U.S. channel hunting for Canadian carriage is denied

OTTAWA – The CRTC today denied a request by Shaw Communications to add American cable specialty The Sportsman Channel to the eligible satellite list. Shaw made the request back in January and the Commission denied it today, siding with those who intervened (WildTV, World Fishing Network, CTVglobemedia, CFTPA, the CAB) saying The Sportsman Channel’s programming overlapped far too much with Wild and WFN. Canadian channels are generally protected from the entry of foreign channels in their genres thanks to CRTC policy promoting Canadian broadcasting. (Ed note: With 10 days to the delivery of the new BDU and specialty regulations by...