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Quebecor to reformat Sun TV
It's a less incendiary name than “Fox News North,” but the coming launch of “The Sun TV News Channel” is finally official.
The 24-hour news channel will take to the airwaves on New Year’s Day 2011 if it receives regulatory approval, Quebecor Inc. (QBR.B-T33.380.180.54%) announced on Tuesday morning.
The network will be aimed at more conservative Canadian viewers.
“We thought there would be a void in this specific market, and that is why we’re here,” said Quebecor chief executive officer Pierre Karl Péladeau.
Kory Teneycke, a former chief spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will head the project, which will compete directly with existing specialty news offerings CTV News Channel and CBC News Network. Mr. Teneycke responded to criticism that the network’s intention to offer more opinion-based content could be divisive.
“Canadian TV news today is narrow, it’s complacent and it’s politically correct. It’s boring,” he said. “…Our aim is not to bore people to death. We’ll leave that to the CBC.”
Mr. Teneycke said those who are curious about the editorial tone of the new channel should pick up one of the company’s chain of Sun newspapers to get an indication.
In advance of an announcement on Tuesday morning, the station’s website (www.suntvnews.ca) went live. It calls the new channel “Canada's Home for Hard News and Straight Talk.”
The company is seeking to reformat its small Toronto network, Sun TV, into an all-news format, to be carried as a specialty channel across the country.
To do that, the company is requesting that Sun TV’s license be converted to a specific kind of specialty channel – stipulating that the channel must be offered by distributors. Category 1 licenses such as this are very rarely issued. The application has been submitted to the federal broadcast regulator.
“We think it should be exposed to as many Canadians as possible,” Mr. Teneycke said.
According to the company, the channel will deliver “hard news” in the daytime, with opinion and analysis shows in the evening.
The mix of straight news reporting and opinion is modelled on the wildly successful Fox News network in the United States. If there is an appetite for a similar platform in Canada, it could be lucrative for Quebecor. In its most recent quarterly earnings, Fox parent company News Corp. (NWSA-Q14.131.017.70%) reported that revenue at Fox News increased 17 per cent in the three months ended March 31, compared with the same period a year ago.
The conservative-slanted channel brings in ratings more than twice as high as any of the other 24-hour news networks in the United States: In May, Fox News drew an average audience of 1.8 million viewers during prime time seven days a week, compared with 747,000 for MSNBC and 595,000 for CNN, according to Nielsen. Higher ratings are a powerful draw for networks seeking to woo advertisers in a tight market.
The channel will be operated under a partnership between Quebecor subsidiaries TVA Group Inc. and Sun Media Corporation. Through TVA Group, Quebecor already operates an all-news specialty network in French, Le Canal Nouvelles (LCN). The company said that when LCN switched to a mix of news reporting and commentary three years ago, its ratings increased more than 300 per cent. In 2009, LCN brought in $8.3-million in profits before interest and taxes (PBIT), according to financial data compiled by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. That represented an increase in PBIT of nearly 11 per cent from 2007 when the channel switched its format.
Quebecor is expected to invest roughly $100-million in The Sun TV News Channel over five years. Last week, Quebecor hired journalists David Akin and Brian Lilley to work at Sun Media’s bureau in Ottawa. (On Monday, reporter Krista Erickson told colleagues that she is leaving CBC News “to pursue another opportunity,” fuelling talk that she could be Quebecor’s newest recruit.)
Mr. Teneycke attempted to recruit CBC comedian Rick Mercer as well, but was not successful. There were rumours that Global National anchor Kevin Newman, who announced in April that he would leave the newscast, was also on the hiring list; however in a posting to his Twitter account Mr. Teneycke denied he had attempted to hire Mr. Newman. Sources say Canadian right-wing pundit Ezra Levant is being courted to host one of the new station’s opinion shows.
Mr. Teneycke suggested many more announcements are on the way about the channel’s recruiting efforts.
It's a less incendiary name than “Fox News North,” but the coming launch of “The Sun TV News Channel” is finally official.
The 24-hour news channel will take to the airwaves on New Year’s Day 2011 if it receives regulatory approval, Quebecor Inc. (QBR.B-T33.380.180.54%) announced on Tuesday morning.
The network will be aimed at more conservative Canadian viewers.
“We thought there would be a void in this specific market, and that is why we’re here,” said Quebecor chief executive officer Pierre Karl Péladeau.
Kory Teneycke, a former chief spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will head the project, which will compete directly with existing specialty news offerings CTV News Channel and CBC News Network. Mr. Teneycke responded to criticism that the network’s intention to offer more opinion-based content could be divisive.
“Canadian TV news today is narrow, it’s complacent and it’s politically correct. It’s boring,” he said. “…Our aim is not to bore people to death. We’ll leave that to the CBC.”
Mr. Teneycke said those who are curious about the editorial tone of the new channel should pick up one of the company’s chain of Sun newspapers to get an indication.
In advance of an announcement on Tuesday morning, the station’s website (www.suntvnews.ca) went live. It calls the new channel “Canada's Home for Hard News and Straight Talk.”
The company is seeking to reformat its small Toronto network, Sun TV, into an all-news format, to be carried as a specialty channel across the country.
To do that, the company is requesting that Sun TV’s license be converted to a specific kind of specialty channel – stipulating that the channel must be offered by distributors. Category 1 licenses such as this are very rarely issued. The application has been submitted to the federal broadcast regulator.
“We think it should be exposed to as many Canadians as possible,” Mr. Teneycke said.
According to the company, the channel will deliver “hard news” in the daytime, with opinion and analysis shows in the evening.
The mix of straight news reporting and opinion is modelled on the wildly successful Fox News network in the United States. If there is an appetite for a similar platform in Canada, it could be lucrative for Quebecor. In its most recent quarterly earnings, Fox parent company News Corp. (NWSA-Q14.131.017.70%) reported that revenue at Fox News increased 17 per cent in the three months ended March 31, compared with the same period a year ago.
The conservative-slanted channel brings in ratings more than twice as high as any of the other 24-hour news networks in the United States: In May, Fox News drew an average audience of 1.8 million viewers during prime time seven days a week, compared with 747,000 for MSNBC and 595,000 for CNN, according to Nielsen. Higher ratings are a powerful draw for networks seeking to woo advertisers in a tight market.
The channel will be operated under a partnership between Quebecor subsidiaries TVA Group Inc. and Sun Media Corporation. Through TVA Group, Quebecor already operates an all-news specialty network in French, Le Canal Nouvelles (LCN). The company said that when LCN switched to a mix of news reporting and commentary three years ago, its ratings increased more than 300 per cent. In 2009, LCN brought in $8.3-million in profits before interest and taxes (PBIT), according to financial data compiled by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. That represented an increase in PBIT of nearly 11 per cent from 2007 when the channel switched its format.
Quebecor is expected to invest roughly $100-million in The Sun TV News Channel over five years. Last week, Quebecor hired journalists David Akin and Brian Lilley to work at Sun Media’s bureau in Ottawa. (On Monday, reporter Krista Erickson told colleagues that she is leaving CBC News “to pursue another opportunity,” fuelling talk that she could be Quebecor’s newest recruit.)
Mr. Teneycke attempted to recruit CBC comedian Rick Mercer as well, but was not successful. There were rumours that Global National anchor Kevin Newman, who announced in April that he would leave the newscast, was also on the hiring list; however in a posting to his Twitter account Mr. Teneycke denied he had attempted to hire Mr. Newman. Sources say Canadian right-wing pundit Ezra Levant is being courted to host one of the new station’s opinion shows.
Mr. Teneycke suggested many more announcements are on the way about the channel’s recruiting efforts.
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