MTV Comes Back to Canada
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James Joyner | Thursday, September 29, 2005 |
MTV is coming back to Canada, in a rather backdoor manner
CTV partnership brings MTV back to Canada (CTV)
Canadians who want their MTV will soon be able to get their fill. CTV and the iconic American music channel have announced they are joining forces.
The new strategic alliance announced Wednesday will see CTV and U.S.-based MTV Networks team put two new MTV channels on the Canadian television dial. Under the terms of the deal, CTV has also gained exclusive access to MTV’s broad array of channels, Internet sites and video on demand services.
According to Brad Schwartz, an expat MTV Networks International executive who has returned home to lead the new venture, viewers can look forward to a unique 360-degree entertainment experience.
[...]
Within hours of the announcement, there were already reports rival broadcaster CHUM Television would be keeping an eye on the new venture. CHUM, through a growing slate of MuchMusic channels, has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with its American counterpart. And it doesn’t intend to let any newcomers edge it out without a fight. “We’ll be intrigued to see how Talk TV can be morphed into an MTV brand and still remain a talk channel as licensed,” CHUM Limited CEO and president Jay Switzer said in a statement released Wednesday. “We will be actively encouraging the CRTC to enforce both the spirit and letter of all Talk TV’s conditions of licence.”
But Schwartz dismisses any suggestion that rebranding TalkTV will violate the station’s broadcasting licence. “We’re going to take that MTV DNA, that irreverance, and engage and excite the Canadian production and creative communities to come up with great stuff for us,” he told CTV Newsnet, distinguishing MTV’s lifestyle branding from the music-focused Much Music.
CTV has already enjoyed popular success broadcasting a number of MTV programs. From the car-customizing show Pimp My Ride to Punk’d and Newlyweds with Jessica Simpson, audiences have demonstrated their love of MTV’s irreverant TV style.
Why is it the government’s business whether a cable television station plays music or talk?
It’s quite incredible how much regulation people will put up with.
Of course, a people who will watch “Pimp My Ride” deserves the government it gets.
crosspost from sda
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Big deal. MTV is tired and need to constant find new direction. You think the Canadian government controls are bad in this case, you should see what the CRTC has been doing in regards to granting XM and Sirius the rights to operate there.
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