MONTREAL — The Sun News Network is no longer being carried on Bell Satellite TV because there’s no fee agreement with owner Quebecor to carry it, says Bell (TSX: BCE).
The all-news and talk channel was launched by Quebecor (TSX: QBR.B) last month and was removed from Bell’s Satellite TV lineup on Tuesday.
“Sun News has withdrawn its signal from Bell Satellite TV as we do not have an agreement with Quebecor to carry it,” Bell spokesman Jason Laszlo said in a statement.
“Sun News is still available on Fibe TV in Toronto as it is operating as an over-the-air local station that must be carried locally,” he said.
But Fibe TV, Bell’s Internet protocol TV service, was only rolled out last fall in some Toronto neighbourhoods and would potentially have a smaller pool of viewers for Sun TV than would Bell Satellite.
Despite launching in the middle of a federal election, the new Sun News Network has so far had little impact on the Canadian news scene.
The Quebecor venture launched April 18 after months of buzz about what was being dubbed “Fox News North.”
It had an estimated 37,000 viewers across Canada tune in for its initial half-hour, when it hit the airwaves with what it called “hard news and straight talk.”
But by the end of Sun News’s first week, shows featuring Winnipeg-based radio host Charles Adler and Ottawa-based journalist Brian Lilley were drawing between 4,000 and 5,000 viewers across Canada in their evening slots. Adler had opened the week with 31,000 viewers and Lilley with 17,000.
