Quebecor eyes Fox News-style TV for Canada
 

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.c...626865gm-a.jpgSteven Chase And Susan Krashinsky

Ottawa and Toronto — Globe and Mail Update Published on Wednesday, Jun. 09, 2010 5:17PM EDT Last updated on Wednesday, Jun. 09, 2010 5:23PM EDT

The former chief spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper is spearheading a bid by Quebecor Inc. to set up a Fox News-style TV station in Canada with an unabashedly right-of-centre perspective.

Quebecor has filed an application with the CRTC, Canada's broadcast regulator, to operate an English-language news channel. The application has not yet been made public but a source says an announcement on the venture is “imminent.”

Kory Teneycke served as director of communications to Mr. Harper in 2008 and 2009 and this week was appointed vice-president of business development at Quebecor Media Inc.

He's been working since last summer on contract for Quebecor, investigating the feasibility of creating a more unconventional news outlet that speaks to conservative-minded Canadians.

The venture appears to be driven by the potential for profit rather than a desire to advance big-C Conservative fortunes in Canada.

It’s an attempt to mine what Mr. Teneycke believes is a largely untapped market for more right-of-centre TV offerings in Canada, acquaintances and people familiar with the plans say. Sources say Mr. Tenecyke pitched the proposal to Quebecor last year and has been trying to prove the business case for the station ever since.

Mirroring the format of both Fox TV and MSNBC in the U.S., the envisioned Canadian station would offer straightforward reporting but also conservative-minded opinion shows – a mix of programming that would be clearly separated rather than blended.

Ezra Levant, a conservative author and activist, is being seriously considered as a host for one of the new station's anchor opinion shows, sources say. Mr. Levant and Mr. Tenecyke have worked together as far back as the 1996 Winds of Change conference, a precursor to the unite-the-right movement that merged the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties.

Mr. Levant rejected the idea he’s in line for a job. “I have no contract with any network whatsoever. I have no offer from any network whatsoever,” he said.

“I will always be involved in whatever [Mr. Teneycke] is doing but right now I am happy to be a freelancer doing stuff on demand, whether it’s CBC or CTV or [others].”

Mr. Teneycke refused to comment on his employer’s plans. “When Quebecor has something to announce we’ll announce it and right now I am afraid we don’t.”

Oh great, because Fox news has done so well for the americans.

Their politics are so bloody fractured, that they can't get anything done. Is it Fox's fault? No. Are they helping? No. Fox drives CNN and NBC to the left to counter.

Why can't anyone provide the facts, and let us decide? No. Welcome to the era of where we need our news spoon fed to us in sound bites.

Its so frustrating when you get these talking heads on tv just spouting opinions. I don't need 24 hour news. I need it once a day. I need it to be factual, and I can go about my day.

Oh, and don't tell me that Murdocks agenda doesn't sneak into the fox news format.

fuck that shit

Groan. We don't need a Canadian-based Faux News network.

It's almost impossible not to put a personal opinion on something, though. Even when you're reporting the news, it comes through. I don't mean something small like a minor car crash on the Alex Fraser; rather, when it comes to something like the BP oil spill, a major conflict, some new scandal in the Parliament Building, etc., your feelings and opinions will come through. It's simple human nature. Even the most neutral person in the world will let their opinions slip through, however minor it may be.

I just can't run out of reasons to hate Stephen Harper

if you're really against it write to the CRTC they definitely listen to opinion mail

Obtaining a license from the CRTC means nothing because it's a Cat. 2 license and no carrier in Canada is obligated to pick up this channel. Shaw which is the most conservative cable provider in Canada didn't launch Fox News until few months after Rogers launched the channel so good luck for quick carriage across Canada.

To me, Stephen Harper is the devil incarnate.

Give conservatives power and they do what they can to mold us into America North. This news comes just days after the failing Liberals suggested a merger with the NDP to follow the Reform/PC merger, which would essensially make Canada into a 2-party system just like in failing America. And Just days after the conservatives announced tougher copyright laws on par with - you guessed it - America's. The list just keeps getting bigger and bigger just like our waistlines catch up to those world leading Americans.

We're hippies out here in urban/suburban BC, but I can imagine this channel getting a substantial following in some parts of the country, particularly in rural parts of the country where the population tends to be conservative/populist/anti-government.

But, then again, the National Post basically went bankrupt so there is hope that this channel may not fly.

now all we need is our own bill o'reilly and sean hannity

Yes, i totally agree, but its not the presentation of "news" that I have an issue with. Its the shock Political commenter that spoon feed to the public. Fox News makes headlines by being out there and shocking people with their comments. That translates to water cooler talk, and that turns into viewers.

good god..O'reilly can go f*** himself and Hannity can follow suit for all I care

^i find that o'reilly isnt half as bad as hannity.
hannity seems genuinely dumb and o'reilly does it just for ratings imo

O'reilly + Hannity are nothing compared to Beck.

we should get a colbert/daily show type of program in canada , that'd be the shit