The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has rejected Sun News Network’s request for a “must-carry” designation, the Toronto Star reports.
The designation would have forced cable and satellite carriers to include Sun News in all basic packages.
During the CRTC hearings, Sun News executive Kory Teneycke said that anything but a must-carry decision would spell a “death sentence” for the network. Even a decision to force carriers to offer the network on an opt-in basis, he said, would not be enough to save Sun News.
The conservative-leaning network, owned by Canadian media giant Quebecor, lost $17 million last year. The network argued that it only wanted protections similar to those offered to its competitors, the CBC and CTV.
The CRTC decided, however, that Sun News “did not clearly demonstrate how its service would make an exceptional contribution to the objectives of the [Broadcasting] Act.”
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