New FUN portal aims to revive its spirit
TORONTO – Ed the Sock creator Steven Kerzner and former MuchMusic staffers have created a new online channel aimed at reviving the energy of the old MuchMusic, which they say has been murdered.
(Ed note: Hmmm… That hilarious video to which the above link was supposed to take you was live earlier Wednesday but has now been taken down due to "a copyright claim by CTVglobemedia Inc.", which is odd because that company no longer exists, having long ago been replaced by Bell Media. In that video's place is a message saying "Please stand by. Shit's gone sideways." We'll try to figure out what happened and report back. In the meantime,
here’s the video on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ed.thesock/videos/1661875707163559/ )
“Muchmusic was a dynamic cultural force with a uniquely Canadian approach to television – honest, self-aware, joyful and thrifty. Under new ownership, it retreated from competition with the internet, canceled its original programming and dropped ‘music’ from its name leaving a vacuum in Canada’s cultural landscape,” says a press release from FUNetwork TV.
A Youtube channel and website, FU, er FUN, is “dedicated to the rebirth of an authentic Canadian spirit. Politics is the new rock n’ roll and the FU Network will cover current affairs, politics, social issues, tech, women’s issues, comedy and, of course, music,”
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (yes, really him) said that ‘FUN promises to be one of Canada’s most innovative and bold media networks…(FUN’s) use of technology could change the way that many Canadians consume their media,’ says the press release.
FUN is led by Steven and Liana Kerzner, creators of Canadian icon Ed the Sock and among the key builders of many will rememeber as classic MuchMusic – the days of shows like Snow Job, Tree Toss, Electric Circus and Fromage.
“Over the past decade Canadian media has become increasingly closed off and derivative,” said Steven Kerzner. “To quote a Bruce Cockburn song, FUN is our ‘kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight’.”
The company has quietly beta-tested content since November with a weekly 60-minute series Live from Canada – it’s Ed the Sock from Toronto’s Hard Rock Café.
Though already enjoying sponsorship support from Hershey and Sodastream, among others, FUN is relying on crowdfunding support at funetwork.tv from Canadians who want to revive the missing piece of our media heritage. 
“The Muchmusic style was a national project built by a diverse nation. That is a part of our history, and we're taking it back,” he added.
Check out its YouTube channel here.
