Sun News Network To Shut Down Friday

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Sun News Network To Shut Down Friday

Postby radiofan » Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:12 pm

Sun News Network to shut down
Right-of-centre news network had trouble attracting viewers
CBC News Posted: Feb 12, 2015 8:23 PM ET Last Updated: Feb 12, 2015 11:01 PM ET


Sun News Network is about to sign off, permanently. CBC News has learned that the cable news television channel will shut down early Friday.

The network began broadcasting in April 2011, launching a right-of-centre programming schedule, but it has had a constant challenge attracting viewers.

Its supporters blamed the CRTC for not giving it the same access enjoyed by news channels operated by CBC and CTV.

The federal broadcast regulator denied Sun News a guaranteed spot on basic cable TV packages in August 2013.

Data released as part of that application showed that while the network was available to 5.1 million households, it was only attracting, on average, 8,000 viewers at any given time.

That number was far lower than what well-established all-news networks operated by CTV and CBC were reporting. CBC, for example, said it had eight times as many viewers as Sun News.

When Quebecor launched the station, media pundits quickly dubbed it "Fox News North."

On the first day of broadcasting, Ezra Levant, one of the most controversial hosts of Sun News, showed the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to TV viewers.

When Postmedia announced last October that it was buying Quebecor's Sun Media Corp. and its 175 English-language newspapers — including the Toronto Sun — the TV channel was not included in the deal.

Almost 200 people are employed at Sun News.


From CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/s ... -1.2955664
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Re: Sun News Network To Shut Down Friday

Postby arthurdent » Fri Feb 13, 2015 12:48 am

I feel sorry for the folks losing their jobs, except for the sorry excuse for journalists they put in front of the cameras. To Canadians for voting with their channel changers...well done.
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Re: Sun News Network To Shut Down Friday

Postby Shawndx » Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:17 am

CBC POSTED THIS MORNING\:
Sun News Network went off the air at 5 a.m. ET Friday after failing to find a new owner.

Programming on the channel was replaced with a Sun TV logo.

Sun Media Corp. issued a statement saying it spent months unsuccessfully trying to find a buyer, but financial losses meant it could not continue to operate.

"This is an unfortunate outcome; shutting down Sun News was certainly not our goal," said Julie Tremblay, President and CEO of Media Group and Sun Media Corporation.


My opinion is that if you have 8000 viewers or less at any time you deserve to go. There reporters were so biased and slanted it was unreal. I won't miss them at all. Sorry for all the behind the scenes people though. Wish them well.
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Re: Sun News Network To Shut Down Friday

Postby Shawndx » Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:36 am

Statement from Sun Media Corporation, February 13, 2015 05:00 ET via CTV news web site

After attempting to establish Sun News as a viable news channel in the Canadian broadcasting landscape and encountering a series of barriers to carriage, Sun Media Corporation regrets to announce today that it is closing the station. At the time of this release, Sun News Network is already off the air.

"This is an unfortunate outcome; shutting down Sun News was certainly not our goal," said Julie Tremblay, President and CEO of Media Group and Sun Media Corporation. "Over the past four years, we tried everything we could to achieve sufficient market penetration to generate the profits needed to operate a national news channel. Sadly, the numerous obstacles to carriage that we encountered spelled the end of this venture."

Sun Media Corporation spent months actively seeking a potential buyer but no party capable of taking over the channel was found. Therefore, in view of the financial losses, there was no alternative to closing Sun News.

"The closure is regrettable for the Canadian broadcasting system, which is losing a distinctively Canadian voice in the national news space, and also, most importantly, for all the Sun News employees who are losing their jobs. We thank all employees for their daily efforts and the talent they have contributed to the channel. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours," concluded Julie Tremblay.


Shawn says It turns out they lost over $43,000,000.00 since they came on air three years ago. That could be a good reason to go off air>


Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/sun-news-n ... z3RdEHKnPk
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Re: Sun News Network To Shut Down Friday

Postby Tom Jeffries » Fri Feb 13, 2015 12:00 pm

I never watched, or cared about SUN News.

Losing over a $Million a month - someone took a huge write-off.

The days of big conglomerates are cloudy.

The age of New Media has changed the game. Of course, we have been hashing that one over for a while.
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