Sun News Network, aka Fox News North, will launch on April 18

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      Quebecor Media Inc. has announced that its 24-hour news network will hit the airwaves on April 18.

      Sun News Network has been dubbed by critics as Fox News North because of its expected right-wing slant.

      It's a joint venture between Sun Media Corporation and TVA Group, which are both subsidiaries of Quebecor Media.

      Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former press secretary, Kory Teneycke, announced the venture last year. He left the company, but later rejoined it.

      Calgary writer and lawyer Ezra Levant, a former press secretary to then-Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day, will be among the cast of commentators.

      Tens of thousands of people signed petitions to keep Sun News Network off the air, including novelist Margaret Atwood.

      Today (March 8), Quebecor Media announced that Sun Media journalist Brian Lilley will host a show in prime time called “Byline with Brian Lilley”.

      “The self-appointed experts don’t know it all and neither do they speak for all of us," Lilley said in a Quebecor Media statement today. "On Byline, we’ll bring you the stories you won’t hear anywhere else while exploring points of view that are all too often ignored.”

      Sun News Network will be a category 2 digital channel, which means it can be offered at the discretion of the cable or satellite operator. It must include a minimum of 15 percent Canadian content in its first year, followed by 25 percent in the second year, and 35 percent in the third year.

      If there's a spring federal election, it's possible that Sun News Network will be broadcasting before voters go to the polls.

      Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

      Comments

      58 Comments

      Strange times to be Canadian

      Mar 8, 2011 at 11:37am

      Shocking. In the wake of Harper's recent moves to take control of the CRTC, his cronies are finally given the green light for 24 hour propaganda. Just what Canada needs right now: the balanced voice of Stockwell Day. I'm so surprised.

      Oh, and what a relief that Teneycke is back... I was starting to miss his haircut.

      Null Neimand

      Mar 8, 2011 at 12:03pm

      I am fine with a right slanted TV News Broadcaster here in Canada, as long as they report with journalistic standards that are on par or better than what we have currently. In the US the Fox News Corp is unfortunately trying to push those standards lower and lower like a psychotic limbo stick, we are Canadian we shouldn't play that game.

      It's about time

      Mar 8, 2011 at 1:47pm

      Bravo! Finally another perspective in Canada. I have confidence that Canadians are smart enough to see all points of view and to make informed decisions accordingly. It will be refreshing to have a homegrown viewpoint that I can relate to.

      This is predictable

      Mar 8, 2011 at 3:17pm

      Not only are those so proud to be "Canadian" under the delusion of deserved nationhood, now there is a vehicle for hate speech to hit the airwaves. The illusion of "Canada" has been around 143 years and people are already calling for a return to their "old Canada" culturally (of white supremacy). 143 years. "Old Canada." Idiots. Our "home" is multicultural,native land. And the racial and cultural fabric will change dramatically over the next 143 years. So get with the program. Because no network of white supremacist imbeciles can stop it.

      welldoneson

      Mar 8, 2011 at 5:17pm

      This is too fun... watching the brainless left pretend that a breath of truth and objectivitiy is somehow biased.
      Once this station is available and Canadians see that is it not biased at all, but covers stories in a far more objective manner than the CBC (chuckle), we might not see another Liberal gov't in Canada for decades!

      canuck4liberty

      Mar 8, 2011 at 5:25pm

      I don't know what everybody is afraid of who are opposed to Sun TV. If you don't like the network, don't watch it and if it doesn't get enough viewers the network will flop. It will go the way that Air America did in the U.S.

      I for one know that FOX doesn't always tell the truth and neither does CNN and more importantly MSNBC. At least in Canada, lets have a variety of voices other than those with Iggy coloured sunglasses at CBC.

      the_rest_of_us

      Mar 8, 2011 at 5:42pm

      If the hard line right wing bias and sensationalized "information" reported by Fox North is going to be anything like it is by Fox in the US they might as well rebrand the station as Alberta's Point of View...

      after all, it was in Alberta last year that the illustrious Sarah Palin spoke to a sold out crowd...and ONLY in Alberta would that happen...along with the KKK march in 2009...

      RF

      Mar 8, 2011 at 7:41pm

      Judging from some of the American-style comments here, we apparently deserve this station.

      Burnaby Joe

      Mar 8, 2011 at 11:17pm

      So Freedom of Speech doesn't apply if the speaker has a different opinion? Every broadcaster has their own spin on eavery story, so why should Sun Media be any different?

      virgil miner

      Mar 9, 2011 at 7:58am

      freedom of my speech only please, this is commercial drive!
      no comedians who make people laugh if I think i may be the butthole of the joke please
      get me a hammer to nail the door to any thought that might cause me pain or inconvenience. OnLY In CanAda you say, pity