A new channel is going to be launched by France called "France 24". It is essentially a Francophone all news channels for the world, similar to BBC world, CNN international and DW.

France 24 is suppose to launch shortly (this fall) with 2 feeds. One will be all French while the other will be 75% English and 25% French. There will also be a 3rd feed with Arabic language, but that won't launch until next year.

I'm curious if anyone has made any request to bring this channel into Canada. There is no mention of it on the CRTC web site. It needs to be approved before anyone can carry it.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_24

According to this site: http://france24.wordpress.com/2006/08/15/france-24-in-the-us/ It will be available to Canada in 2008 !!! Wow...

Any news on France 24 being approved by CRTC?

Using the Internet, I am accessing both France 24 and Al-Jazeera (english) on a daily basis.
On TV, I normally look at CNN and Euronews.
I would gladly suscribe to France 24 and Al-Jazeera should they be available.
Hope the CRTC approves these channels.

As you know, BEV has pulled the plug on EuroNews, due to "poor viewership" and the need to open bandwidth for more (duplicate) programming, albeit in HD! They put the European 24 hour news channel into a programming package with punk/hip-hop/soul music channels, and even though their web site states that EuroNews was available "a la carte," when I went to add it by itself, I was told that the web site was incorrect and I would have to buy the whole "Variety 3" package, which I did--just to watch EuroNews.

Now, I guess most other viewers weren't so loose with their change and chose to forego EN and now BEV can say, "nobody was watching it." (What a load of "dirty tricks.")

I sure would like to see France24 or Al-Jazeera (English) added, but I won't hold my breath. Too bad, too. Canada is slowly slipping down the slop of mediocre, trash television offerings like our neighbor to the south. "Bread and Circus!" :(

So are Planete and Euronews officially removed from Expressvu?

English and French language news channels should be a priority on Canadian carriers. All legitimate news stations need to be approved for carriage in Canada. The current situation makes Canada look like a vassal of the USA. The CNN US service need to be replaced by the international service. At least two foreign plus two European services need to be provided for each US news service (especially the right wing US news services.) Canada is becoming a nation influenced by state controlled news services. There are viewpoints outside of the control of US and Canadian broadcasters that need to be heard.

On Rogers Cable in Toronto, BBC World, Euronews and DW are available as English services. BBC World comes from London, Euronews comes from Lyons (France) and DW comes from Germany. That's a pretty good European selection. I am not aware of other English language international services except Al-Jazeera. BTW, BBC World is available on an analog tier not just digital.

I understand a little French and occasionally watch news from the national French networks on TV5. The new France 24 news channel could be an interesting addition but bear in mind it was created by the government of France to get its views across in the English speaking world.

There is an English news service from Russia, I beleive; they announced it at any rate some 18 -24 months ago.

In some US cable systems, you get CNN, CNN Headline News AND CNN International. I'd definitely like to see the International edition as well.

I'm not an expert in this field but I'd think there was a 24 hr news service in Australia, India, South Africa and no doubt in Asia. Plus doesn't Murdoch run Sky News via satellite? And, frankly, Al-Jazeera English might prove interesting on some news days.

The CRTC makes it difficult to launch english language services in Canada as they twist-and-shout in a dance to protect industry incumbents and cultural heritage. Non-english services are way easier -- hence Rogers carries over 60 services in its multicultural portfolio.

(You can re-read the above paragraph and substitute french for english if you wish as well.)

I'd be willing to pay more for a genuine inernational news theme pack ... maybe its time to tell Rogers?

I think you need to find international news services - not domestic 24 hour channels from other countries. News services buy stories from other news organizations for domestic distribution and don't necessarily have any right to use the material outside their own country.
I like CNN International, it's quite different compared to the US version seen in Canada. It could be a good addition. CNBC also has European and Asian versions.