Huh. Wasn’t Quebecor supposed to pull the plug on their Sun News Network over-the-air broadcast transmitters November 1? Yet I turn my TV to channel 15 and there is the same ad for arthritis meds hustled by one of Sun News Network’s on-air news anchors. At least he hasn’t yet stooped to modeling the Geniebra!
Yup, instead of going dark, Sun News seems to be “occupying” channel 15 past the Nov. 1 deadline, even though they’re been kicked way up the Rogers dial to their new digital destination, channel 142 (567 in high-definition).
Geez, if CBC was getting this kind of charity from Rogers, there’d be calls for a royal commission.
Sun News has also landed a deal to start appearing on Cogeco Cable. You can find it there on channel 195 (SD) and 705 (HD). It’s also on Shaw Direct (149 or 517) as well as on some screens every other afternoon at the Future Shop at Brampton’s Trinity Mall (Hwy 401 to 410).
Even harder to find this last quarter at Sun News was revenue. According to a TD Securities report Wednesday, TVA was well off investor forecasts for their third quarter results and over $10 million short of what the company earned one year earlier.
TVA Group, a division of Quebecor, blamed the loss on a decline in operating revenues in the television division, specifically an operating loss associated with Sun News. Others are blaming all that expensive hair spray used by Byline host Brian Lilley.

4 Comments

  1. it did last one day beyond Nov. 1 but that was it.

    Have you not been watching this channel, Bill?

    It’s certainly been the most interesting TV launch ever in Canada.
    I have totally been won over to the need for this channel. Ezra Levant has been Mr. Television just as much as Kevin O’Leary.

    It’s too bad no one can be bothered to do a proper review of what has happened at SUN TV.

    Still available via streaming on the net.

  2. OK, sorry I don’t live in Brampton.

    Of course the ideal would be to have it streaming on every smartphone and not just on home computers.

    Everything has gone to big screen TV’s, but I’d just as soon have a small digital receiver for all the local channels.

    Perhaps one day we will be able to have a portable device that picks up ALL TV stations in the world as easily as Al Jazerra.
    That would be great.

    But still, Bill, where is the journalist that is writing about the programs and ratings and impact of SUN TV.

    It’s such a cheap shot just to denigrate SUN TV, and kind of fun too, but how is it that no one can see the obvious redeeming aspect of having such a cantankerous broadcaster in the mix in Canada.

  3. Sun News Network did go dark immediately on Nov 1st (as far as being gone when I checked that morning). Its carriage by Rogers Cable is not the same thing as over-the-air.
    Channel 67.1 continues. Channels above 57.1 are improperly aligned with UHF spectrum allocation. Loud commercials are not loud, only differently compressed. Rogers, with Bell and Shaw IS the CRTC. Widescreen format cannot be letterboxed in Std. Definition. OTA is illegal.

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