New English-language community TV channel planned

Videotron has  announced its  intention to create a new English-language community television channel, MYtv, which will become the voice and reflection of the Greater Montreal anglophone community. To begin this process, an official application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). 

Too bad for folks like me who subscribe to Bell Fibe at home and Bell TV at the office - not that I am complaining. These are both superb services.

“We committed ourselves to engaging in a dialogue with anglophone Montrealers following the review of the policy on community television,”stated Isabelle Dessureault, President of MAtv. “ We are very excited about this project and we hope that Montreal’s English-language viewers will quickly make MYtv their own. MYtv will be an authentically anglophone community television channel, separate from the French MAtv channel with regards to the creative and programming teams.”

Reflecting the realities and interests of Montrealers much like its French counterpart MAtv, MYtv aims to become a witness and player in the every day life of Greater Montreal’s anglophone and cultural communities, a pool of roughly 1.5 million citizens. 

The creation of MYtv will have great economic benefits, notably in terms of job creation, with the recruitment of hosts, researchers, journalists and contributors.

 “Montreal’s anglophone community is known for being dynamic economically, socially and culturally,” said Ms. Dessureault. “MYtv’s objective will be to help express this dynamism while becoming a reflection of the lives of all Montrealers.”

Videotron is a well-established industry leader in the field of community television. With MAtv (formerly Vox), Videotron has, for the past 40 years, presented its viewers with television programs that reflect the needs and concerns of the communities that it serves. Videotron’s shows inform viewers about local news, offer them different options to consider, demonstrate how to improve their lives and well-being and offer entertainment focused on up-and-coming local talent.   

 Accessible to all Videotron clients in the Greater Montreal, MYtv will offer a multi-screen television experience devoted to expressing the realities of the anglophone and cultural communities, all the while being useful, informative and educative.

Six niches will be highlighted, with 21 hours of original programming to be produced, dealing with social and community affairs, public and municipal affairs, arts and culture, comedy and in-depth interviews with those who have dedicated their lives to the service of society.

Videotron (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, and Internet access, cable telephone and mobile telephone services. Videotron is a leader in new technologies with its illico interactive television service and its broadband network, which supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable television, and other services. As of June 30, 2013, Videotron was serving 1,832,400 cable television customers, including 1,502,000 subscribers Digital TV. Videotron is also the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 1,395,400 subscribers to its cable service as of June 30, 2013. As of the same date, Videotron had 451,100 subscriber connections to its mobile telephone service and was providing cable telephone service to 1,274,700 Québec households and organizations. For the eighth consecutive year, Videotron was ranked as Québec’s most respected telecommunications company by Les Affaires magazine, based on a Léger Marketing survey.