Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums banner

Channel Zero to partner with Bloomberg to launch new Canadian Business Channel

14K views 53 replies 19 participants last post by  Inglewood 
#1 ·
#2 ·
According to the Financial Post, sources close to the project say that Channel Zero will either rebrand or convert an existing channel to this format. I can't see how they could convert Silver Screen Classics or Rewind to this so that only leaves CHCH. Are they really going to convert CHCH to Bloomberg TV Canada? BNN is a category A channel so they can't just apply for a specialty channel license that will deliver business related news. Even with Bloomberg backing the channel, I can't see how this will be a successful venture for CHCH or a specialty channel.
 
#5 ·
Correction, according to cartt.ca, and Channel Zero president Cal Millar, they will be launching under the 2012 Exemption Order which allows them to launch a category B channel as long as it stays under 200,000 subs. Once they hit 200,000 subs they will then apply for a category B license.

So it will NOT be launching through one of their existing channels.

"Once Bloomberg TV Canada is launched, the U.S. feed will be pulled from Canadian distributors and replaced by the Canadian one. “We are launching under the 2012 exemption order,” Channel Zero president and COO Cal Millar (pictured above, right, with Michael Bloomberg) told Cartt.ca in an interview. That order clears the way for anyone to launch a Category B specialty channel – so long as it stays below 200,000 subscribers – a mark Millar believes the channel will probably exceed pretty quickly. At that point it will apply for a Category B license."

https://cartt.ca/article/exclusive-channel-zero-launch-bloomberg-tv-canada-year
 
#6 ·
That's good to hear that CHCH isn't being rebranded because that would not be a viable option in my opinion since they would still have to have local programming and they wouldn't be able to get carriage fees from cable TV customers.

The category B exemption makes sense but the issue is how is Channel Zero going to make the case that this doesn't compete directly with BNN? BNN is a Category A channel which means it has genre protection. Heck, even an exempt Category B license would have the same problem. I'll be interested to see what the official definition on the nature of their license will be.
 
#10 ·
If my suspicions are true then this is absolutely terrible news!

Currently, I watch alot of Bloomberg on the Net, on Roku and on my tablet. From an investment perspective, I really don't care about Canadian business news since 99% of my investing is done outside Canada. I read G&M and FP for what Canadian business info I need.

My guess is that the CRTC is now going to try and force Canadians to watch the Canadian branded version.
 
#14 ·
It's not the CRTC that is talking about launching a Canadian version and pulling the American one. In fact, given the genre protection that BNN has, the CRTC is more likely to be helpful than harmful if what you want is to keep the current Bloomberg feed.

I don't really get why they want to do this, given BNN's genre protection and the amount of coverage Canadian business already has. Maybe the US feed of Bloomberg isn't popular in Canada given it competes with CNBC?
 
#11 ·
Either way there is NO way BNN or Bell needs genre protection for their channel, especially after these years. In fact one could argue it is anti-competitive to have genre protection, especially in today's world.

Hell they are already competing with Bloomberg and in some cases Fox Business, not to mention CNBC.
 
#15 ·
On C-band satellite, there is a channel called ElFinanciero-Bloomberg on satellite 116.8W. It is a partnership between a Mexican financial channel and Bloomberg. Most of the time they show regular Bloomberg programming in English and during prime-time they show Mexican news.

Maybe Bloomberg is planning something similar for Canada? Personally, I wouldn't mind such a partnership. If they plan to broadcast nation wide, there will probably be a C-band feed. I will let you guys know if I see them testing anything.
 
#17 ·
They're not competing right now, BNN is largely Canadian business news and the current Bloomberg is American business news.

If Bloomberg Canada is Canadian business news, then they are competing and BNN's genre protection will pose an issue. If Bloomberg Canada is still mostly American, then they're probably fine, but I'm not sure how different that is than what we have now.
 
#20 ·
CHCH had the inside story from Channel Zero on the channel during last night's broadcast.

It will essentially be an "international news channel" with Canadian stories intertwined. Looks like it will be the Toronto reporting centre if any international worthy business news comes out of Toronto for the rest of the Bloomberg networks.

The station will be physically located in the "financial district" of Toronto - did Channel Zero get a deal on the old Sun News studios?

Hopefully it will have significant content - I can see CHCH's current guests Nick Bontis and Marvin Ryder providing some good commentary.
 
#23 ·
The station will be physically located in the "financial district" of Toronto - did Channel Zero get a deal on the old Sun News studios?
They are building a new studio in Bloomberg’s Brookfield Place offices.

I noticed BNN issued a press release touting their ratings the day before the Bloomberg announcement. Coincidence?

http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/press/bn...high-bnn-ca-attracts-record-audience-january/

Jason2020 If you read previous posts, you see they aren't rebranding CHCH.
 
#21 ·
You can't compare BNN to Bloomberg.

Bloomberg is one of the worlds pre-eminent news reporting organizations, not just business but news. Bloomberg is backed by billions of dollars of annual revenue with terminals (and contacts) inside every major brokerage and financial institution around the world.

BNN, on the other hand, is a government protected monopoly which reads press releases that fails to report on much of anything outside of Toronto and a bit of Calgary.

FYI, there are three business networks in the US., not two.
 
#25 ·
The original license of Bloomberg Canada expired years ago. It was part of a joint venture between Rogers Media and Shaw Cable. They decided in 2004 to not pursue launching a Canadian version of Bloomberg and in addition they lobbied the CRTC to add the US version of MSNBC and Bloomberg to the list of eligible services. Once the CRTC approved it, MSNBC Canada was replaced with the US feed of MSNBC on December 1st and Bloomberg US became available the same month too.
 
#28 ·
The new exemption rules for Cat B specialty channels is such that any company can use any previously granted Cat B/2 channel (whether their own or someone elses) for their own channel even if that original licence has been expired. Technically they don't own the licence per se, in fact there is no actual licence at all, but they use the licence as a model by which they must mold their new channel by. They use these model licences in exchange for not having to apply for their own licence as long as the channel does not pass the 200,000 subscriber level. The reasoning is that this will cut down on the administrative work for the CRTC and the company as companies don't have to keep applying for licences for such a small channel when they will just be approved anyway because there has already been a channel granted a similar licence previously. Once they reach the 2000,000 subscribers, then they'll have to apply for a licence, in theory, the licence will be the same as the one they used to model their channel on.

So since there was already a Cat 2 channel licence granted for Bloomberg TV Canada channel back in 2000, Channel Zero is going to use that licence to model their own Bloomberg channel and once they meet their 200,000 subscribers, which they presumably will reach very quickly, then they'll apply for a licence of their own which they will obviously be granted.
 
#47 ·
...So since there was already a Cat 2 channel licence granted for Bloomberg TV Canada channel back in 2000, Channel Zero is going to use that licence to model their own Bloomberg channel and once they meet their 200,000 subscribers, which they presumably will reach very quickly, then they'll apply for a licence of their own which they will obviously be granted.
You were right. It took them 2 years though. :)

The official CRTC decision on the application is expected this week. Conditions include:
It also confirms that during the broadcast year ending on 31 August 2017, it will devote at least 25% of the broadcast year and of the evening broadcast period to the broadcast of Canadian programs and, starting in the broadcast year commencing on 1 September 2017, it will devote at least 35% of the broadcast year to the broadcast of Canadian programs.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top