Sun News Network denied request to be carried on basic cable
Posted August 8, 2013 12:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Sun News Network’s request to be carried on basic cable has been rejected by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
The channel does not meet the criteria for a guaranteed spot on the dial, Canada’s communications regulator declared on Thursday.
“Given its exceptional nature, the CRTC has set the bar very high for obtaining a mandatory distribution order,” the commission said.
Sun News Network has been dubbed “Fox News North” by some critics when the channel went to air in April of 2011.
Mandatory carriage would have generated significant revenue for the network, which lost $17-million last year – a situation parent company Quebecor calls “clearly unsustainable.”
Three months ago, Sun News executives told the commission that anything short of mandatory carriage would spell the end of the channel.
The CRTC also said 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.”
