OTTAWA – While most (including cartt.ca) concentrated on the satellite radio ruling today, the CRTC also issued a public hearing notice on 18 new category two digital specialty channel applications.
Actually, not all of them are new. Some are re-applications for licenses that were allowed to lapse since they have not yet launched since first being licensed in 2000.
And, with half of the 18 applications for French language services, it appears broadcasters are coming to believe there are now enough digital cable and satellite customers in Quebec to make business sense. When the first of the digi-nets launched in 2001, broadcasters which held category one and two licenses postponed or abandoned launching the channels due to the dearth of digital customers in La Bell Province.
The applications are for:
• The Cricket Channel (amateur and pro cricket, from MediaNet)
• Vista The Virtual Window (a channel showing HD signals like the type we’ve all seen at trade shows – shots of gorgeous landscapes, from VISTA)
• Two Teletoon Retros, one in English and one in French (10 years and older animation, from Teletoon). The company once had cat 2 licenses for these channels.
• Star Système (French-language entertainment industry programming, from TVA)
• Télé-Services (programs related to construction, renovations, repairs, decorating, gardening, landscaping, interior design, mechanics and pastimes, from TVA)
• Nostalgie (French language movie and TV classics, from TVA)
• Humour (comedy programming, from TVA). The company once held a cat 1 license for Tele Ha-Ha.
• D.I.Y.Television (programming will be designed for the do-it-yourselfer of all levels, from Alliance Atlantis). The company once had a cat 2 license for this Scripps Broadcasting partnership.
• Girls TV (for girls aged 5 to 17 years, from Alliance Atlantis)
• ZTV (for young adults between the ages of 18 and 29, focused on technologies and new media, youth/extreme sports, sex, jobs, education, music, leisure activities and current events, from Alliance Atlantis)
• The PRIVATE Channel (adult entertainment service with an educational bent, from Entertainment Without Limits Inc.)
• Chez moi (lifestyle and the home, food, interior design, do-it-yourself, consumer, gardening, landscaping, and environmental shows, from Astral Media)
• Télé-Rêve (the lives of the rich and famous, from Astral Media)
• Télé-Vitesse (devoted to speed – on land, in water and in the air – and vehicles: automobiles, motorcycles, snowmobiles, trains, boats, planes and more, from Astral Media)
• Canal Justice (programming on the justice system, major trials, legal and police procedure and investigations, from Astral Media)
• Pure Play Clips Channel (adult entertainment service which will feature five to fifteen-minute video clips, from Entertainment Without Limits Inc.)
• Discovery HD Theatre (all high definition programming in the areas of science and technology, nature and the environment, adventure, animal behaviour, pet care, wildlife, travel and world cultures, from Bell Globemedia)
Click here for the full list.
