24 March 2006

Sun TV adrift and sinking

Canadian Media Guild | TNG Canada Local 30213

For the second time in two years, Sun TV (formerly Toronto 1) has cancelled its flagship show. The latest casualty is the nightly entertainment show, Inside Jam, which is moving to a one-hour weekend program only.

According to the managers of the beleaguered station, the seven-month-old show was “making progress in the ratings,” but is being axed in favour of something new.

Thirteen employees, including some of the most senior at Sun TV, were told Thursday to collect their personal belongings and leave the building. The Canadian Media Guild, which is currently in bargaining with Sun TV for a first collective agreement, is considering filing a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board about the disgraceful treatment of employees.

The three-year-old station is owned by Quebec’s TVA Group, which is owned in turn by the Péladeau-family-run Quebecor. If the company has a plan for breaking into the English-language TV market, no one seems to know what it is.

The broadcaster has announced it will be introducing a new nightly show in May. Canoe Live will run content from Quebecor’s other media properties, the Toronto Sun, 24 Hours, and canoe.ca.

The broadcast licence granted to the station by the CRTC calls for editorial independence between the Toronto Sun newspaper and Sun TV. It is not clear how that will be fulfilled if the station’s only current affairs show relies on the newspaper’s editorial employees.

(This story first appeared on the Canadian Media Guild web site.)