French TV Hearing: TV networks commit to more local news during final appearance

By Steve Faguy

MONTREAL – Both of Canada's two French-language private television networks made commitments to increase local news programming as CRTC hearings concluded Friday in Montreal. Remstar, which bought the TQS network out of creditor protection in 2008 and eliminated its news-gathering operations, read the writing on the hearing walls and committed to increase local news programming on its five owned-and-operated stations after spending the week resisting calls to do so. In '08, the CRTC gave what is now called V Interactions three years of reduced local news minimums when the station was purchased (from Cogeco and CTV) and said it would...