Quebecor takes new stab at TV licence

[CHIMO]

The Sun TV News channel is taking another run at getting off the ground – but the all-news network, poised to launch using a Fox News model of hard news reporting and opinion shows, hasn’t quite given up on its requests for preferential treatment from the federal regulator.

On Wednesday, Quebecor Inc. (QBR.B-T34.031.033.12%) application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission was made public. The application, filed in July, was the company’s second attempt to win a licence for the channel after its request for a rare must-carry licence, guaranteeing distribution to all cable and satellite customers, was rejected.

This time, Quebecor has asked for a run-of-the-mill Category 2 specialty licence – but with a twist: It wants “mandatory access,” meaning the channel would not necessarily be carried on basic cable but would have to be offered on at least one tier or package by each distributor. This means creating essentially a new category of specialty channel.

The company is proposing pricing the channel at a monthly wholesale cost to the distributors of 25 cents per subscriber, which means distributors will most likely offer the channel for about 50 cents.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/quebecor-takes-new-stab-at-tv-licence/article1694601/