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.
