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Corus Entertainment has applied to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission for a new hyper-local TV service, If approved, Corus Audio & Advertising Services Ltd says it will launch the service, called Local1 for now, within six months.
The application describes a new Western Canadian television network, with channels planned for 64 cities across the country, and some 28 communities throughout B.C., including Vancouver and Victoria.
According to the application, content on the network "would focus on the provision of local information customized for each community."
Local1's website says its strategy is to take advanatage of the fact that other broadcasters are "reducing or cancelling local TV programming in many Canadian markets."
A highly segmented or multi-zoned screen display is shown on its website, with weather, news feeds, road reports and community and municipal information being displayed on screen.
The applicant proposes to offer programming from several categories (as set out in Item 6 of Schedule I to the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990: 1, 2(a), 3, 5(b), 11, 12, 13 and 14) and it has asked the Commission for condition of licence with respect to advertising, including a twelve minutes limit on advertising material during each clock hour. In each community where the service is distributed, the licensee may broadcast no more than six minutes of local advertising.
Reports indicated Corus is discussing carriage and distribution with Shaw Communications Inc., the largest cable operator in Western Canada.
The CRTC is inviting feedback and comments on the application, No. 2009-1674-4, through March 15.
Source: Broadcaster, 02/26/2010
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