Conservative Canadian network needs government help for survival

A channel that has been called "Fox News North" by critics has asked the Canadian government to drop it a lifeline.

Sun News, which has been on the air for almost two years in Canada, is hemorrhaging money. The conservative network, which was launched by Quebecor Media, was an attempt to counteract CBC and CTV news with its perceived "liberal bias" (please note: I have not seen any of these networks. That is Sun News’ wording, not mine.). 

Quebecor Media says that the channel stands to lose $17 million this year, with more losses anticipated on top of that.

“This is clearly unsustainable,” said the company in its filing to the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission. What hurts it, according to the company, are its lack of carriage deals to offset loses. It has a deal in Quebec with Quebecor and with Shaw Communications and Cogeco, but other major carriers have not touched it yet, including MTS and Telus. Quebecor questioned that, saying that, “In case you were wondering, both Telus and MTS offer Al Jazeera, BBC World News and other foreign all-news channels,” in its filing. 

Canadians also have the chance to watch American news channels, as CNN, Fox News Channel, CNBC, Bloomberg Television and MSNBC reach into Canadian markets.

Quebecor says this hurts market awareness of the channel.

“Just over one in three Canadians have even heard of Sun News. Less than half that number has watched,” it said.

My uneducated position is that the carriers have the right to air whatever they think fits. This filing seems like Quebecor wants the channel mandated into Canadian homes. If you launch a product that people do not like, should the government be forced to fix it for you?