New French pay TV channels not permitted to compete with incumbent Super Ecran: CRTC

OTTAWA – The CRTC has extended its call for new French-language general interest pay television service applications, but only for channels that don’t plan to compete with Astral’s Super Écran.That was the gist of Friday’s rather peculiar decision denying a request from TVA Group for a new channel called Ciné-TVA. After asking for comments in January on how best to open up the genre, the Commission acknowledged that a second French-language pay television service could be viable, though applicants must provide evidence "clearly demonstrating demand and a market for the proposed service". It also added that though the service will be authorized to broadcast...