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Front Page, Industry News
CRTC approves new Montreal TV stations
Thursday December 20th 2012Montreal is about to see its first new TV station in 15 years.
On Thursday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved two related applications for over-the-air television stations that will see ethnic station CJNT turned into a full-time Citytv station, and local ethnic broadcasting taken over by a new station that will run as a producers’ cooperative.
In the first decision, the CRTC approved the purchase of CJNT by Rogers Broadcasting Ltd., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., and its conversion from an ethnic station into an English commercial station. CJNT, branded Metro 14 on air and owned by Toronto-based Channel Zero Inc., has been a Citytv affiliate since June, shortly after the purchase was announced, running programming from Rogers-owned OMNI to fulfill its ethnic programming requirements.
With this purchase and conversion, it will become a full-time Citytv station, and Rogers has committed to producing a three-hour local morning show on weekdays and a weekly half-hour local sports show. The purchase price, announced as $10.3 million, was revised up to $10.67 million by including assumed leases. The CRTC has given Rogers until September 1 to launch this new local programming.
In the second decision, the CRTC also approved a new television station called International Channel/Canal International, or ICI. The station, owned by Montreal’s Norouzi family, would carry 100 per cent ethnic programming, most of it local.
Because it will broadcast over the air on digital channel 47, the station would be distributed to all local cable television subscribers.
ICI will run as a producers’ cooperative, meaning that individual shows would buy airtime in half-hour blocks and then sell their own advertising. The station’s owners believe this is a better business model than the commercial models of CJNT’s previous owners because show producers are closer to their communities and would be in a better position to sell advertising.
Though the commission expressed concern about whether such a model would be viable, their concerns were eased by news that 16 producers had committed to time buys of $17,650 a week, or $917,800 a year, with 38% of its schedule still unsold.
Both Rogers and Channel Zero have also committed to help ICI get off the ground. Channel Zero is providing a $1 million loan to ICI, which the station will use only if it needs to, as well as master control services free for five years. Rogers is providing $1.07 million in programming funding (10 per cent of the purchase price for CJNT, which the commission requires be spent on onscreen initiatives) as well as 200 hours a year of programming from its OMNI ethnic TV network, free of charge. The Norouzi family is also committing the resources of their production company Mi-Cam Communications Inc. to get the station running.
ICI has committed to offering programming in the following languages:
Italian, Greek, Arabic, Portuguese, Persian, Romanian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, French, English, Armenian, Polish and Creole. Programming would also be directed to the following ethnic groups: Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Algerian, Greek, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Romanian, Pakistani, Indian, Iranian, Haitian, Jewish, German, Ukrainian, Polish and Turkish.
Though it expects to greatly exceed this requirement, the new station is required to provide at least 14 hours of original local ethnic programming a week.
A launch date for ICI has not yet been set.
Source: Montreal Gazette
Front Page, Industry News
CRTC approves new Montreal TV stations
Thursday December 20th 2012Montreal is about to see its first new TV station in 15 years.
On Thursday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved two related applications for over-the-air television stations that will see ethnic station CJNT turned into a full-time Citytv station, and local ethnic broadcasting taken over by a new station that will run as a producers’ cooperative.
In the first decision, the CRTC approved the purchase of CJNT by Rogers Broadcasting Ltd., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., and its conversion from an ethnic station into an English commercial station. CJNT, branded Metro 14 on air and owned by Toronto-based Channel Zero Inc., has been a Citytv affiliate since June, shortly after the purchase was announced, running programming from Rogers-owned OMNI to fulfill its ethnic programming requirements.
With this purchase and conversion, it will become a full-time Citytv station, and Rogers has committed to producing a three-hour local morning show on weekdays and a weekly half-hour local sports show. The purchase price, announced as $10.3 million, was revised up to $10.67 million by including assumed leases. The CRTC has given Rogers until September 1 to launch this new local programming.
In the second decision, the CRTC also approved a new television station called International Channel/Canal International, or ICI. The station, owned by Montreal’s Norouzi family, would carry 100 per cent ethnic programming, most of it local.
Because it will broadcast over the air on digital channel 47, the station would be distributed to all local cable television subscribers.
ICI will run as a producers’ cooperative, meaning that individual shows would buy airtime in half-hour blocks and then sell their own advertising. The station’s owners believe this is a better business model than the commercial models of CJNT’s previous owners because show producers are closer to their communities and would be in a better position to sell advertising.
Though the commission expressed concern about whether such a model would be viable, their concerns were eased by news that 16 producers had committed to time buys of $17,650 a week, or $917,800 a year, with 38% of its schedule still unsold.
Both Rogers and Channel Zero have also committed to help ICI get off the ground. Channel Zero is providing a $1 million loan to ICI, which the station will use only if it needs to, as well as master control services free for five years. Rogers is providing $1.07 million in programming funding (10 per cent of the purchase price for CJNT, which the commission requires be spent on onscreen initiatives) as well as 200 hours a year of programming from its OMNI ethnic TV network, free of charge. The Norouzi family is also committing the resources of their production company Mi-Cam Communications Inc. to get the station running.
ICI has committed to offering programming in the following languages:
Italian, Greek, Arabic, Portuguese, Persian, Romanian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, French, English, Armenian, Polish and Creole. Programming would also be directed to the following ethnic groups: Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Algerian, Greek, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Romanian, Pakistani, Indian, Iranian, Haitian, Jewish, German, Ukrainian, Polish and Turkish.
Though it expects to greatly exceed this requirement, the new station is required to provide at least 14 hours of original local ethnic programming a week.
A launch date for ICI has not yet been set.
Source: Montreal Gazette
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Front Page, Industry News
CRTC approves new Montreal TV stations
Thursday December 20th 2012Montreal is about to see its first new TV station in 15 years.
On Thursday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved two related applications for over-the-air television stations that will see ethnic station CJNT turned into a full-time Citytv station, and local ethnic broadcasting taken over by a new station that will run as a producers’ cooperative.
In the first decision, the CRTC approved the purchase of CJNT by Rogers Broadcasting Ltd., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., and its conversion from an ethnic station into an English commercial station. CJNT, branded Metro 14 on air and owned by Toronto-based Channel Zero Inc., has been a Citytv affiliate since June, shortly after the purchase was announced, running programming from Rogers-owned OMNI to fulfill its ethnic programming requirements.
With this purchase and conversion, it will become a full-time Citytv station, and Rogers has committed to producing a three-hour local morning show on weekdays and a weekly half-hour local sports show. The purchase price, announced as $10.3 million, was revised up to $10.67 million by including assumed leases. The CRTC has given Rogers until September 1 to launch this new local programming.
In the second decision, the CRTC also approved a new television station called International Channel/Canal International, or ICI. The station, owned by Montreal’s Norouzi family, would carry 100 per cent ethnic programming, most of it local.
Because it will broadcast over the air on digital channel 47, the station would be distributed to all local cable television subscribers.
ICI will run as a producers’ cooperative, meaning that individual shows would buy airtime in half-hour blocks and then sell their own advertising. The station’s owners believe this is a better business model than the commercial models of CJNT’s previous owners because show producers are closer to their communities and would be in a better position to sell advertising.
Though the commission expressed concern about whether such a model would be viable, their concerns were eased by news that 16 producers had committed to time buys of $17,650 a week, or $917,800 a year, with 38% of its schedule still unsold.
Both Rogers and Channel Zero have also committed to help ICI get off the ground. Channel Zero is providing a $1 million loan to ICI, which the station will use only if it needs to, as well as master control services free for five years. Rogers is providing $1.07 million in programming funding (10 per cent of the purchase price for CJNT, which the commission requires be spent on onscreen initiatives) as well as 200 hours a year of programming from its OMNI ethnic TV network, free of charge. The Norouzi family is also committing the resources of their production company Mi-Cam Communications Inc. to get the station running.
ICI has committed to offering programming in the following languages:
Italian, Greek, Arabic, Portuguese, Persian, Romanian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, French, English, Armenian, Polish and Creole. Programming would also be directed to the following ethnic groups: Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Algerian, Greek, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Romanian, Pakistani, Indian, Iranian, Haitian, Jewish, German, Ukrainian, Polish and Turkish.
Though it expects to greatly exceed this requirement, the new station is required to provide at least 14 hours of original local ethnic programming a week.
A launch date for ICI has not yet been set.
Source: Montreal Gazette
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