You know who you are.
TrueNorthist in the comments:
I sent my letter to the CRTC today, asking that Sun News be given equal treatment in broadcasting. First time I have written a letter in years but I was very motivated. Every letter the CRTC receive carries the weight of hundreds of emails, so if you haven’t yet done so, please do. You can bet the left and it’s fellow travellers in media will be sending thousands of emails but I’d like to think we can beat them at what used to be their game. Sun News needs this application to go through and they need our help to do it. If they manage to kill the Sun we will never see another like it.
If you don’t want to go back to the days of CTV and CBC being the only available Canadian news channels, here’s what you need to do.
It’s snailing its way.
Done.
As much as I like Sun News and its programming, I find it hard to fight for its existence on an infrastructure that I oppose.
That is not to say I do not enjoy “t.v.”, but I do not enjoy cable.
If I ask for Sun News to remain on cable, I am basically asking others to “foot the bill” since I do not nor does my wife justify paying for all the rest of the crappy programming that cable t.v. offers.
We watch DVD’s and we surf the internet, that is our turf.
I believe the best action for us is fighting the beast known as the CBC, since that is what we are being FORCED to pay for against “our” Canadian ideology.
I am open to discuss this, but we will not be getting cable anytime in the foreseeable future.
Sent mine yesterday.
Awfull hard to compete when only 40% of households receive your signal.
Hard to get advertisers when this is happening.
Lets flood the crtc, we can be sure the detracotrs are.
Sent my letter in the other day. Also composing letters for my son and husband to sign, haha, and they will also be mailed shortly.
I am terrified of going back to the bad old days of only CBC etc.
Well knacker SunTV is the only TV station that fights the CBC. Maybe in 5 years the whole shebang will be defunded, but for now a CRTC enforced news oligopoly is the hand that’s been dealt, and Sun staying alive is a chance at breaking the choke hold.
You don’t have to get cable…your choice. What I find offensive, as an Albertan and lifetime Telus customer is that Sun News isn’t even offered. Yes,yes I could change service providers and I’ve written Telus. The larger issue here is that I pay for CBC, CTV, CNN and AlJazerra… without consent. Since there is no chance that is going to change, the next best thing is my leftard friends get to pay $.99/mo to indulge my tastes.
A relative sent his letter and I hope it is read. It wasn’t negative and really tried to highlight SNN’s good points and one’s personal reflections on having a network that isn’t a mouthpiece for the left.
The key point is here that CTV and CBC are news channels. Sun TV is an opinion channel.
And what is HILARIOUS is the fact that these guys were against this before they were for it. And now… they want to force Canadians to pay for them whether they like it or not.
Those are some great values guys.
CTV and CBC are also opinion channels, albeit less forthright about their opinions. And the end goal remains termination of subsidies for all stations, which SUN will help achieve if it remains on the air.
So you have no prob with giving AlJazeera $.99/mo right John? No problem with me doing so also? Right?
To offer more of my daily rituals, I take in a hardy dose of Rutherford in the morning and Adler in the afternoons on the am dials. On top of that I come home and venture to to SDA(and every link offered) when my family and home life allows me to.
I get a a hardy fill each day, and that was long before Sun News.
Since I live in rural Alberta, internet presently costs us $60/month. That allows us decent bandwidth and only 50GBs. $80 if we want 100GBs. Myself being the soul bread winner has to make choices. Purchasing unnecessary cable means other more necessary purchases going unfulfilled, or being subsidized.
I am not trying to be a crank on this issue, but if I am going to be against subsidies that are not in my favor than I also have to be against subsidies when they are in my favor. That means not asking others to pay for what I am not willing to pay for under the current models.
If Sun News offered live stream for a reasonable monthly subscription rate than so be it, but than we wouldn’t be having to deal with the issue at hand. I could suggest Sun News coordinating with my existing monthly internet expenses and provider, but than I am sure my provider would also want to be in the game of choosing who is included in the internet package.
Should Sun News be allowed to exist? yes, but I can’t be expected to show up and appreciate a rigged sport.
The existing cable model has got to go.
I sent my letter in a few days ago and had already signed the online petition.
All this about the cable being a rigged sport, etc is a given.
It is what we have to deal with and arguing about the playing field is a distraction. We do not get to pick the field. But we do get the chance to let them know what we do want on the field. Sun News is a wonderful channel and you all know without doubt the CBC would like nothing better than to see it disappear so they can continue to form our opinions for us as they have done for 60 years.
Sun News has provided excellent and outstanding programming and offering not just ‘news stories’ but the truth. This country needs Sun News TV and all Canadians need it as well. There is just too much ignorance of the facts floating around the air in this country and we sure do deserve all sides of an issue , not just what CBC or CTV want us to know out of their liberal rose glasses.
“The key point is here that CTV and CBC are news channels. Sun TV is an opinion channel.”
You cannot be serious with that statement can you John? CBC is not an opinion channel?
I am going to read your post again tomorrow just in case I’m too tired and am not thinking clearly.
What “news” does one ever see on Sun TV?
Ibby asks a question. Well done Ibby…To answer, the truth about Attiwapiskat. The implications of Sec. 13 HRC complaints, TDSB Veggie dildo’s, Omar as a terrorist rather than a 13 year old “average Canadian kid”, Crappy Dutch cartoons, American NFP Foundations playing politics in Canada, Political boxing bouts, Provincial elections nobody else covered, interpretive dance critique…
I sent a page-long letter a few weeks ago.
Yes. A letter sent in an envelope speaks for many more people than you’d think. ‘Much more effective than a signature on an e-mail petition or an e-mail.
Answer to Iberia’s asinine question @ 3:08 AM: All the news the CBC, CTV, and Global won’t air in order to protect their political pals and keep being invited to all their parties.
Why do I keep getting caught in the filter? Just wrote an innocuous post and my comment’s being held for the moderator to look at …
I wrote mine for a host of reasons. And, when all else fails, it’s fun to take it, wrap it in barbed wire, put a candle on it, and shove it right up the butt of an obtuse tool such as John. He thinks it’s fair to force others to pay for values he favours.
Sun is not a news outlet. They are Conservative party re-election central and a 24/7 right wing infomercial . Their only redeeming value is in being one stop shopping to find out to find out what the yahoos are thinking.
Sun News was kind enough to mail me the information and even supplied a SASE to mail the letter in. Since been done with pleasure. I emphasized “Canadian Values” such as “level playing field” freedom of expression etc etc.
it’s ironic that in this day and age the crtc is relying on snail mail to make their decision. this fact alone indicates how out of touch the crtc is.
I’ve got to agree with Knacker about not writing but for different reasons. I rather enjoy cable. What I do not enjoy is being forced to buy my programming in packages. Supporting networks that do not draw enough support through viewership to make them financially viable. The current system is simply an extension of the government (CRTC) picking, or trying to, winners and losers. I opposed the auto bailouts and this is no sifferent. Forcing the taxpayer/subscriber to support a product that they have no interest in supporting on their own is not something I can support even if it’s for a conservative cause. Wrong is wrong.
I do get Sunnews on Rogers here in Ontario but cannot bring myself to watch it for more than a few minutes at a time. Given the old Sun channel I was worried their production values would be straight out of Melonville. Unfortunately, that seems to have come to pass. If they want to increase viewership they need to provide a better product and concentrate on getting cable companies make it available as a subscription. The whole system needs an overhaul.
The market has spoken. 40% of Canadian households get Sun TV and their most popular show gets less than 40,000 viewers. People just don’t like amateur, cheap TV that’s all opinion.
If you actually watched Sun News you would see lots of news!!
PB, I agree with your comments. What I would really like is an al la cart menu where I can check off the stations I want to subscribe to. It puzzles me why the Federal government does not move in that direction. It seems like the easiest way to defund all these loser channels and let the market place decide who the winners and losers are.
All the standard media available today is there to influence, not inform.
The leftists don’t want any conservative influence available to the low information masses.
Let’s fight for at least one channel that influences on a conservative…not a Liberal platform.
Chances are we’ll have to change the Liberal aparachuks currently in control of the CRTC to accomplish it.
Done.
“The key point is here that CTV and CBC are news channels. Sun TV is an opinion channel.”
Sounds like the opinion of a leftist.
CBC and CTV are news channels? Where is the coverage on climategate?
Where is the coverage of the BC Liberal and former member of parliament that was in court yesterday on 6 income tax charges? The whole world knows about Brazeau’s legal troubles. The Liberal crook? Nothing reported.
DO NOT tell me that what we receive now is news….you commie.
Look at all the leftard Statist losers.
Must be important.
I’ll send my letter today.
If the only thing Sun News ever did was cover the stories the rest of the media will not it will be enough for me. Were it not for Sun News we would not know the real reason why our brothers and sisters on reserves are suffering. That one story has given hope to hundreds of thousands of FN people, for the first time in their lives, by breaking the wall of silence that is enforced by the political zealots that infest our media. That too is enough to justify letting the Sun into every Canadian household. I get knacker74’s argument. It is a principled stand on an issue he/she cares about enough to act and I commend her/him for it. But the rest of the naysayers in here clearly demonstrate why we need the Sun to shine in every dark place in this country. That those folks are whining makes me even more certain of that.
This is truly a worthy cause for anyone who is on the suffering end of the culture war. It is important that alternate voices be herd in an era when ALL media have a partisan political agenda – Sun NN has an agenda too and you may not agree with it but as long as the other MSM disguise their bias as “balance” and cloak their “opinion” as news, it is refreshing to see an opinion channel openly admit they are offering news and opinion and offer counter spin and dissenting opinion to the status quo.
This is the time for the huge center and center right to come out of dormant mode and go active. Yes a letter is a s,all thing to do to get officialdom to see the will of the silent majority but we really need to o is get others involved. We keep forgetting that libertarian and right of center activism is a small minority. The bulk of the majority do not get politically active until an election. THAT is the demographic you have to wake up and get active. Fire out links to the petition on ALL your net contacts, mailing lists, BBS affiliations etc.
Doowleb, bingo!
Sure, CBC provides a “professional” presentation of the news but it is paid for with $1.5 billion of our tax money. However, you are getting a leftist slant that only half reports the news and the rest is socialist BS. I’d rather watch Ezra and Adler than any of the plastic talking heads on CBC.
they are only available in 4 out of 10 households, silly. Hard to get big numbers when there is not mandatory carriage, that CBC has. DUH.
“The key point is here that CTV and CBC are news channels.”
I got this far in your comment, John, and I doubled over laughing.
“What “news” does one ever see on Sun TV?”
On their news shows. Like CBC, CNN etc Sun has a mix of news & opinion– or do you think that Piers Morgan is a “news” programme?
February 6, 2013
Re: Sun News application # 2012-0687-1
To whom it may concern:
Canada needs Sun News. Canadian news providers engineer the narrative of stories to suit their interests, when the focus should be on reporting the news. This is why I trust the Sun News team. Yes, they espouse certain opinions, as do most CBC employees; however, Sun News is especially important thanks to its dedication of preserving ‘freedom’ within Canada and with regards to media transparency; something the CBC, CTV, and other controlled media does not do.
Sun News is the only news outlet which reflects my interpretation of the facts regarding:
– the futility and waste of the gun registry
– the unsustainability of Canada’s healthcare system
– the unfairness and racism inherent in Canada’s justice system
– government waste and collusion
– the unconstitutionality and waste of the Wheat Board Monopoly
– Public sector unsustainable and unpaid liabilities;
Sun News is the only News outlet that reports these dire issues. Canada needs Sun News.
I do not request to appear at the public hearing.
“Sure, CBC provides a “professional” presentation of the news but it is paid for with $1.5 billion of our tax money.”
Exactly right. Why do your typical left-leaning cretins not acknowledge this simple fact? Are they shamed and embarrased that their beloved CBC wouldn’t last a week without a constant influx of tax dollars so they conveniently ignore reality and strive to get others to follow suit? Do they believe that the CBC deserves some sort of special treatment because it is … well … special? Or are they simply too stupid and uninformed to realize that the CBC does in fact receive in excess of $1.5 billion annually as a bizarre form of life support?
Defund the damned parasite and see how long it lasts on a level playing field. In the meantime, Sun News should be given a chance to at least get on the field, level or not.
“As you know, Sun News is 100% Canadian and produces 96 hours a week of Canadian content but is less available than a number of American and foreign all-news channels. That’s not right. In fact, some cable and satellite companies don’t even offer Sun News at all!”
Is this what passes for free market/right wing? The solution is not in forcing people to pay for a network they have no interest in receiving but in eliminating that kind of treatment all together. Supply a quality product and people will demand it. If cable providers have not made SNN available its because the demand is not there. Why should XYZ be forced to carry it at a loss and/or pass on the cost to a consumer who has no interest in watching?
The current packaging model rewards mediocrity. Allow the consumer to purchase a la carte or as a buffet and let the market reign.
Hell, next thing you know auto companies will be required to build electric vehicles that nobody wants…
The noble fight here is against the CRTC. Unless this a secret ploy to make cable tv unwatchable with nothing but politics news channels, there’s no reason why we should have SunTV in basic cable.
Don’t get me wrong, the channel is sometimes watchable, but I reject that political pressure should be applied by conservatives to force users to get a channel they wouldn’t purchase themselves… CBC and CTVs existing preferential treatment notwithstanding.
Allowing users to subscribe to individual channels is the ultimate freedom in television selection. Forced channel adoption, whether it be CBC, CTV or SunTV is wrong.
Basically if Sun News goes under the conservative movement in Canada will die out within 10 years (barring economic collapse and civil unrest) as far too many young people are being totally brainwashed by CBC and so called universities which would make Orwell vomit.
Once and a while I flip over to the CBC only to watch Even Solomon get completely steam rolled by which ever guest he has on, as he shows no incentive to stretch his knowledge about the issues to actually have a chance at debating them. It is embarrassing every time. If you can’t even get rise out of a guest who has ties to terrorist organizations then you are a total failure of a journalist.
When you juxtapose that with people at Sun News who actually enjoy learning new things on their own time it really makes you wonder what they are spending their 1.1 billion dollars on.
PB @ 11:22 If government mandate is imposed upon a system the rules it applies must be the same for all. The CRTC, among other jobs, limits access of stations on the public airwaves. They are also involved in cable TV in determining what channels are available, and what channels are mandatory. The issue isn’t “we want our channel to be favoured above all others because we’re special”, it’s “we want our channel to have equal access to the public airwaves of the news channels they compete with.
The auto companies analogy would be closer if you looked at it as being “only federally approved car companies are allowed to have round wheels. Any other car companies that sell cars in Canada must use wheels that don’t have a circular cross section”. Why would anyone ever impose a rule like that? Well, if you don’t want competition, making sure your supporters/like minded producers cars provide the only smooth ride available is one way to make all other cars fail.
Sun news has done excellent work on the way in which the Ontario Chief Firearms Officer has been abusing his power.
Anyone who owns a firearm and wants to keep that right should be supporting Sun news.
sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/prime-time/867432237001/arbitrary-officer-trumps-democracy/2150643453001
C_Miner,
Then the solution is to revamp the system, not perpetuate it. Do away with mandatory carriage for everybody. I see no need for a network affirmative action program.
I find it pretty insulting that some people here think “conservatism will die out” if SunTV goes down. Do you people really have no faith in humans to follow what is ultimately the right path? Is the only way to sustain the right path to have a basic cable channel? If so it’s not a movement I want any part of because it’s flaky as hell.
“Do away with mandatory carriage” is the war. Today the battle is to keep the only network who may advocate for that on the air.
PB, join us in our battle today so we can win that war by dismantling the CRTC and eliminating all broadcast subsidies tomorrow.
PB @ 12:35
So forget equal treatment for all, until the king is dead there is no point in any reforms? The real world is rarely so black and white, and since the other side will resist disbanding the CRTC regardless, it’s better for them to be on the receiving end of it’s negative effects to make our case stronger.
In point form: at the moment we’re stuck with the CRTC. While we are stuck with the CRTC we should insist upon equal treatment. Demanding equal treatment does not equal supporting the system. Using the results of equal treatment as data helps support the overthrow of the existing system. All or nothing will likely get us nothing.
The absurdity of these systems can work for us in the long run, we need to take a line from the thinking behind “Rules for Radicals” and use the system against them as a means of forcing change upon the system. And, in the meantime, we get a source of news that doesn’t make us want to throw a shoe through the TV. Or at least, not as often.
Those taking a principled stance against subsidies are of course right. But the subsidies will continue, and will continue without challenge as long as there is no coverage. Sun is the only station that will talk about such things on air. And if you don’t agree, well chinga tu madre!
“it’s not a movement I want any part of”
Never was xjon
Conservatives are for the individual.
Leftard collectivist “community stakeholders” blah, blah blah, talk about their “movements” all the live long day.
Leftards are forced to silence dissenting opinions by whatever means necessary which is why you’re here.
Don’t write a letter, who cares, but nobody’s buying your ridiculous nose-glasses bud.
Wrong move. CRTC’s mandate must be confined to allocating on-air radio frequencies and have nothing to do with content. Begging usurpers to yield to reason is wrong.
Years ago I contacted CRTC regarding egregious privacy violations by some cellular operators and they told me to f off. If they are concerning themselves with what shows Canadians are allowed to watch and not with how cellular providers provided unrelated 3d parties with access to subscribers private data, CRTC’s continued existence cannot be justified.