The CRTC disagreed, however, and turned down the application in a Jletter to Quebecor. Quebecor initially requested Category 1 status for Sun News on the basis that the channel's combination of news, analysis and opinion programming would create "a completely new genre" different from the other all-news channels in Canada. However, unlike CTV News Channel and CBC News Network, carriers would not have had the ability to distribute Sun News via analogue cable, only through their digital service (a Category 1 status would not have made the channel a compulsory part of every customer's basic digital package however, it could be placed in digital basic packages subject to negotiations between Sun News and individual television providers). The Category 1 status, if the CRTC had approved it, would have given Sun News the same status as CTV News Channel and CBC News Network, in that it would have required all Canadian digital television providers (both cable and direct broadcast satellite) to carry and offer Sun News to their customers should those carriers have the capability to do so.
In its initial submission to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in the spring of 2010, Quebecor requested that Sun News be awarded a Category 1 digital specialty channel licence that would have reverted to Category 2 status after three years. The logo was used in 2010 during its licensing campaign and was never employed on-air.įrom the start of its licensing attempts for Sun News, Quebecor intended for the network to replace the company's existing licence for general entertainment independent station CKXT-TV (branded as "Sun TV"), which was available at the time over-the-air in Toronto and through relayed through rebroadcasters in Hamilton, London and Ottawa. Original pre-launch logo for the channel while under its tentative name, Sun TV News Channel.
Following failed attempts to sell the network to ZoomerMedia (a company owned by Canadian television executive Moses Znaimer) and Leonard Asper, Sun News Network abruptly signed off on Februat 5:00 a.m. This lack of viewership has been attributed in part to failing to gain mandatory carriage, which their competitors enjoyed, by the CRTC. The network, known for its right-of centre editorial stance, was plagued with poor viewership: the network reported an average of 8,000 viewers, which was significantly lower than its competitors, CBC News Network and CTV News Channel. The existence of Sun TV prior to Sun News (and the fact a similar on-screen logo was used for the CKXT venture) has resulted in Sun News sometimes being erroneously referred to as "Sun TV". Sun News was simulcast on CKXT-DT (channel 51), a general entertainment independent television station based in Toronto (with repeaters in Southern and Eastern Ontario) that was branded as "Sun TV" before it began simulcasting Sun News from the network's launch until Quebecor surrendered the CKXT licence in the fall of 2011. Quebecor had sought wider distribution for Sun News since its launch, most notably making an unsuccessful request for mandatory carriage on basic cable and satellite tiers in 2013. Sun News was distributed by most major cable and satellite providers across Canada but was included in channel tiers subscribed by only 40% of all Canadian households (5.1 million homes with a pay television subscription). It operated under a Category 2 (later classified as Category C) licence granted by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in November 2010, after the network aborted a highly publicized attempt for a Category 1 licence (later classified as Category A) that would have given it mandatory access on digital cable and satellite providers across Canada. The channel was launched on Apin standard and high definition and shut down February 13, 2015.
Sun News Network (commonly shortened to Sun News) was a Canadian English language Category C news channel owned by Québecor Média through a partnership between two of its subsidiaries, TVA Group (which maintained 51% majority ownership of the company) and Sun Media Corporation (which held the remaining 49% interest). Defunct Canadian cable news TV channel Sun News Network