OTTAWA-GATINEAU – While the Canadian TV world was concentrated on the portion of CTVglobemedia’s deal to purchase CHUM that was denied, the Commission also used Friday to announce decisions on Alberta’s new TV choices.
The CRTC approved Rogers Communications application for another OMNI multicultural station serving Calgary and Edmonton. It also denied an application by MVBC Holdings (owners of Vancouver’s Channel M) for an ethnic over-the-air license in the same cities.
"We are delighted with today’s decision. Since 1979, OMNI Television has been a prolific producer and purchaser of Canadian television in over 40 languages," said Leslie Sole, CEO, Television, Rogers Media, in a press release. "We are committed to providing voices and reflecting the growing and diverse communities of Alberta. We must also acknowledge and thank all of the people in Edmonton and Calgary that helped us craft our proposal, ensuring the needs of the communities were served."
OMNI Alberta has dedicated $10 million for the development and production of Canadian ethnic programming by Alberta based independent producers. Details on the launch date of the two OMNI Alberta channels will be released in the coming months.
Also approved was Crossroads Television System’s applications to offer a conventional religious TV station in Calgary and Edmonton. CTS already runs a network in southern Ontario. The Commission denied Lethbridge’s Miracle Channel application for rebroadcast transmitters of the CJIL station in the two cities.
However, the Commission did approve new rebroadcast transmitters in Calgary and Edmonton for CanWest Global’s Red Deer station, CHCA, soon to be branded E!, along with CanWest’s other CH stations.
"By making the Red Deer signal available off-air in these markets, consumers who do not subscribe to cable or satellite will have another Canadian programming viewing option,” said Kathy Dore, CanWest’s TV president. “It will also ensure carriage of CHCA Red Deer as a priority signal on cable systems in Calgary and Edmonton , providing guaranteed access to our Canadian priority and news programming, as well as our prime-time programming mix."
CanWest also committed to establish a $10.5 million fund to support Alberta’s independent production community.
Now it’s up to Shaw Cable to make room for these new stations on basic, as the regulations require, once their local transmitters are up and running.
