Rogers Media, a division of Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B), says it has received approval to launch a 24-hour television news channel in the Greater Toronto Area.
The channel will include news items contributed from a number of Rogers-owned media properties including The Fan 590 and 680News radio stations, Sportsnet cable television, and Toronto Blue Jays.
It will also enter a crowded market, up against CP 24 - a local cable news channel that's now owned by CTVglobemedia* - as well as CTV's Newsnet and BNN and CBC's Newsworld national news channels.
* If you're new here, I'm employed by CTV News.
In its decision handed down Wednesday, the CRTC said the channel's programming would consist of local news, traffic, weather, business, sports and entertainment information for the city and commuting areas.
Rogers faced opposition from CTVglobemedia, whose Toronto cable channel CP24 plays around-the-clock news, traffic and weather updates. The private broadcaster had argued that the new channel would be a direct competitor.
On Wednesday, the regulatory watchdog ruled the new channel would focus on slightly different markets.
“CITY News Toronto would provide a niche news service targeted to Greater Toronto. In contrast, CP24's mandate is and has always been to serve the region of Southern Ontario,” the regulator said. ...
Normally, the biggest challenge for any new channel getting on air is securing carriage on cable and satellite services. However, since parent CITY-TV is also owned by Rogers, it will face no issue getting carriage with the biggest cable operator in its market. It will, however, still have to negotiate a deal with the Bell ExpressVu satellite service to be carried.
Recently, the commission has expressed concern about the decline in local news production in Canada. It decided that CITY News will enhance the diversity of local news production in Greater Toronto.
CTVglobemedia had also expressed concern that because Rogers is the dominant cable distributor in Southern Ontario, CITY News would receive carriage and priority channel placement, making it more widely distributed than CP24.
Rogers argued that – unlike CITY News – the Weather Network and CP24 both enjoy mandatory carriage, low channel placement and high brand awareness, and are authorized to collect a basic wholesale rate.
In a recent restructuring of the rules for the cable television sector this fall, the regulator removed the rules preventing new competition from entering the news market, making it possible for new entrants to come into the market.
Here is the actual CRTC ruling.
The new service will be considered a Category 2 service. Like me, you may have no clue what a Category 2 service actually is. This Wikipedia entry explains the Category 2 service; here it is for Category 1.
If you want more on this, the law firm Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP put out a bulletin on the process for licensing specialty channels in Canada that you might find helpful.
Part of the answer is that the new service will only be available on digital cable (or satellite). Cable companies won't have to carry the channel, so carriage will have to be negotiated. However, Rogers owns the cable system as well as the stations, so expect negotiations to be amicable. :)