‘Fox News North’ primed for launch

Susan Krashinsky and Steven Chase

The official announcement of what has been unofficially termed “Fox News North” is coming on Tuesday.

After reports last week that Quebecor Inc. was poised to launch a 24-hour news channel aimed at more conservative Canadian viewers, the company said on Monday that president and chief executive officer Pierre Karl Péladeau will “make an announcement in regard to new investment in Canadian media” in downtown Toronto on Tuesday morning.

The company is expected to invest roughly $100-million in the project over five years. A former chief spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Kory Teneycke will head up the new channel. Quebecor also made other hires last week in preparation for the announcement. David Akin left CanWest News Service to work as national bureau chief overseeing Quebecor’s Sun Media operations in Ottawa. And Brian Lilley left his post as Ottawa bureau chief for Astral Media Radio to become a senior correspondent.

Mr. Teneycke attempted to recruit CBC comedian Rick Mercer as well, but was not successful. There were rumours that Global National anchor Kevin Newman, who announced in April that he would leave the newscast, was also on the hiring list; however in a posting to his Twitter account Mr. Teneycke denied he had attempted to hire Mr. Newman.

On Monday, CBC journalist Krista Erickson sent a note to colleagues announcing she is leaving CBC News “to pursue another opportunity,” fuelling talk that she could be the next reporter to join the new project.

Sources say Canadian right-wing pundit Ezra Levant is being courted to host one of the station’s new opinion shows. The channel is expected to be built on a mix of straight news reporting and opinion. It will be modelled on the wildly successful Fox News network, which is a highly profitable channel in the U.S. and the leading cable channel devoted to 24-hour news.

Quebecor submitted an application with the federal broadcast regulator more than a week ago, for a license to operate an English-language news channel. If it is approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the channel will compete against national round-the-clock channels CBC News Network and CTV News Channel.

Details of the licence application are also expected on Tuesday; it has been suggested that Quebecor could try to secure a license either guaranteeing that cable companies offer it to customers or secure it a more high-profile place on the dial. Such licenses are rare.

Last week, Mr. Teneycke suggested many more announcements are on the way on the channel’s recruiting efforts. “Can't wait to share some of the names,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “Great mix of hard news and straight talk.”