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178-478: Provincial Sun News Network (commonly shortened to Sun News ) was a Canadian English language Category C news channel owned by Québecor Média through a partnership between two of its subsidiaries, TVA Group (which maintained 51% majority ownership of the company) and Sun Media Corporation (which held the remaining 49% interest). The channel was launched on April 18, 2011 in standard and high definition and shut down February 13, 2015. It operated under

356-578: A Category 2 (later classified as Category C) licence granted by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in November 2010, after the network aborted a highly publicized attempt for a Category 1 licence (later classified as Category A) that would have given it mandatory access on digital cable and satellite providers across Canada. Sun News was distributed by most major cable and satellite providers across Canada but

534-501: A "catalyst" for what the CRTC included in its decision: addressing the broader issue of rules governing distribution of Category C national news channels, the Commission acknowledged that those rules may serve as "barriers" that prevent the channels from having a "pride of place" on the broadcast system and reduce their "exchange of ideas on matters of public concern." With that, the CRTC launched

712-507: A New York judge sided with Avaaz. The judge stated that the subpoena "risked 'chilling' free speech and political activity", and argued that Monsanto's request was "anti-democratic". Some question whether Avaaz's focus on online petitions and email campaigns may encourage laziness, transforming potential activism into clicktivism . Malcolm Gladwell says that petition tools do not create "close-knit, disciplined and tenacious" networks of activists. In February 2012, Avaaz raised money for

890-465: A SunMedia.ca address appeared to suggest that Sun News offered to "fake the oath" on-air). Kenny and his office, after the CP's February 2 report, insisted they were not made aware of CIC Toronto's actions in the event until the day before the CP report was released, blaming CIC Toronto officials for their "poor [handling]" and "logistical problems". Kenney's press secretary, Candice Malcolm, went so far as to offer

1068-468: A brothel. Layton, who was never charged with any wrongdoing, called Sun News' report a "smear campaign," while Layton's lawyer, Brian Iler, said in a statement that Layton "had no knowledge whatsoever that the therapist's location may have been used for illicit purposes." Layton's wife and fellow NDP Member of Parliament Olivia Chow confirmed the 1996 appointment and decried "any insinuation of wrongdoing" on her husband's part. Ontario Provincial Police launched

1246-644: A campaign forward, and stages "sit-ins, rallies, phone-ins and media friendly stunts". Examples of stunts include "taking a herd of cardboard pigs to the doors of the World Health Organization to demand an investigation into the link between swine flu and giant pig farms and creating a three-mile human chain handshake from the Dalai Lama to the doors of the Chinese Embassy in London to request dialogue between

1424-497: A ceremony at Sun News' Toronto studios to commemorate Canada's celebration of Citizenship Week. Sun News producers, rather than sending a crew to one of several citizenship ceremonies in the Toronto area (as Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) officials had initially recommended), offered instead to have 10 new Canadian citizens take the Oath of Citizenship at its studios (suggesting that

1602-586: A commentary "The Jew vs. the Gypsies" on The Source , in which he accused the Romani people as a group of being criminals and said: "These are gypsies, a culture synonymous with swindlers. The phrase gypsy and cheater have been so interchangeable historically that the word has entered the English language as a verb: he gypped me. Gypsies are not a race. They're a shiftless group of hobos. They rob people blind. Their chief economy

1780-594: A compulsory condition of its broadcast licence, held membership in the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC), and had to adhere to the CBSC's member-written Code of Ethics. A violation of the Code occurred on December 22, 2011, when Ezra Levant, in a commentary on The Source , blasted Chiquita Brands International and its ethical record after the company stated it would discontinue using oil produced from

1958-414: A criticism of Sun News' possible right-wing agenda but as a criticism of Harper's style of government, particularly perceived attempts by his government to expedite Sun News' licence approval. Quebecor resubmitted its Sun News application under Category 2 status. Though Category 2 is not mandatory (cable and satellite carriers are not compelled to carry such channels), Quebecor included in its resubmission

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2136-411: A deal that would add Sun News to Bell TV's basic satellite and IPTV packages outside of Quebec (a deal for subscribers in that province was expected to be announced later). The Bell deal also includes carriage of three other Quebecor-owned networks, Mlle , Yoopa and TVA Sports . In January 2013, Quebecor again filed a request with the CRTC for mandatory carriage for Sun News Network, requesting that

2314-642: A distinct popular culture. With the fear of the United States stunting the growth of Canada as well as the country becoming increasingly divided by language, the government showed huge concern with how television affected Canadians. Graham Spry, founder and spokesperson of the Canadian Radio League, stated about the radio system: "The question is the State or the United States." According to the Canadian government,

2492-400: A dysfunctional crew led by the likes of Peladeau could have thought it would catch on." Former anchor Krista Erickson wrote an article for National Newswatch in 2015 that singled out former Quebecor vice-president Kory Teneycke , who was in charge of the channel, for criticism calling him a "controlling authoritarian" whose pro-Conservative Party "partisanship often went into overdrive" at

2670-425: A five-year Category 2 licence for Sun News on November 26, 2010; the network's status was changed to a Category C service on September 1, 2011, as part of an overall restructuring of broadcasting regulations during Canada's transition to digital television broadcasting . After a planned launch on January 1 , 2011, was pushed back because of start-up and staffing challenges, Sun News launched on April 18, 2011, with

2848-452: A judicial review of the regulator Ofcom 's decision not to recommend rejection of the takeover. Bloomberg described Avaaz as "the fly in the ointment of Murdoch's Sky bid". When Mr Murdoch withdrew his Sky bid, Ian Burrell commented that it "represents a victory for the civic activist group Avaaz, which has relentlessly campaigned against a takeover which seemed inevitable". In January 2018, Monsanto requested Avaaz hand over all documents

3026-489: A large proportion of the Canadian content on most stations, with each of the commercial networks rarely having more than one or two Canadian-produced drama or comedy series on their schedules at any given time. Among the English language broadcasters, only the public CBC Television airs a schedule that consists almost entirely of Canadian-produced programming, although even it will sometimes air selected programming from Britain, Australia or PBS ( American Public Television ) in

3204-477: A later revision. The government-created corporation held the responsibility of establishing a national service and to monitor the entire broadcast system. Because of Canada's large land area, it would be difficult for one corporation to control the broadcasting system throughout the country, all while establishing a network to compete in that system as well as in the American system. Before 1958, Canadian law prohibited

3382-487: A left-wing bias and misusing taxpayer funds. The channel and Quebecor's newspaper chain filed hundreds of Access to Information requests seeking details of how CBC was spending its $ 1.1 billion budget. CBC's refusal to fill many of those Access to Information requests led to a court case filed against it by Canada's Information Commissioner . Sun News frequently aired news pieces and published articles alleging misspending of taxpayer dollars. CBC president Hubert Lacroix called

3560-421: A letter to The Globe and Mail , von Finckenstein "categorically" denied any government interference regarding Sun News or his tenure as CRTC chair. Before Quebecor withdrew its mandatory access request for Sun News (see above), the public interest group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting issued a briefing to the CRTC recommending that Sun News' application be rejected, believing that Sun's mandatory access request

3738-543: A majority of Canadian content, both throughout its schedule and in its primetime schedule. Industry Canada regulates the technical aspects of broadcast stations and certain aspects of other licensed undertakings. Unlike specialty services, conventional (or over-the-air ) broadcast stations are permitted to air a wide variety of news, information, entertainment, sports and other programming without any restriction as to theme or content, and none restrict themselves in that regard. Religious television stations are an exception to

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3916-708: A mea culpa to Sun News in a February 3 appearance on The Roundtable . Television in Canada Television in Canada officially began with the sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada , the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, are strongly influenced by media in the United States , perhaps to an extent not seen in any other major industrialized nation. As

4094-452: A mixture of stations, albeit one dominated by CTV. Also, it is not uncommon to find multiple affiliates of one network, and no affiliates of another network, available in the same market on basic cable , particularly in smaller markets. For instance, in Kingston, Ontario , two CBC affiliates are available, a local privately owned station and a CBC-owned station from Ottawa , while CTV Two

4272-588: A national identity. The Broadcasting Act of 1932 created a national network for each electronic medium in Canada's two official languages, French and English. When it was created, the Act referred mostly to radio broadcasting but it also included television once TV came to the country in 1952. The Act resulted in the creation of the CRBC, which would be replaced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in

4450-476: A new brand. Quebecor's divestment of Sun Media raises questions about Sun News Network's viability as a standalone operation under the Quebecor umbrella, as most of the company's remaining properties are entirely francophone , which could limit any synergy potential. Further clouding Sun News' future was a December 2014 Globe and Mail report that ZoomerMedia was in talks to acquire the network. Some reports on

4628-504: A policy but because they ha[d] the money – the poorer the country, the more American productions." English Canadian broadcasting illustrated how this was problematic for some Anglophone Canadians as well as the Canadian government . A major question was how any sense of "Canadianism" could come out of such an attractive (and rich) American world. There was a fear of communicating ideas and opinions that were not Canadian, to Canadians - especially

4806-534: A probe into how police notes about the incident were leaked to Sun News, whose report cited an anonymous Toronto vice-squad officer. Sun News Network (and, historically in print, Sun Media) carried frequent and ongoing criticism of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , and has accused the Crown-owned public broadcaster (which Sun Media has pejoratively termed "The State Broadcaster") of having

4984-411: A promo for Pat Bolland's program, the channel aired a silent static card of the channel's logo for 30 seconds, then went to a black screen leaving cable operators to announce the closure themselves. A segment from Michael Coren's The Arena with Sun News contributor Rachael Segal was the last segment ever recorded (it aired a few hours later) while David Akin's Battleground was the last live broadcast on

5162-452: A remedy, Quebecor requested that Sun News receive a mandatory placement on basic channel tiers through the end of 2017, with a per-subscriber fee of $ 0.18/month ($ 0.09/month in primarily French-speaking markets). Quebecor claimed that the proposal was similar to what CBC News Network and CTV News Channel previously enjoyed, and if approved, would help Sun News build viewership levels and audience and advertiser awareness, as well as help alleviate

5340-460: A request for a Category 1-style "mandatory access" period of no more than three years, insisting that the network would need that period of time "to effectively expose and promote its programming to viewers across Canada" without obliging cable and satellite customers to add it to their package; without mandatory access, Quebecor added, cable and satellite carriers could choose not to offer Sun News to their customers, which could lead to Quebecor pulling

5518-501: A result of Quebecor's proposed sale of Sun Media's English-language print properties and their related websites to Postmedia Network , a deal announced in October 2014 and awaiting regulatory approval and consummation. Though Sun News was not part of the deal, Postmedia said that it would license the Sun name and branding back to the network for one year, after which the network would have to adopt

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5696-543: A result, the government institutes quotas for " Canadian content ". Nonetheless, new content is often aimed at a broader North American audience, although the similarities may be less pronounced in the predominantly French-language province of Quebec . The first experimental television broadcast began in 1932 in Montreal, Quebec, under the call sign of VE9EC. The broadcasts of VE9EC were broadcast in 60 to 150 lines of resolution on 41 MHz. This service closed around 1935, and

5874-552: A review by the Diefenbaker government in the late 1950s, a number of new, "second" stations were licensed in many major markets, many of which began operating before the end of 1960. CTV , the first private network, which grew out of the inevitable association of these new stations, began operating in October 1961. About the same time, CHCH-TV in Hamilton disaffiliated from the CBC and became

6052-507: A rules review process, proposing new guidelines that would require distributors to offer all national news channels to their customers, as well as how the channels should be packaged and priced, their proximity on channel lineups, and how carriage disputes should be handled by the CRTC. The review resulted in new rules issued by the CRTC on December 19, 2013: by March 19, 2014, Canadian television providers must offer all Category C national news channels to their subscribers (but not necessarily on

6230-520: A rut of American popular culture during a time when Canadian national identity was very vague. Canada was not only made up of Francophones and Anglophones, there were also immigrants from around the world, at that time mostly from Europe . That fear of American influence convinced the Canadian government that its involvement was necessary in order for Canadian broadcasting to express and encourage Canadian identity and national unity. Though French-speaking Canadians feared expansion of American influence and

6408-538: A scenario would be virtually unheard of in a major American market. Despite a general CRTC policy that limits station ownership to one station per market per language per company, several exceptions have led to twinstick operations in several markets. In some cases, this allows multiple stations to serve a small market that could otherwise support only one station. In larger markets, however, Canwest and CHUM had justified several instances of twinsticks, generally two stations based in separate but neighbouring regions. This

6586-475: A single locally owned company operated both CTV and CBC affiliates in a community, is also now rare – within English Canada, only the cities of Thunder Bay and Lloydminster still receive television service from a twinstick operation, and of those two, only Thunder Bay's Thunder Bay Television is still locally owned. In 2012, Bell Media attempted to acquire Astral Media in a takeover . This initial attempt

6764-440: A single standard for handling non-English names; some speakers anglicize them while others try to follow the native pronunciation as closely as possible, but neither practice is considered to be objectively incorrect, and many international news organizations throughout the world follow the latter practice as a matter of respect to the personalities they cover. Lilley apologized for the segment the following day. Sun News Network, as

6942-513: A single, if influential, newspaper, The Globe and Mail . Canwest continues to pursue its strategy; in late 2005, BCE announced it would sell most of its interests in Globemedia to a consortium of investors including the Thomson family and Torstar , although it still retains a minority stake in the company. In many respects, particularly since the consolidation phase of the late 1990s and early 2000s

7120-711: A sizeable proportion of the total Canadian population. This helped spur development of a specifically Canadian television programming and transmission system during the late 1940s and early 1950s, but at the same time caused it to develop within American technical standards that had been previously mandated by the Federal Communications Commission between 1941 and 1946. Since the first Canadian stations ( CBFT in Montreal and CBLT in Toronto) signed on in September 1952, television developed differently in Canada than in

7298-545: A software tool to simplify overseas voter registration. Avaaz opposed 21st Century Fox 's bid to take over the pan-European broadcasting company Sky plc . As part of this campaign, Avaaz brought Wendy Walsh , a woman who alleges she was sexually harassed at Fox News, to London in May 2017 to testify to British media regulator Ofcom . In September 2017, Avaaz took legal action in the British High Court of Justice , by seeking

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7476-468: A ten-hour countdown clock that ended when regular programming began at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. O Canada was played before a half-hour launch preview special hosted by Canada Live journalist and host Krista Erickson (who served as the Sun newspapers' " Sunshine Girl " for the day). The special was followed by the premiere of The Source with Ezra Levant , and the remainder of the network's prime-time talk programming. Daytime news programs debuted

7654-482: A terrestrial channel (in other words, making it available without carriage fees), citing its then-simulcast on CKXT. (the outage did not affect Bell Fibe TV in the Toronto area, which was compelled to carry CKXT's signal). Quebecor filed a complaint with the CRTC over the incident, alleging that Bell was discriminating against Sun News and thereby favouring Bell Media 's own news networks, namely CTV News Channel and CP24 . On November 22, 2011, Quebecor and Bell announced

7832-451: A three-year period, with a loss of $ 14.8 million in 2013 alone. The channel was generally regarded as being symbiotic with Sun Media 's newspapers through its shared editorial viewpoints and the network's use of Sun Media staff for some of its on-air content and reporting as well as through various Sun News Network hosts writing columns for the Sun chain. This relationship was expected to change as

8010-617: A variety of languages, while Telelatino airs programming in Italian and Spanish on basic cable. Numerous third-language channels have been licensed as Category 2 services on digital cable . The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) airs programming targeted to the Indigenous peoples of Canada ; 28 per cent of the network's content is broadcast in aboriginal languages. The Canadian broadcasting industry, including all programming services (over-the-air or otherwise) and all distributors,

8188-554: A variety of opinions on matters of public concern." Though the ruling does not assure Sun News the favourable channel placement or the per-subscriber fee it had previously sought, the new rules were seen by network executives as "good news" and by one financial analyst as "incrementally positive" for the struggling network. At the outset, Sun News featured a daily schedule modelled after Quebecor's French language news channel, Le Canal Nouvelles , with content that its executives promoted as "hard news by day, straight talk by night". During

8366-406: A very large percentage of the airtime in peak viewing hours (in most areas, 7:00 to 11:00 p.m.) can be devoted to programs of foreign origin, in large part due to the significant amount of programming available from the U.S., not to mention the availability of the major U.S. broadcast networks themselves via cable or satellite, or even as terrestrial signals in border markets. A Canadian network

8544-576: A world where campaigns, like race and class, can still segregate people, not reconcile them". Avaaz claims to unite practical idealists from around the world. Former director Ricken Patel said in 2011: "We have no ideology per se. Our mission is to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want. Idealists of the world unite!" In practice, Avaaz often supports causes considered progressive, such as calling for global action on climate change , challenging Monsanto, and building greater global support for refugees. During

8722-487: Is a partial list of regularly scheduled Sun News Network programs as of January 2015: Writing several years after leaving Sun News, former senior anchor Theo Caldwell wrote of the station's output that "the finished product was lousy television, even by Canadian standards." He also complained that he was not being paid, despite his contract, and finally quit as a result. Caldwell described management's view on mandatory carriage as "hypocritical". "At first, when they imagined

8900-597: Is allowed to override the cable or satellite feed of an American broadcast signal when they air the same program simultaneously, ensuring that the Canadian broadcaster, not the American broadcaster, is able to benefit from the advertising revenue associated with broadcasting to the Canadian audience. Arguably this right has led to an even greater glut of American programming on Canadian stations, including programs of little relevance to Canadian audiences, or poorly received series that may never be seen outside North America. In addition, higher rated American shows cannot be seen if

9078-402: Is astounding that Peladeau and Sun management could undertake such a blatant reversal without a trace of irony." On the reason for the channel's failure, Caldwell wrote: "Simply put, if Sun were good, people would have watched it. The channel was available in 5 million homes, yet garnered only a few thousand viewers... The simple truth is that Sun News was mind-bendingly bad television, and only

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9256-573: Is entitled. On July 5, 2011, the CRTC told Quebecor it would have to justify its practice of using an over-the-air signal to rebroadcast a specialty channel; Quebecor responded on July 15 that it would agree to surrender the CKXT licence to the CRTC. As a result, Sun News' CKXT simulcast ended on November 1, 2011, when the main Toronto signal was turned off along with the Hamilton and London repeaters (the Ottawa repeater

9434-473: Is far more popular than imports. As of 2003 the top ten shows on television in Quebec were written and created by Quebecers. The Standing Committee report found that Canadian French networks made a profit of $ 40,000 per hour of French-language drama, compared to $ 10,000 per hour of American drama. The Quebec television industry produced two and one half times more TV series per capita than American networks. While

9612-429: Is not available in that market. In many markets, including some major cities, there is only a handful of local stations, with other network services provided by an affiliate based hundreds of kilometres away. For instance, in Ottawa, only three English networks/systems – CBC, CTV and CTV Two – have stations based in the market; the "local" Global and Citytv stations are in fact rebroadcasters of Toronto-area stations. Such

9790-718: Is regulated in regards to ownership and content by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which in most cases issues licences for each such operation. The CRTC issues licences pursuant to Canadian laws and the Commission's own regulations and conditions of licence, which regulate such matters as Canadian content, domestic ownership and accessibility issues such as closed captioning . Among other regulations, all Canadian broadcasters and distributors must be at least 80% owned and controlled by Canadian citizens; also, all conventional stations, and most established specialty services, are required to air

9968-517: Is the only Citytv O&O, as well as one of only three stations affiliated with the network, to carry nightly locally produced evening newscasts). To maximize simultaneous substitution opportunities, in the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones , prime time programming airs from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m., while in the Central Time Zone it generally airs from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., in both cases mirroring

10146-582: Is theft and begging. For centuries these roving highway gangs have mocked the law and robbed their way across Europe." Following complaints, the Sun News Network removed the video from its website and issued an apology: "Two weeks ago on the Sun News program "The Source" we looked at the issue of Canadian refugee claims by the Roma people. Following the broadcast we received a number of complaints from viewers who felt

10324-676: The RTNDA Code of Journalistic Ethics and the Journalistic Independence Code as a member of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council . Sun News was regarded to be a possible benefactor of a proposal by the CRTC to give licensed broadcast stations more leeway to broadcast false and misleading news (the CRTC dropped the proposal in February 2011). The content of Sun News' early hours and days received some criticism and generated some controversy, with critics and columnists remarking about

10502-403: The 2009 Iranian presidential election protests , Avaaz set up Internet proxy servers to allow protesters to upload videos onto public websites. Avaaz supported the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya, which led to the military intervention in the country in 2011. It was criticized for its pro-intervention stance in the media and blogs. Avaaz supported the civil uprising preceding

10680-504: The Alberta oil sands . Speaking in Spanish, Levant told a Hispanic Chiquita executive to go have sexual relations with his mother . The CBSC received 22 complaints about Levant's use of the slur, a few noting that it is one of the nastiest insults in the Spanish language. Though Sun News and Levant went on to argue that the phrase can have several meanings, Levant later admitted he intended to use

10858-611: The Attorney-General of Ontario 's office declined to lay charges because of fears that the trial would become a "bit of a [media] circus". The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council subsequently ruled, in September 2013, that Levant's broadcast was "in violation of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code," and that his comments about the Roma were "abusive and unduly discriminatory against an ethnic group, and violated other provisions of

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11036-526: The Canadian Jewish Congress , Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger and Avrum Rosensweig of Ve’ahavta: The Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and Relief Committee published an op-ed in the National Post which condemned Levant's commentary as a "contemptible screed" and argued that "[t]he time has come for all of us to reject hate and bigotry – against any group". Gina Csanyi-Robah, executive director of

11214-481: The Roma Community Centre in Toronto, described the broadcast as "nearly nine minutes of on-air racist hate-speech targeting our community", "one of the longest and most sustained on-air broadcasts of hate-speech against any community in Canada that we've witnessed since our organization was established in 1997" and as "overtly racist, prejudicial, and demeaning." The centre filed complaints against Sun News with

11392-507: The Sun papers, claimed the photo was an attempt to not only damage the Ignatieff campaign but the integrity of Sun Media and Sun News as well. The incident led to Muttart's removal from the campaign of Conservative leader and incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper. On April 29, 2011, Sun News ran a report contending that NDP leader Jack Layton was in attendance at a Toronto massage clinic when police visited it in 1996 on suspicion of it being

11570-465: The United States -based Fox News Channel ("Fox News North" was an early colloquial term applied to the network in media reports, punditry, and criticisms). Sun News management openly bristled at the comparisons to Fox News, saying that they only intended Sun News to mimic the Sun chain's "irreverent" and "provocative" approach, and that though some conservative voices would be prominent, a "range of [political] opinion" would be offered. The following

11748-458: The Windsor region near Detroit . Television viewership outside Ontario was limited to British Columbia's Lower Mainland with access to American programming from Seattle and some sets in Montreal . Television sales were promoted not only by the arrival of CBC Television , but by revised credit practices at that time, which allowed purchases without requiring an initial cash deposit. Following

11926-522: The "free housing" comments after reading a viewer comment that faulted him for not verifying his claims (residents of the project do pay rent), though he stood by his objections to government funding for the project. The CBSC, after receiving 40 complaints on the incident, sided with Levant and Sun News in determining that no violation of Code of Ethics Clauses 6 and 7 (the latter clause concerns fair treatment on controversial issues) had occurred. On September 5, 2012, Sun News Network host Ezra Levant broadcast

12104-539: The "low cut, sleeveless" attire of the network's female anchors; Maclean's Washington bureau chief Luiza Ch. Savage, in agreement with Kheiriddin, billed the network as "Skank TV" on her Twitter feed (a comment she would later delete). Sun News management has defended their anchors' "right to bare arms," as did New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament Olivia Chow – who unveiled a sleeveless look during an April 21 appearance on The Roundtable , stating that "It’s not what [women in politics] wear that matters, it's

12282-711: The 10:00 p.m. hour, Atlantic and Mountain Time Zone stations will typically delay their 11:00 p.m. news programming to 12:00 a.m. and air the entire program in unison with the time zone directly west (thus, a program scheduled to air from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. in Eastern and Pacific Time Zones is typically aired from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. in the Atlantic and Mountain Time Zones (10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Newfoundland Time), with syndicated programming airing in

12460-507: The 1970s and 1980s, nearly every major Canadian market saw the launch of independent third stations, most of which were either launched by or eventually acquired by Izzy Asper 's Canwest , and which served as a de facto third network although they were not yet branded or formally structured as such; these stations, by and large, were eventually unified as the Global Television Network. The 1980s and 1990s saw exponential growth in

12638-482: The 8:00 p.m. hour). CBC Television airs all programming corresponding to the local time zone, except for a 30-minute delay in the Newfoundland Time Zone. Overnight programming varies from broadcaster to broadcaster, and may consist of purchased programming or infomercials , or repeat airings of daytime programming. As of 2003 three quarters of English-Canadian television shows on prime time were from

12816-702: The CBSC decision. An earlier incident that gained much more attention and complaints, but which had a different outcome, occurred during a June 1, 2011 broadcast of Canada Live , when Krista Erickson discussed public funding for arts programmes with interpretive dancer Margie Gillis . During the discussion, Erickson took an aggressive verbal tone towards a soft-spoken Gillis, shouting over Gillis's responses and challenging her comments about lack of compassion amongst Canadians when, to quote Erickson, "We have lost more than 150 soldiers who have served in Afghanistan !" Though Sun News stood by Erickson and her conduct in

12994-466: The CKXT licence in exchange for Sun News, it made a February 2011 filing to the CRTC requesting to continue CKXT's operations past the August 2011 digital conversion . The arrangement led to complaints by other broadcasters, and cable and satellite providers that Sun was trying to "have it both ways" by having both guaranteed over-the-air coverage while asking for the subscriber fees to which a specialty channel

13172-401: The CRTC approved the channel's application for a mandatory carriage license, Teneycke planned to fire up to 50% of Sun News Network staff, whom he suspected of being Liberal sympathizers or otherwise politically out of step with Teneycke's views, and replace them with former Conservative Party staffers. Erickson also claims that Sun News contributor Michael Taube stopped being asked to appear on

13350-620: The CTV affiliate-owner in British Columbia to include many of the stations of Allarcom and Maclean Hunter , in order to satisfy its long-held desire to enter Alberta , but also giving it a second network. CHUM secured two regional services in Ontario before expanding to British Columbia and merging with Craig, its equivalent in the Canadian Prairies . The early 2000s, aside from the completion of

13528-525: The Canada–US border were available for several years prior, and gained a sizeable audience in cities like Toronto, within range of U.S. signals, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was the first entity to broadcast television programming within Canada, launching in September 1952 in both Montreal and Toronto. Private CBC affiliates began operating late in 1953 to supplement the Corporation's own stations;

13706-500: The Canadian Radio-Television Commission (now the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission ). The government still referred to the Canadian broadcasting system as the "single system". Among other concerns, this implied that both private and public networks were working toward the same goals, notably the national objective of unity and Canadian content and ownership. Government intervention helped

13884-745: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, and against Levant with the Alberta Law Society as well as with the Toronto Police Service . In March 2013, Levant apologized for his remarks stating his rant "will serve as an example of what not to do when commenting on social issues". It was subsequently reported that the police and crown attorney had recommended hate charges be laid against Levant but

14062-836: The Canadian broadcasting industry economically but failed to create a distinct culture that was in sharp contrast to American popular culture. However, it did allow Quebec to run its own broadcasting service and economically, it helped out the Canadian broadcasters, particularly the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). Due to their protests, Bill C-58 was passed. Among many changes, Bill C-58 removed tax deductibility benefits for Canadian Corporations advertising on American stations. The 1968 Act had also given priority carriage for Canadian broadcast services. Policies such as these produced important economic benefits for Canadian broadcasters. Economic prosperity for Canadian broadcasters took priority over Canadian identity in that prosperity

14240-707: The Canadian network overriding the signal interrupts the program for a news bulletin, unless the cable company switches the signal back to the American station's feed. Many Canadian broadcasters broadcast on a 24-hour schedule. Daily programming begins at about 6:00 a.m., usually with a local or national morning show . Daytime programming, including talk shows and soap operas , follows, although some Canadian stations may air "brokered-time" religious or charitable programming as well, which unlike traditional infomercials can count towards Canadian content requirements. Most Canadian television stations are required to carry some news programming as per their licence. As opposed to

14418-577: The Chiquita incident mentioned above) involved the July 4, 2011 broadcast, when Ezra Levant and journalist/blogger Kathryn Marshall discussed a municipal- and provincial-government-funded program in Edmonton that provides housing and studio space for Edmonton artists; during the discussion, Levant frequently (and Marshall occasionally) called the program "free housing" for artists. On the July 6 Source , Levant retracted

14596-409: The Eastern and Pacific Time Zones is typically seen from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. in the Atlantic and Mountain Time Zones (9:30 to 11:30 p.m. Newfoundland Time)), and 10:00 p.m. programming aired earlier in the evening at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 p.m. Newfoundland Time). Also, in the rare event a program scheduled to start before 10:00 p.m. in the Eastern and/or Pacific Time Zones runs into

14774-577: The Gillis interview, the CBSC would receive 6,676 complaints from viewers over the incident, considerably more than twice the annual average number of complaints the Council receives. After reviewing the complaints, the CBSC determined in February 2012 that no violation of Clause 6 of the Code of Ethics occurred, stating that Erickson's line of questioning, though forceful, did not cross into personal attacks. Another incident that occurred on The Source (separate from

14952-475: The Ontario/Manitoba border have adopted this scheduling format for their local news programming. In contrast, some stations carry a locally produced morning news programs even if they do not carry evening newscasts at all (such as City's owned-and-operated stations, all of which produce a weekday morning news/talk program using the title Breakfast Television ; the television system's Toronto flagship CITY-DT

15130-489: The Sun News Network. The closure meant the loss of 150 full-time jobs and affected an additional 50 freelancers and contributors. Management released a statement following the closure: "This is an unfortunate outcome; shutting down Sun News was certainly not our goal", according to Julie Tremblay, President and CEO of Quebecor's Media Group division and Sun Media Corporation. "Over the past four years, we tried everything we could to achieve sufficient market penetration to generate

15308-474: The Sun News broadcast. (the names of CIC and Sun News employees on the e-mails, which were redacted in the CP report, were revealed in later reports by other outlets). CIC was criticised for its role in the incident, while opposition members in the House of Commons of Canada laid blame on Immigration Minister Jason Kenney for the "deceptive" reaffirmation ceremony (an e-mail revealed in the CP report as coming from

15486-491: The Syrian Civil War . This included sending $ 1.5 million of Internet communications equipment to protesters, and training activists. Later it used smuggling routes to send over $ 2 million of medical equipment into rebel-held areas of Syria. It also smuggled 34 international journalists into Syria. Avaaz coordinated the evacuation of wounded British photographer Paul Conroy from Homs . Thirteen Syrian activists died during

15664-399: The Toronto, Hamilton , London , Windsor , Victoria and Vancouver areas, were able to receive television stations from Buffalo , Cleveland , Detroit or Seattle with the help of elevated outdoor antennas and amplifiers. U.S. television programs and the networks that originated them thus became popular in those Canadian cities within range of their signals, and those cities represented

15842-415: The U.S. model, most stations, even in major markets like Toronto , carry a single newscast during the late-afternoon/early-evening period, specifically from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. However, as in the U.S., "strip" programming fills the following hour, at least in the Eastern and Pacific time zones, and is followed by prime time programming. One or more newscasts follow, usually beginning at 11:00 p.m.;

16020-874: The U.S. networks. However, viewers in the Mountain Time Zone – i.e. Alberta – have historically received U.S. network feeds from the Pacific Time Zone, not from the Mountain Time Zone. Similarly, those in Atlantic Canada receive U.S. feeds from the Eastern Time Zone. Local stations in those regions also use 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. (8:30 to 11:30 p.m. in Newfoundland and Southeast Labrador ) as prime time, but with most programming advanced by an hour (thus programming seen from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. in

16198-448: The United States because it was introduced and developed in a different context. The distinct social, political, and economic situation of Canada shaped the historic development of mass communication and television in the country. Three factors have made the historical development of television in Canada a unique one: The threat of American influence, the language divide, and the government's response to both of these. American influence and

16376-460: The United States. American television programs are much more profitable for English Canadian networks than domestic ones. A Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage report found that networks lost $ 125,000 per hour of English-language Canadian drama, but made a profit of $ 275,000 per hour of American drama. Scripted television programming in Canada tends toward the shorter runs more typical of British television rather than

16554-414: The United States. While under Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regulations at least 60% of program has to be Canadian-produced, and 50% during prime time, English-language private broadcasters such as CTV and Global have always had difficulty airing more than a bare minimum of Canadian-produced programming in primetime; in actual practice, network and local news accounts for

16732-554: The [code] regarding negative portrayal, stereotyping, stigmatization and degradation." On January 23, 2013, Levant showed video of a protest that had occurred in front of the Sun News office in Toronto in which protesters objected to the Sun ' s coverage of the Idle No More movement. Levant replayed the clip on a subsequent broadcast and proceeded to identify one couple by name claiming that they were "professional protesters." The couple subsequently contacted Sun to complain that it

16910-403: The affordability of cable and satellite services, worrying that while a mandatory basic tier presence would help Sun and its fellow applicants fulfill their respective mandates, the added rates the channels would have received would unduly inconvenience customers. Though Sun News expressed disappointment at the denial of its mandatory carriage request, the network believed their campaign served as

17088-451: The attacks a "smear campaign." Sun Media CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau accused the CBC of advertising with almost all media companies but his. During the 2014 Winter Olympics , Byline host Brian Lilley aired a segment which criticized CBC personalities for pronouncing the names of Olympic competitors from Quebec in the French manner rather than anglicizing them. Canadian English does not have

17266-428: The basis that the channel's combination of news, analysis and opinion programming would create "a completely new [TV] genre" different from the other all-news channels in Canada. The CRTC disagreed, however, and turned down the application in a July 5, 2010 letter to Quebecor. In its letter, the CRTC noted that Sun News was being promoted in part as a news channel, and suggested that "news and analysis are sub-categories of

17444-464: The broadcast reinforced negative stereotypes about the Roma people. We have completed a review of the material and we agree that this content was inappropriate and should not have gone to air. It was not the intent of Sun News, or anyone employed by Sun News, to promote negative stereotypes about the Roma people. We regret our error in these broadcasts, and we apologize unreservedly to the Roma people and to you, our viewers." Bernie Farber , former CEO of

17622-509: The capability to do so. However, unlike CTV News Channel and CBC News Network, carriers would not have had the ability to distribute Sun News via analogue cable, only through their digital service (a Category 1 status would not have made the channel a compulsory part of every customer's basic digital package; however, it could be placed in digital basic packages subject to negotiations between Sun News and individual television providers). Quebecor initially requested Category 1 status for Sun News on

17800-729: The case of the Maritimes ) through a network of rebroadcasters rather than through multiple licensed stations. Some privately owned network affiliates do still exist, although these are now relatively rare and exist only in smaller television markets. Bell Globemedia (soon after renamed CTVglobemedia and then Bell Media ) announced plans to acquire CHUM Limited, in a deal that would place Canada's four largest private English-language broadcast services under just two owners (in CTVgm's case, CTV and Citytv ). The enlarged CTVgm would also own interests in nearly 40 specialty channels and pay services. As part of

17978-569: The channel after he expressed disagreement with the Harper government 's proposals to allow income splitting . In his August 19, 2010 column in The Globe and Mail , Lawrence Martin claimed, citing "insiders", that CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein was under pressure from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to resign from the commission and take another government position, such as an ambassadorship, in order to facilitate Sun News getting its desired licence. In

18156-575: The channel become a compulsory part of the basic channel tiers (analogue and digital) of cable and satellite providers. In a response to interventions submitted to the CRTC in March 2013, and in CRTC public hearings conducted one month later, executives of Quebecor claimed that Sun News (one of several new and existing channels making carriage proposals during those hearings) was not receiving fair treatment from cable and satellite providers who were giving their own news channels preferential treatment ahead of Sun. As

18334-477: The channel denied its Category 1 status application and its abolition under "breach of trust allegations" and "diminished news information integrity". After the CRTC declined the Category 1 application, an online petition titled "Stop Fox News North" was established. The petition claimed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper sought to "push American-style hate media onto [Canadian] airwaves" with Sun News, and that

18512-499: The channel faced imminent closure, "within as little as two months", if a deal with Znaimer was not reached. Reportedly, Quebecor Media made a final offer to Zoomer in February with a deadline of February 13, 2015 and Zoomer was "unwilling or unable to meet" its offer. An eleventh hour bid to buy Sun News was reportedly made by Leonard Asper , President/CEO of specialty channel operator Anthem Media Group and former CEO of Canwest ; Quebecor, however, turned down an offer from Asper, who

18690-449: The channel to subscribers, who can decide on their own whether to add the channel to their package). Sun News and eleven other applicants saw their mandatory carriage requests denied in a decision released by the CRTC on August 8, 2013 (several other channels saw their mandatory requests either granted or renewed in that same decision). In specifically denying Sun News' request, the CRTC stated that Sun did not clearly demonstrate that it met

18868-470: The channel's expense. Erickson blamed Teneycke for the channel reporting during the 2011 federal election of a 16-year-old incident involving Jack Layton being allegedly found in a massage parlour by police. "There was no arrest, no criminal charge, therefore no criminal behaviour. On these facts, the justification of public interest was arguably thin," according to Erickson, who claimed Sun News Network management nevertheless coached its on-air staff to treat

19046-616: The colloquial sense, below, although in the regulatory sense they may or may not be licensed networks. However, they are often treated very differently from U.S. networks. For instance, most networks provide a full slate of programming, often, but not always, buying the national rights to "syndicated" programs that air across affiliates of multiple American networks. In Canada, hence Dr. Phil and The Ellen DeGeneres Show only air on CTV stations, and Entertainment Tonight only on Global stations. However, for historical reasons, The Oprah Winfrey Show (until it ended its run in 2011) aired on

19224-503: The consolidation described above, brought an apparent convergence craze among the major media conglomerates. CanWest bought the Southam newspaper chain, including the leading broadsheet papers in several major cities, raising new concerns on media concentration . Telecom giant BCE , believing it needed control over content to fuel its new media strategy, formed Bell Globemedia , essentially CTV and its specialty services put together with

19402-512: The creation of private television networks. Private stations did emerge but could not exist independently, and were obliged to become affiliated with the French national network or the English national network. The Act of 1958 as well as its revised version in 1968 allowed for the existence of privatized networks. The private stations were then recognized as direct competitors to the CBC, which maintained its role as national broadcaster but lost its regulatory power. The 1968 Broadcasting Act created

19580-653: The daytime hours (from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time ), its programming placed an emphasis on news reporting and breaking news coverage; during the evening hours (from 5:00 p.m. onwards Eastern Time), the emphasis shifted to personality-driven analysis and commentary programmes. In November 2013, Sun began revamping its programming, expanding the amount of its analysis and opinion content and seeking to reduce repetitive straight news coverage in order to further differentiate it from its well-established rivals CBC News Network and CTV News Channel . Sun News' general on-air attitude, its founding executives claimed,

19758-938: The development of the respective E! and A (now CTV Two) systems. Nonetheless, the local news coverage these stations provide do not prevent them from airing programs with mass appeal during the rest of their schedules, frequently promoted on their sister stations. Avaaz.org Avaaz is an American-based nonprofit organization launched in January 2007 that promotes global activism on issues such as climate change , human rights , animal rights , corruption, poverty, and conflict. The word "avaaz" means voice in several Asian and European languages. In 2012, The Guardian referred to Avaaz as "the globe's largest and most powerful online activist network". "Since 2009, Avaaz has not taken donations from foundations or corporations, nor has it accepted payments of more than $ 5,000 (£3,100)", The Guardian reported. "Instead, it relies simply on

19936-450: The difficulties that might arise in protecting the French language , inexpensive imported U.S. programs, which filled the schedules of many English language Canadian TV channels, were not attractive to French-speaking audiences. In this situation, society affected the division in the Canadian broadcasting industry as much as the division affected society. The intensity of fears of "continentalism"

20114-551: The emergence of television and affected its development in Canada. Even with the emergence of radio, Canada was already trying to keep foreign ownership and programming at a minimum to avoid the American imperialism that would be caused by such dependency on the United States, which in fact was already incipient. The issue of economy of scale played a large role. "Americans [were] pushing smaller cultural communication aside with their dominating programming, not because they [were] based on

20292-676: The evacuation of Paul Conroy from Syria, a mission that led to the deaths of 13 activists in Syria. A New Republic article accused Avaaz of making false claims about their own role in the evacuation. Jillian York has accused Avaaz of arrogance and lack of transparency. The Defensor Da Natureza 's blog has accused Avaaz of taking credit for the success of the Ficha Limpa anti-corruption bill in Brazil, which Luis Nassif reposted. In 2008, Canadian conservative minister John Baird labeled Avaaz

20470-599: The evacuation operation. Some senior members of other non-governmental organizations working in the Middle East have criticized Avaaz for taking sides in a civil war. As of November 2016, Avaaz continues campaigning for no-fly zones over Syria in general and specifically Aleppo . (Gen. Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, has said that establishing a no-fly zone means going to war against Syria and Russia. ) It has received criticism from parts of

20648-482: The fear of that influence greatly affected television's development in Canada. The first decades of the 20th century saw a change towards industrialization, and during that time both the materials and products manufactured as well as the investors and consumers were American. The Canadian dependency on American capital and markets persisted through the Great Depression and its aftermath. This situation remained during

20826-430: The financial losses the channel has accrued (Sun News posted a pre-tax loss of $ 18.5 million for 2012). Quebecor went all in on the carriage attempt, drumming up viewer support through a social media campaign ("Canadian TV First"), and stating to the CRTC that anything short of mandatory carriage would be the equivalent of a "death sentence" for Sun News, including a suggested "must carry" status (where providers must offer

21004-512: The first private CBC affiliate in Canada was CKSO-TV in Sudbury , Ontario in October of that year, with CFPL-TV in London , Ontario following a few weeks later. All television stations that signed on in Canada were required to be CBC affiliates, as the CBC was the only television network operating in Canada at the time. In 1948, there were 325 television sets in Canada, but thousands more were sold in

21182-637: The first station not affiliated with either network, not counting the initial launch period of most of the soon-to-be CTV stations. Over the next 25 years or so, many more new stations were launched, primarily CBC stations in major markets replacing private affiliates (which subsequently joined with CTV or became independent) and new independent stations in the largest centres, such as CITY-TV in Toronto, CITV-TV in Edmonton , and CKND-TV in Winnipeg . During this time cable television also began to take hold, securing

21360-517: The first time (though the presiding judge made it clear during the broadcast that this was only a reaffirmation of the oath). However, in a February 2, 2012 Canadian Press report, which relied on documents and e-mails released under the Access to Information Act, about six of the 10 who reaffirmed the oath were in fact CIC employees, who were there to fill in for those new citizens who had to back out due to other commitments and to ensure "the right numbers" for

21538-464: The following day on April 19. Sun News was based in studios in Toronto, with additional studios located in Ottawa , Winnipeg , Vancouver and Calgary . Sun News also maintained news bureaus in Edmonton (shared with Sun Media ), Montreal (shared with QMI Agency) and Washington, D.C. , the only bureau it maintained outside of Canada. Sun News Network struggled financially, losing $ 46.7 million over

21716-475: The fortunes of individuals such as Ted Rogers , who secured the licences for much of Toronto. In 1966, CHCH in Hamilton formed the nucleus of the first serious attempt to form Canada's third terrestrial television network. The original plan was withdrawn for regulatory and financial reasons by 1969, but a scaled-down version resulted in the 1974 launch of CKGN-TV in Toronto, whose branding as Global Television Network would eventually extend nationwide. Through

21894-592: The generosity of individual members, who have now raised over $ 20m (£12.4m)." Prior to 2009, various foundations had funded Avaaz's staff and start-up costs. Avaaz global campaigns are managed by a team of campaigners working from over 30 countries, including the UK, India, Lebanon and Brazil. They communicate with members via email, and employ campaigning tactics including online public petitions , videos, and email-your-leader tools. In some cases Avaaz also uses advertisements and commissions legal advice to clarify how best to take

22072-431: The high bar for mandatory carriage, noting that Sun did not show its unique status among Category C news channels, nor did it effectively demonstrate exceptional commitments to first-run programming expenditures; additionally, the Commission believed that Sun knew and accepted the financial risks of originally launching without guaranteed carriage and subsidies. The CRTC's decision came at a time when it showed concern about

22250-472: The ideas they bring forward." Sun Media, and Sun News in particular, was involved in two separate news stories during the final week of the 2011 federal election that centred on two of the federal party leaders. The first centred on a photo that appeared to show Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff posing with U.S. military forces in Kuwait in late 2002, months before the 2003 invasion of Iraq . The source of

22428-411: The information programming category," which therefore would not, in the CRTC's eyes, make Sun News unique. Additionally, the CRTC had stated earlier in 2010 that it was not planning to entertain any new applications for Category 1 licences until at least October 2011. International activist organization Avaaz.org and other organizations filed petitions containing over 21,000 signatures to the CRTC to have

22606-407: The longer seasons that predominate in the United States. A typical Canadian drama or comedy series will produce between six and thirteen episodes in its first season, although an exceptionally popular series such as Corner Gas may produce up to 20 episodes in later seasons. A slight deviation from this model is with the long-running teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation (the fourth iteration of

22784-498: The lowest tier of service); by May 18, 2014, all Category C news channels that are not already offered on the lowest level of service must be included in "the best available discretionary package consistent with their genre and programming", or offered to subscribers on a standalone basis . CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais stated that the changes were to ensure that Canadians "have access to the news services that are of interest to them and will therefore have an opportunity to be exposed to

22962-550: The main exception is The National , which airs at 10:00 p.m. on CBC. However, there is a growing trend of some television stations adopting a newscast schedule similar to the American television model, with locally produced newscasts in the mornings (usually lasting about 3 to 3½ hours and airing only on weekdays, though a few stations do carry weekend morning newscasts) and during the lunch hour, in addition to early and late-evening newscasts; most owned-and-operated stations of Global nationwide and most CTV O&Os located west of

23140-686: The majority of services operate in English, there are a growing number of similar services in the French language, serving primarily Quebec . Ici Radio-Canada Télé , the French-language equivalent of CBC Television, broadcasts terrestrially across Canada, while TVA , one of Quebec's two commercial French-language networks, is available across Canada on satellite and cable. RDI , the French equivalent of CBC News Network , also has cross-Canada cable carriage rights, as does TV5 Québec Canada . Most other French-language networks are available only in Quebec, although some have optional cable carriage status in

23318-464: The merger (most of the properties were sold to Corus Entertainment – which already owned Teletoon and its related children's specialty channels – although Remstar acquired MusiMax and MusiquePlus and DHX Media acquired Family Channel and its sister channels ). As outlined below, Canadian regulations ensure that the majority of programming aired by Canadian stations are of domestic origin. However, thanks to domestic newscasts and daytime programming,

23496-457: The multichannel universe, beginning with pay television services and later continuing with various waves of specialty services, usually launched in one fell swoop. The launch of direct-to-home satellite television services in the mid-1990s accelerated this growth. The early- to mid-1990s in particular also saw further growth and consolidation of broadcast television. Baton Broadcasting , owner of Toronto CTV affiliate CFTO-TV and already seen as

23674-649: The near future. Other major specialty operators include Corus Entertainment (owned by the Shaw family) and Channel Zero . Consolidation has also continued between cable companies, and between specialty channel operators. There are now few of the small family-owned television groups that dominated the formative era of Canadian television, the most notable perhaps being the Stirling family, which owns NTV in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador . The twinstick model of broadcasting, in which

23852-421: The network "lacked the ideological zeal and the financial wherewithal to achieve its self-stated goal of changing TV history." Sun News' perceived sex appeal received attention early on, with both Rick Mercer and Ottawa Citizen columnist Dave Dutton among those tweeting about the "babe shots" during Sun's first day. Later in the week, columnist Tasha Kheiriddin of the National Post slammed Sun News over

24030-403: The network only wanted to cover the oath, rather than a full ceremony, on-air). The CIC Toronto office scrambled to arrange for 10 recently sworn citizens to reaffirm the oath on Sun News at the network's request, and the oath ceremony went ahead as planned on October 18, with Roundtable anchors Alex Pierson and Pat Bolland presenting the group as if to suggest that they were taking the oath for

24208-426: The network would be "funded with money from our cable TV fees" (in contradiction to the "mandatory access" request in Quebecor's second CRTC application); the petition also cited Martin's column as evidence that CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein was the "one man" standing in the way of Sun News getting a preferential licence. Author Margaret Atwood was among the petition signatories, revealing she signed it not as

24386-451: The network's dominant player, bought or replaced most of the network's other affiliates and ultimately acquired the network itself. In 1997, Asper's regional networks became united under the Global Television Network brand previously used only by his Ontario station. Additional groups also sprouted up in the form of Western International Communications , CHUM Limited and Craig Media . In 2000, CanWest bought WIC, which had itself grown from

24564-693: The network's heavy self-promotion and choice of opening night topics, including several critiques against the CBC (see also below) and little talk about the ongoing political campaign (by coincidence, Sun News' debut occurred two weeks before a federal election ). Ezra Levant was panned as well for relying on "old news" during the first edition of The Source , including showing a controversial 2005 cartoon depicting Muhammad . Less kind criticisms came from The Globe and Mail TV critic John Doyle, who branded Sun News as "fantastically inept broadcasting", and from Winnipeg Free Press columnist Brad Oswald, who remarked that

24742-402: The network's launch. This simulcast allowed Sun News to reach audiences in the Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton and London areas (the latter three cities through repeaters), either through the CKXT broadcast signal or cable and satellite services that were compelled to carry CKXT's signal. Some carriers outside those areas also carried CKXT at their own discretion. Though Quebecor had intended to return

24920-419: The novelty. Television performer and producer Lorne Michaels said, about the advent of television, "it was all we talked about at school. We literally raced home to watch TV". It became important to Canada that Canadian values would be projected onto this large audience and then onto the entire nation. Although many watched the available American television programs, some feared that Canada would end up stuck in

25098-459: The organization held in relation to glyphosate . Lawyers for the company said they planned to use the documentation in their defense during an upcoming court case involving two plaintiffs in Missouri who say their cancer was caused by exposure to Monsanto's "Roundup" herbicide. Avaaz argued that a successful subpoena would result in a " chilling effect " on the group's work. On September 5, 2018,

25276-407: The outbreak of World War II put a halt to television experiments. Television in Canada on major networks pre-date any telecasts that originated in the country as thousands of television sets that were capable of receiving U.S.-based signals were installed in homes near the Canada–US border between 1946 and 1953. Homes in southern and southwestern Ontario and portions of British Columbia , including

25454-423: The parties". Suggestions for campaigns come from members, supplemented by guidance from teams of specialists. Once a suggestion has been taken up as having potential, tester emails are polled to 10,000 Avaaz members; if the emails receive a sufficient response, the campaign is opened up to all Avaaz members. In 2010, The Economist suggested that "the way Avaaz bunches unlikely causes together may be an asset in

25632-474: The photo was Conservative Party operative Patrick Muttart, who had been providing pro bono advice to Sun News regarding its on-air presentation and offered the photo to Sun Media, which ran a story alleging Ignatieff's involvement with the U.S. plans to invade Iraq. Sun Media did not run the photo, however, as the image was illegible and did not conclusively prove of Ignatieff's presence with the U.S. troops. Sun Media head Pierre Karl Péladeau , in an editorial for

25810-483: The plug on the project. On October 5, 2010, Quebecor announced that it was withdrawing its mandatory access request and applied for a normal Category 2 status without any special exceptions or carriage conditions. The move was widely considered an easier avenue for Sun News' licence approval (Category 2 licences are routinely granted by the CRTC unless it is for a format considered a protected genre, of which national news channels are not included). The CRTC granted Quebecor

25988-405: The political blogosphere and has a single digit percentage of its users opposing the petitions, with a number of users ultimately leaving the network. The Avaaz team responded to this criticism by issuing two statements defending their decision to campaign. In the 2016 United States presidential election , Avaaz campaigned against Donald Trump with the slogan "Defeat Donald Trump", and produced

26166-449: The popular Degrassi franchise), which due to a switch to a more serialized format in 2011, began producing up to 40 episodes per season. Less expensive forms of programming, such as news and sketch comedy programs, will usually produce many more episodes each year, coming closer to the American model. The French-language commercial networks air significantly more Canadian content than their English counterparts, and domestic programming

26344-454: The possible acquisition cite sources as saying that should the deal have taken place, the channel could have become a reboot of the unconventional news-and-lifestyle CityNews model utilized by CITY / Toronto and CP24 which were both founded by ZoomerMedia CEO, Moses Znaimer . The Canadaland website reported on January 26, 2015 that the negotiations with ZoomerMedia had stalled over the issue of severance packages for executives and that

26522-545: The previous statement but must provide a variety of programs reflecting different points of view. CRTC regulations have so far prevented a large number of the infomercial - or religious-based stations now frequently found in major centres in the U.S. from operating in Canada; infomercials, even those made in Canada, are not considered Canadian content. Nearly all broadcast stations have now been aligned, in one form or another, into national groups based on ownership and/or content. Many of these groups are designated as "networks", in

26700-453: The profits needed to operate a national news channel. Sadly, the numerous obstacles to carriage that we encountered spelled the end of this venture ... We thank all employees for their daily efforts and the talent they have contributed to the channel. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours," she concluded. The operating licence for Sun News Network was surrendered to the CRTC on March 4, 2015. As of November 2013, Sun News Network

26878-639: The proposal, CTVgm would sell several of CHUM's less valuable properties, such as the smaller A-Channel system, to Rogers Communications , Canada's largest cable provider and already a major media company in its own right. On June 8, 2007, however, the CRTC approved the CHUM merger, conditional on CTV divesting itself of Citytv rather than A-Channel. This sparked another round of media consolidation. In early 2007, Canwest, in partnership with Goldman Sachs , announced an agreement to buy Alliance Atlantis , another major specialty channel operator, and more deals are expected in

27056-807: The rest of Canada. V , for instance, is carried on cable in New Brunswick and parts of Ontario and is available nationally by satellite. The Ontario government's French public television network TFO is the only French-language broadcaster in Canada whose operations are located entirely outside of Quebec. Other ethnic and multicultural services, serving one or more cultural groups outside of these two official languages, are also growing in strength. Six terrestrial TV stations, CFMT and CJMT in Toronto, CFHG in Montreal , CJEO in Edmonton , CJCO in Calgary and CHNM in Vancouver , air multicultural programming in

27234-510: The spring of 2010, Quebecor requested that Sun News be awarded a Category 1 digital specialty channel licence that would have reverted to Category 2 status after three years. The Category 1 status, if the CRTC had approved it, would have given Sun News the same status as CTV News Channel and CBC News Network, in that it would have required all Canadian digital television providers (both cable and direct broadcast satellite ) to carry and offer Sun News to their customers should those carriers have

27412-446: The start of its licensing attempts for Sun News, Quebecor intended for the network to replace the company's existing licence for general entertainment independent station CKXT-TV (branded as "Sun TV"), which was available at the time over-the-air in Toronto and through relayed through rebroadcasters in Hamilton , London and Ottawa. In its initial submission to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in

27590-455: The station would be a blockbuster success, they mocked the very idea of mandatory carriage. When it became clear, however, that no amount of Suzuki -bashing and Justin Trudeau prizefights could save the enterprise, they insisted it was unfair not to grant Sun a guaranteed income stream, on the risible basis that CBC and CTV had received similar treatment decades before. It wasn't honest, and it

27768-522: The story as if it was "a major sex scandal involving the NDP leader." Erickson also claims that during the 2012 Alberta provincial election campaign , Teneycke "instructed me to stop reporting on the homophobic gaffes of [conservative] Wildrose candidates" and that Teneycke "also demanded a segment discussing the Wildrose leader's record on abortion be removed from my program lineup". Erickson also claims that, had

27946-460: The survival of Canadian television depended on public funding for Canadian programs, which would be produced, broadcast and controlled by a public corporation. The Broadcasting Act of 1932 began of government involvement. Its main aim was the "Canadianization of mass media". In other words, it wanted to create a Canadian broadcasting system to replace the American system that had infiltrated itself into Canada, as well as to unite Canadians in creating

28124-489: The television industry in Canada now more closely resembles the British or Australian models, in which the vast majority of stations are directly owned by their networks and offer only slight variance in local scheduling apart from local or regional newscasts, rather than the American network affiliate model that formerly predominated. In some cases, in fact, a single station serves an entire province (or even multiple provinces, in

28302-463: The ten most popular programs on French-language television were made in Quebec, including La Famille Plouffe . Gradually, French Canadians showed a strong preference for Quebec-produced television programs, which was significant considering the fierce American competition that English Canada dealt with (and still deals with to this day). French-language television was distinct from English-language television in that "one of its most distinctive aspects

28480-455: The term in its literal, most vulgar sense. With that, the CBSC determined in June 2012 that, though Levant had his right to criticize Chiquita and its management, his use of the Spanish vulgarity violated Clause 6 of the Code of Ethics, which requires "full, fair and proper presentation of news, opinion, comment and editorial" content; as a result, Sun News was required to issue an on-air announcement of

28658-498: The two countries being tied very closely on an economic standpoint, almost anything produced in the U.S. could be considered to be of general interest to Canadians. Changes to this were attempted in the late 1980s. Government intervention throughout the development of television in Canada affected the way it was developed domestically as it developed through laws and policies rather than a free market. While American television stations, including affiliates of ABC , NBC and CBS , near

28836-700: The years from 1948 to 1952, most of them tuned to stations from either the Buffalo, Seattle, Cleveland or Detroit television markets . When Canadian television began, the Radio-Television Manufacturers Association of Canada estimated that 85,000 sets were expected to be sold in 1952. 95% of these were concentrated in Ontario, with 57.4% in the Golden Horseshoe region (40.2% in Toronto and Hamilton, 17.2% in Niagara Peninsula ) and 34.6% in

29014-406: The youth. With the exception of radio, television presented an opportunity, for the first time, to reach a very wide audience at the same time. By 1954, a million television sets had been sold in Canada. Even though those sets were very expensive at the time, the large majority (9 of 10) of Canadian households owned a television set by the end of the 1950s. People became excited and obsessed with

29192-467: Was "highly unfair" to other licence applicants. However, Friends recommended that if Sun News did win licence approval, Quebecor should be required to commit revenue to Canadian programming (equal to that of CTV News Channel and CBC News Network) as well as adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Code of Ethics for balanced news coverage and programming. The CRTC's November 26 approval specifically included requirements that Sun News would adhere to

29370-495: Was allowed on the basis that, in another owner's hands, stations like CHCH in Hamilton, Ontario and CHEK in Victoria, British Columbia (both Canwest stations that were sold off in 2009, CHCH to Channel Zero and CHEK to a consortium of the station's employees) would inevitably turn their focus to the larger Toronto and Vancouver markets respectively, leaving their cities of licence with little or no local news coverage. This led to

29548-408: Was as strong as its opposing force of attractiveness of American television programs to Canadian viewers. Most Anglophone viewers could relate easily to the American programs as much as they did to their Canadian programs, since people spoke the same language as they did. For example, in 1957, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation presented American programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show . However,

29726-410: Was available in approximately 40% of Canadian homes. Since obtaining the Sun News licence in late 2010, Quebecor negotiated carriage deals with cable and satellite providers on an individual basis. Quebecor-owned Vidéotron carried the network, as did systems run by Access Communications , Bell Canada , Rogers Cable , Eastlink , Sasktel , Shaw Communications and Cogeco (the initial deal with Shaw

29904-407: Was branded as "Sun TV" before it began simulcasting Sun News from the network's launch until Quebecor surrendered the CKXT licence in the fall of 2011. The existence of Sun TV prior to Sun News (and the fact a similar on-screen logo was used for the CKXT venture) has resulted in Sun News sometimes being erroneously referred to as "Sun TV". The network, known for its right-of centre editorial stance,

30082-418: Was for a free, six-month trial period on Shaw Cable systems in Ontario and Western Canada; Cogeco's clearance of Sun News is limited to the provider's Ontario systems). Sun News was also initially available over-the-air on Quebecor's Toronto-based CKXT-TV, which served Southern and Eastern Ontario, which had maintained a general entertainment format under the "Sun TV" brand until began simulcasting Sun News upon

30260-598: Was included in channel tiers subscribed by only 40% of all Canadian households (5.1 million homes with a pay television subscription). Quebecor had sought wider distribution for Sun News since its launch, most notably making an unsuccessful request for mandatory carriage on basic cable and satellite tiers in 2013. Sun News was simulcast on CKXT-DT (channel 51), a general entertainment independent television station based in Toronto (with repeaters in Southern and Eastern Ontario) that

30438-555: Was lively, "unapologetically patriotic", and "less politically correct" in comparison to CTV News Channel and CBC News Network, which Quebecor management claimed were "uninspiring" and leading Canadian television viewers to turn to U.S. networks for news. Sun News also took a conservative-leaning approach that mirrored the namesake Sun chain of Quebecor-owned English-language tabloid newspapers . Sun News' rightward lean and its employment of conservative commentators and operatives in key on-air and off-air positions, led to comparisons to

30616-418: Was not compromised for identity. This can be inferred through the vagueness and ineffective policies passed in the aim of protecting Canadian culture. For example, Canadian content regulations were introduced in 1959 and revised again in 1978. "Canadian content" is broadly defined as programs of "general interest to Canadians". Since Canadians easily identify with Americans and their popular culture as well as

30794-453: Was not them in the clip, that they had not attended the protest nor even been in Toronto at the time. "The CBSC's National Specialty Services Panel concluded that Sun News Network breached Clause 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics for including inaccurate information in the talk show. Levant had acknowledged his error on the February 8 episode of The Source ." On October 18, 2011, The Roundtable held

30972-603: Was plagued with poor viewership: the network reported an average of 8,000 viewers, which was significantly lower than its competitors, CBC News Network and CTV News Channel . This lack of viewership has been attributed in part to failing to gain mandatory carriage, which their competitors enjoyed, by the CRTC . Following failed attempts to sell the network to ZoomerMedia (a company owned by Canadian television executive Moses Znaimer ) and Leonard Asper , Sun News Network abruptly signed off on February 13, 2015 at 5:00 a.m. ET . From

31150-854: Was rejected by the CRTC as this would have resulted in Bell increasing its share of the Canadian broadcasting market to 42%. Bell filed a new application for the proposed takeover with the CRTC on March 6, 2013, two days after the Competition Bureau approved the acquisition; the Commission approved the merger on June 27, 2013, with Bell volunteering to sell certain cable television properties including Family Channel , Disney XD , MusiMax , MusiquePlus and Historia as well as Astral's interest in Teletoon , in an attempt to relieve concerns surrounding Bell's total market share in English-language television following

31328-474: Was shut off on August 31). Bell Satellite TV carried Sun News from its launch until the morning of May 3, 2011, when the channel was removed from the service at Quebecor's request because no carriage fee agreement had been reached with Bell TV. Bell countered that Quebecor's asking price for carriage of Sun News was in line with more popular channels and deemed too high for such a "new and relatively untested" channel; additionally, Bell wanted to treat Sun News as

31506-490: Was the bringing together of international and local influences, American and European television styles and programming ideas and merging them with the cultural idioms of rapidly modernizing and assertive Quebec." The merging of local and foreign ideas and techniques was a novelty in North American television. Since English and French language television in Canada had developed separately, French-language broadcasting developed

31684-413: Was unwilling to take on employment contracts and severance packages of Sun News' employees and executives. Sun News Network ceased operations on February 13 at 5:00 a.m. EST, with news of the closure being broken hours before. There was neither an advance announcement by management, nor any on-air announcement by the channel. After its last program, a repeat of Byline with Brian Lilley , and following

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