the Canadian broadcasting market.
> 
> Kory Teneycke is expected to resume working at the 24-hour news channel next week, The Globe and Mail has learned.
> 
> ...


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## Fishbone Jones (6 Jan 2011)

I hope they have an internet channel. I don't subscribe to cable or satellite.


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## Rifleman62 (6 Jan 2011)

This is what I am looking forward to (so are others, checking the comments at the end of the piece): http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/mark_bonokoski/2011/01/04/16762171.html

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Comment Columnists / Mark Bonokoski

*
Harper Tories' 'stupidest decision'*

By MARK BONOKOSKI , QMI Agency

Maybe it's the air in Ottawa.

Maybe it's because much of the national press gallery lives in a subliminally gated political community where the pack mentality is nurtured and then contained by a white picket fence so high that the rest of Canada, over time, becomes foreign.

But it must be an explanation for its distance from reality.

A case in point was Sunday's edition of Question Period, a CTV panel show where the Top-10 political stories of 2010 were being "discussed" by five political correspondents with long imprisonments in Ottawa -- the Globe and Mail's Jane Taber and Gloria Galloway, CTV's Craig Oliver and Bob Fife, and the Toronto Star's Jim Travers.

There was, however, no debate, only discussion and wholesale agreement.

People in small-town Canada -- meaning anywhere outside a 100-km radius of insular Ottawa -- must have felt their blood pressure rise when Travers went unchallenged as he described the Conservatives' end of the mandatory long-form census, supposedly the fourth most-important story of 2010, as an "act of public vandalism."

Or when Fife, CTV's Ottawa bureau chief and once-upon-a-time Sun Media's conservative-minded man in Ottawa, emphatically pointed out the 492 Tamils who arrived uninvited to our shores aboard a smugglers' ship from Sri Lanka were "not queue jumpers."

If they were not "queue jumpers," then what in hell were they?

Again, no one on the panel asked Fife to explain.

This is due to being Ottawa-ized by institutional liberalism.

Venture beyond the 100-km radius that insulates Ottawa from the rest of us, however, and the good folks who sit in the coffee shop in Griffith, Ont., for example, or further down the road in Saidie's Eagle's Nest Restaurant in Bancroft, Ont., (which is my rural haunt) would have no trouble calling a spade a spade, and a "queue jumper" a queue jumper.

Nor would any of them put the end of a mandatory long-form census on any Top-10 list. The survival of the gun registry by a close vote, maybe, because rural folk hate it for all the right reasons.

But not the long-form census.

Full disclosure: For 10 years I lived in insulated Ottawa, first as editor and then publisher of the Ottawa Sun, followed by a stint as Sun Media's national affairs columnist, and then two years of self-imposed sabbatical.

Today we live in Ontario's near-north, equidistant to both Ottawa and Toronto, while I maintain a basement apartment in a rather dodgy part of downtown Toronto for times when the office calls.

This arrangement provides the best of two worlds -- no picket fences so high that the rest of Canada becomes foreign, plus a blending of

helter-skelter urban with common-sense rural.

It also provides a perspective lacking by many of those who, over time, are infected with the liberal spin of institutionalized Ottawa politics and explains why the best commentary usually comes from outside Ottawa.

During that particular episode of CTV's Question Period, for example, Fife called the end of the mandatory long-form census the "stupidest decision the (Harper) government has ever made."

The stupidest decision ever made?

If that was the "stupidest decision ever made" by our government, and the long-form census was the fourth most important story of 2010, then what a great country we must live in.

mark.bonokoski@sunmedia.ca


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## Rifleman62 (6 Jan 2011)

From Small Dead Animals: Llisten to Charles Adler and Bonokoski: http://coruscjobam.media.streamtheworld.com/audio/adler_jan_100941501.mp3

Bonokoski says hopefully Sun TV will be up in March.


----------



## a_majoor (28 Nov 2011)

Another reason to watch Sun TV:



> Watch the appalling video
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Since Steve is apparently not confident that he can go one to one in a debate with Sun TV personalities, this is a pretty telling admission to how weak his position really is.

The last line is a laugh riot; does he really imagine that Sun TV personalities or Sun's viewers are part of the >7% of the national audience that watches CBC?


----------



## GAP (28 Nov 2011)

Flipping through the channels, I came across his whining.....so I put the TV on the shopping channel (I never go to the shopping channel, but it was infinitely better than listening to Steven Staples.....)


----------



## OldSolduer (28 Nov 2011)

GAP said:
			
		

> Flipping through the channels, I came across his whining.....so I put the TV on the shopping channel (I never go to the shopping channel, but it was infinitely better than listening to Steven Staples.....)


When there is nothing else worth watching on TV, The Weather Network usually has a few....talented....weather girls on.


----------



## Fishbone Jones (28 Nov 2011)

Jim Seggie said:
			
		

> When there is nothing else worth watching on TV, The Weather Network usually has a few....talented....weather girls on.


 The really talented ones are over at Naked News


----------



## OldSolduer (28 Nov 2011)

recceguy said:
			
		

> The really talented ones are over at Naked News



I fully concur with that statement however, leaving something to the imagination is always good.

Besides, TWN is free.......


----------



## Danno1 (25 Jan 2013)

Mods, feel free to put this thread anywhere you see fit. Thanks.

Sun News Network is making a do-or-die pitch to CRTC to get basic cable coverage, at a much lower support level than CBC to boot. 

This is the only network that represents the silent majority, and will side with law abiding gun owners, honest policemen, private sector wealth creators, and Canadian troops, over the latest in vogue politically correct narrative. Sun has changed the landscape here in Toronto for the better - a Herculean task - and is the only defender against a partisan media monopoly. 

Writing a letter, signing a petition, or posting these links on your Facebook and Twitter is a small price to pay for the service Sun has brought to honest and (somewhat) free people of all creeds. 

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/
http://canadiantvfirst.ca/
http://www.facebook.com/CanadianTvFirst
https://twitter.com/CanadianTvFirst

CRTC - Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2, reference #2012-0687-1


----------



## Remius (25 Jan 2013)

I stopped actively supporting the Sun when years ago Earl McCrae came to the CFRC for a an interview.  He wanted to know what initiatives recruiting was up to, generic stuff.  Turns out he turned it into an anti war article about how we would bring nothing but death to young Canadians.


----------



## eurowing (25 Jan 2013)

I too feel they should be heard.  They are not always right or bright, but neither is CBC.


----------



## PPCLI Guy (25 Jan 2013)

It is evident that Sun News is unfamiliar with the concept of cognitive dissonance.  How a small government, fiscally and socially conservative and borderline libertarian organ can put out its hand for a taxpayer subsidy is completely beyond me.

What ever happened to the "marketplace of ideas"?

As to this:



> This is the only network that represents the silent majority, and will side with law abiding gun owners, honest policemen, private sector wealth creators, and Canadian troops, over the latest in vogue politically correct narrative.



If they are silent, how do you know they are a majority?  :facepalm:


----------



## a_majoor (27 Jan 2013)

To be fair, this would put Sun on a level playing field with other news networks (including foreign ones like CNN); since the CRTC isn't likely to unbundle cable packages and allow viewers to select and pay for the channels they want (and shun those they don't) Sun is at a huge competative disadvantage under the current system.

From a doctrinaire viewpoint, I would be against Sun being subsidized, but since they are the only network that is being penalized that way I will support a lavel playing field.

As a BTW, the technology to eliminate cable "packages" and select your own channels has been around for a long time, it is companies like Rogers and the networks that benefit from the enforced payments that fight against it.


----------



## Danno1 (27 Jan 2013)

Regarding the free market/subsidy cognitive dissonance:

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/straighttalk/archives/2013/01/20130127-074237.html



> *The Sun News Network believes in free enterprise, just like Sun Media newspapers do. But unlike the newspaper business, the TV business isn’t based on free enterprise.*
> 
> *In fact, it’s one of the Canadian industries most regulated by the government.*
> 
> ...


----------



## FJAG (28 Jan 2013)

Never much of a supporter for Sun even though I lean conservative.

Personally my understanding was when they sought licencing two years ago that "(it wasn't then) nor has it ever, asked for ‘mandatory carriage’ by cable or satellite companies.” Why, the very idea: “this would be tantamount to a tax on everyone with cable or satellite service.”"

See here for more.

http://o.canada.com/2013/01/23/sorry-sun-news-network-to-succeed-in-business-you-cant-expect-special-favours/

I agree that 'mandatory carriage' constitutes a tax on consumers and quite frankly we don't need any more mandatory channels. Each and every one of the new applicants should be rejected and, IMHO, several of the existing ones should be struck off. Leave them as optional service for which everyone who wants it has to pay for personally. 

 :2c:


----------



## PuckChaser (28 Jan 2013)

Yes, they campaign against all this government propping up channels, but if you deny Sun News, then CTVNN, CBCNW, CNN all have to go as well. You can't just say "Sorry, you're too late to the party" and deny a channel an equal playing field. If they were going to kill all other news channels, by all means kill Sun News's bid.


----------



## Fishbone Jones (28 Jan 2013)

Everyone gets it equally or no one gets it at all.


----------



## Journeyman (28 Jan 2013)

recceguy said:
			
		

> Everyone gets it equally or no one gets it at all.


But...but...that means organizations would have to survive on...._ability_.    Heresy! rly:


----------



## FJAG (29 Jan 2013)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> Yes, they campaign against all this government propping up channels, but if you deny Sun News, then CTVNN, CBCNW, CNN all have to go as well. You can't just say "Sorry, you're too late to the party" and deny a channel an equal playing field. If they were going to kill all other news channels, by all means kill Sun News's bid.



You've got some facts wrong. This is the list of the only channels on the mandatory distribution list and the cost levelled per consumer:

CBC News Network (in French-language markets): $0.15

Réseau de l’information (RDI) (in English-language markets): $0.10

Avis de recherche (in French-language markets): $0.06

Weather Network/Météomedia: $0.23

TVA: offered without a wholesale rate

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN): $0.25

Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC): $0.10

AMI audio, formerly known as VoicePrint: $0.04

Accessible Media: $0.20

Canal M, formerly known as La Magnétothèque: $0.02

I think you will see that this paints quite a different picture which you (and for that matter most Canadians) expected.

IMHO Sun, and most of the numerous other new applicants for mandatory and thereby taxed status, should stay in the competitive marketplace and several of the above items should come off the list. 

Cheers


----------



## jpjohnsn (29 Jan 2013)

To be a bit cynical here, it's not about levelling out the playing field, it's about levelling off the freefall of the Sun Media bottom line.

Quebecor is losing money hand over fist with the Sun Newspaper chain and Sun TV.  Readership is down to the point that staff is being laid off en masse and more and more of their papers are disappearing behind paywalls.

But you can't force people to pick up the paper nor can you force retail outlets to sell them.

With television, they can petition the CRTC to force people to pay for a product they may, or may not, wish to use.  The truth is that with 40% of Canadian households as potential viewers, SunTV pulls in a measly 16000 viewers at any given moment.  While you can't exactly extrapolate, that does suggest that with 100% coverage, you are still only looking at around 40000 viewers.  That's not an effective business model for Quebecor when their other media outlets are bleeding red ink.

I've watched SunTV and they need a major overhaul.  To start, their production values look like they broadcast the thing from someone's basement with equipment circa 1983.   My nephew produces better stuff on his iPhone.  Secondly, they need to cut back on the histrionic posturing that turns off a lot of people that would normally agree with the points being made.

My introduction to SunTV was during the Trudeau/Brazeau boxing match.  Ezra Levant was so over-the-top I found myself cheering for JT in the hopes that he'd wipe that smug look off of Ezra's face.  

In short, I don't support SunTV's application to become a "mandatory channel".  Quebecor has overextended itself and pursued an editoral style that limits their market far more than the CRTC ever could.  Throwing money at them out of my pocket (through my cable bill) is loke trying to bail out a sinking ship with a paper cup.  In the end the ship is going to sink anyway and I just as soon have my money still in my pocket when it does.


----------



## Fishbone Jones (29 Jan 2013)

CBC wouldn't be much better if they weren't getting money "from your pocket".


----------



## GAP (29 Jan 2013)

The few times I have tuned in Sun TV...I am not impressed. I don't care whether it is left, right or center, I will not listen to partisan rants. 

They may have a point to make, but don't insult my little intelligence by browbeating me with the itsy-bitsy facts one little point at a time while you keep it simple.....

If that is what they want, they will get no support from me.


----------



## dapaterson (29 Jan 2013)

Best solution is to cancel your cable and satellite service, and rely on over-the-air signals together with the internet.

While you'll still be supporting the CBC (and, in Ontario TVO) through your taxes, you'll be saving on the rest.


----------



## The Bread Guy (29 Jan 2013)

dapaterson said:
			
		

> Best solution is to cancel your cable and satellite service, and rely on over-the-air signals together with the internet.
> 
> While you'll still be supporting the CBC (and, in Ontario TVO) through your taxes, you'll be saving on the rest.


If enough people did just that, maybe things WOULD change.


----------



## Fishbone Jones (29 Jan 2013)

Did anyone else, besides Sun TV, point out the Occupy echelon was also part of the INM movement, and show the proof? What TV channel was the first to point out the obvious hypocrisy of Mayor Spence's antics and 'hunger strike'?

They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but no one can deny they are usually the first to jump in, get their hands dirty and tell the emporer he has no clothes.

I find their in your face style rather refreshing compared to the usual mealy mouth pablum that the other stations force feed the unthinking zombified masses.




_edit - spelling_


----------



## Rifleman62 (29 Jan 2013)

> Ask yourself this question, without Sun News, would a story like this ever see the light of day?



http://www.canadiantvfirst.ca/saintsuzuki.php

Saint Suzuki’s scandal
January 28, 2013 17:54

Ezra reveals some details about Suzuki's speaking demands at schools, found in an access to information request, that's sure to make some parents concerned.


http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/01/29/jonathan-kay-david-suzuki-is-poster-boy-for-why-canada-needs-suns-hater-brand-of-journalism/

National Post - Jonathan Kay - Jan 29, 2013

*Jonathan Kay: David Suzuki is poster boy for why Canada needs Sun’s brand of journalism*

Unlike Andrew Coyne and Pierre Karl Péladeau, I am no expert on CRTC television policy. I couldn’t tell you the difference between a “must-carry” Class A license, a Class B carry-at-will, and a class X concealed-carry. But I do know a little about what makes for good journalism. And on that basis, I’d hate to see Sun News get taken off the air for want of revenue.

Sun’s enemies accuse the network’s hosts of being a bunch of haters. And it’s hard to deny the charge. Among the people they hate: Occupy protesters, fake hunger strikers and sanctimonious left-wing activists.

And Omar Khadr. Wow, do they hate Omar Khadr.

We know this because Sun News TV segments tend to go light on actual news, and heavy on middle-aged white guys shouting about people they don’t like. Sometimes, they sit around their Toronto studio interviewing each other. It’s a sort of performance art that might well be dubbed — by the surprisingly large number of left-wing Toronto hipsters who watch the channel ironically — as Confirmation-Bias Theatre Of The Absurd.

So, yes, they’re haters. But here’s the weird thing about hate: It often is the genesis of good journalism.

The folks at the Toronto Star who hate Harper, and hate the police state (as they see it), are the ones who broke numerous aspects of the G20 Summit story. Someone who hated Theresa Spence leaked the Attawapiskat audit. Julian Assange hates the U.S. government. When you don’t like someone, and you think they’re hiding something evil or creepy, it tends to motivate one’s truth-finding enterprises.

Which brings us to David Suzuki, another left-wing icon whom Sun News loves to hate. Few in this country would dare say a negative word about Suzuki, who has repeatedly been voted the most-trusted Canadian in Readers Digest magazine-sponsored polls. But Sun, and Ezra Levant in particular, have been going after Suzuki for years, and Suzuki himself admitted that Sun’s focus on his politicized activities was one of the reasons he felt obliged to step down from the board of the David Suzuki Foundation.

This week, Sun scored another win: Through access-to-information requests, the network discovered emails that reveal the odd demands Suzuki made in regard to a 2012 visit to John Abbott College in Montreal — which apparently cost the college more than $40,000, including Suzuki’s own $30,000 fee. In the correspondence, one of the university officials reports to her colleagues as follows:

    _We have learned, via Dr. Suzuki’s assistant, that although the Dr. does not like to have bodyguards per se, he does not mind having a couple of ladies (females) that would act as body guards in order that he may travel from one venue to another without being accosted too many times along the way. Why females you ask? Well, he is a male. No seriously, I believe it is his way of being discrete and less intimidating._

There is also chatter about how these “ladies” should be dressed, and then this:

  _In terms of acknowledging their contribution after the tours are completed, we will need to gather [the ladies] together at the end to either give them some brief time with Suzuki (which I will try to make happen, either by having him step out of the penthouse or enabling them to join the group in the sanctified air)._

To be clear, this is not Bill-Clinton-in-Arkansas stuff. But it certainly is very much at variance with the usual image of Suzuki as a sort of eternally selfless Elder Spirit and a real-life Lorax.

The story doesn’t surprise me that much. I have had some dealings with the people who surround David Suzuki, and have found their treatment of him somewhat cultish, with each of his pronouncements being treated like pearls of wisdom from a Chinese emperor. When you have so many people drinking your Kool-Aid, it’s only a matter of time before you develop a sense of entitlement to match.


Nevertheless, I’m not sure I would have pursued this story — even if I’d been the one who got the initial tip from John Abbott. Partially, it’s because I just don’t dislike Suzuki enough, let alone hate him. In fact, I probably have drunk a little of the Kool-Aid myself over the years; and so I am handicapped by the vague sense that it would somehow be wrong or impolite to make this great Canadian icon look bad.

Why, some day, if I become famous enough, I might even aspire to share a table with him at some awards banquet or other. Wouldn’t want to say anything that renders such a meeting awkward.

The great virtue of Sun — and yes, it’s a virtue — is that the people who work there don’t seem to be hobbled by such constraints. They’re the ones who tell us that Theresa Spence is still fat, and that modern dance is for ninnies — and they don’t apologize for it, because they know that most people think these things, even if they don’t say them.

Moreover, there’s no tuxedo in the host’s trunk, lest he be invited at the last minute to one of Toronto’s many Distinguished Evenings in Commemoration of Excellence. And so there’s nothing to impede the hate instinct that provides lots and lots of empty blather and nonsense on Sun News broadcasts, but also, every once in awhile, a real story that few other journalists in this country will touch.


----------



## PPCLI Guy (29 Jan 2013)

> Ask yourself this question, without Sun News, would a story like this ever see the light of day?



This just in!!!!!  Rich Famous People Are Developing a Sense of Entitlement!!!!!

 :boring:


----------



## Fishbone Jones (29 Jan 2013)

What can I say.


----------



## BeyondTheNow (31 Jan 2013)

IMO, although I'm more Right, I'm not a fan of Sun News. Their argument that people can't find them on the dial is feeble. If people want to watch them, they'll find them. I'm not saying their request to be accessible on basic cable shouldn't be considered, but...

...Ezra Levant/Sun TV rallies against government support and handouts and such, but I guess this doesn't count...


----------



## ModlrMike (31 Jan 2013)

Shuck10 said:
			
		

> IMO, although I'm more Right, I'm not a fan of Sun News. Their argument that people can't find them on the dial is feeble. If people want to watch them, they'll find them. I'm not saying their request to be accessible on basic cable shouldn't be considered, but...
> 
> ...Ezra Levant/Sun TV rallies against government support and handouts and such, but I guess this doesn't count...



All well and good, but you can't find them if they're not carried.


----------



## BeyondTheNow (1 Feb 2013)

ModlrMike said:
			
		

> All well and good, but you can't find them in they're not carried.



I agree. And I don't see any problem with them wanting to petition the CRTC for basic access, rather than where they are now. (Extended cable service package) It'll be interesting to see how it turns out for them.


----------



## eurowing (1 Feb 2013)

I have Telus Optic TV.  Sun News is not offered.


----------



## BeyondTheNow (1 Feb 2013)

eurowing said:
			
		

> I have Telus Optic TV.  Sun News is not offered.



From what I've read, they may choose to carry Sun News if there's enough demand.  There are a few other stations they don't carry also, which can be found on other providers [Rogers, Bell] so they may have broadcasting changes/more inclusive choices ahead, but I don't know.

Unfortunately, I feel Sun over-estimated their stance among the population initially, which could also be why they're in the predicament they're in at the moment.  They have their fans, absolutely, but I don't know that there are enough of them.


----------



## Edward Campbell (8 Aug 2013)

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.


----------



## The Bread Guy (8 Aug 2013)

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.
> 
> ...


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.”
> 
> ...


----------



## CougarKing (8 Aug 2013)

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.*
> ...


----------



## Fishbone Jones (8 Aug 2013)

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?


----------



## Inquisitor (8 Aug 2013)

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.


----------



## Rifleman62 (8 Aug 2013)

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.”


----------



## Brad Sallows (9 Aug 2013)

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.


----------



## CougarKing (13 Feb 2015)

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.
> ...


----------



## Lightguns (13 Feb 2015)

truenorthreport.ca is coming.


----------



## brihard (13 Feb 2015)

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.


----------



## ModlrMike (13 Feb 2015)

There are those who would say they were set up to fail. That might be a hard argument to refute.


----------



## Lightguns (13 Feb 2015)

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.


----------



## Remius (13 Feb 2015)

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.


----------



## my72jeep (13 Feb 2015)

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.


----------



## ModlrMike (13 Feb 2015)

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.


----------



## my72jeep (13 Feb 2015)

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:


----------



## OldSolduer (13 Feb 2015)

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.


----------



## GAP (13 Feb 2015)

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.....


----------



## jollyjacktar (13 Feb 2015)

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.


----------



## Jed (13 Feb 2015)

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.


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## Rifleman62 (14 Feb 2015)

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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## Brad Sallows (14 Feb 2015)

I would prefer an intelligent conservative media alternative.  Is anyone taking orders?


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## Rick Goebel (14 Feb 2015)

Hamish Seggie said:

"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 don't know which of these are "mandatory carriage". but to get cable in Calgary I have to buy a basic cable package that includes CBC - CBRT Calgary (channel 6), CBC - CBXFT Alberta (Fr) (channel 9), and CBC Newsworld (channel 15).  In addition to the over a billion dollar a year federal stipend, CBC gets paid for my cable subscription for each of these three services.

While I don't think that Sun News Network (channel 177) and part of a Tier 4 package should have been granted mandatory carriage, I also don't think that I should be forced to pay for the three CBC services I pay for.

Perhaps with a more level playing field, Sun News Network could have hung on.


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## FJAG (14 Feb 2015)

Rick Goebel said:
			
		

> . . .
> I don't know which of these are "mandatory carriage".
> . . .



Wikipedia lists mandatory must carry / must distribute channels here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9%281%29%28h%29_order

 :cheers:


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## kratz (14 Feb 2015)

Does anyone remember the conjoined media assault 2008-2010 when Bell and Rogers fought to maintain their market share?
Seeing Bell ads spoofing red Rogers colours, and seeing Rogers with ads spoofing blue Bell.  There was deliberate marketing confusion then...and this "fight" maintained the majority of consumers focused on the two big players, when Sun Media was starting into the market.


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## a_majoor (10 Mar 2015)

Ezra Levant takes his show on the road. His opponents must be having kittens realizing that there are enough people out there who want this kind of news/opinion to successfully crowdfund such an effort. The CRTC may have killed SUN News by strangling it financially, but this is the age of Libertarianism as a Social Movement, and gatekeepers like them can not only be successfully defied, but easily bypassed as well:

https://ricochet.com/dont-like-news-crowdsource/



> *Don’t Like the News? Crowdsource Your Own*.
> Cameron Gray
> March 9, 2015 at 3:35 pm ( 15 hours ago )
> 
> ...


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## jollyjacktar (10 Mar 2015)

Thucydides said:
			
		

> Ezra Levant takes his show on the road. His opponents must be having kittens realizing that there are enough people out there who want this kind of news/opinion to successfully crowdfund such an effort. The CRTC may have killed SUN News by strangling it financially, but this is the age of Libertarianism as a Social Movement, and gatekeepers like them can not only be successfully defied, but easily bypassed as well:
> 
> https://ricochet.com/dont-like-news-crowdsource/



I subscribed to "The Rebel" when it came out.


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