TORONTO – Shaw Media is asking the CRTC to licence an innovative new English-language specialty news channel called Global News 1 that promises to deliver local news on a national scale.
The company said Monday that the national, all-Canadian channel would incorporate local feeds in all 12 markets where Global currently operates conventional television stations, plus add local newsrooms to Fort McMurray and Red Deer, AB; Sault Ste. Marie, Niagara, Mississauga and Ottawa, ON; Quebec City, QC and Charlottetown, PE, where it says there is either no local television news or limited competition.
Unlike any other service, Global News 1 will feature a national newsfeed bookended by local news segments tailored specifically for each of the markets it serves. Using next-generation technology, the service will be framed by a continuous data feed of hyper-local headlines and community events, and will have the ability to cover live, breaking news at the local, regional or national level.
Shaw Media is also proposing to open the channel to eight small-market, independent broadcasters who would have the opportunity to add their own local content to the service and retain all local advertising in their markets.
“As a leading network and content-experience company, we’re excited about the ability of Global News 1 to meet the changing needs of consumers,” said Troy Reeb, Shaw Media’s senior vice president of news and station operations, in the news release. “Canadians have made clear the vital importance they place on local news at the same time as they are increasingly turning to 24/7 sources. Global News 1 will connect Canadians not just to the stories that shape their neighborhoods, but that tie the country together.”
