THUNDER BAY – It is being cheered by conservatives, panned as “Fox News North” by others. However come April 18th, the Sun News Network will go live, and it will be on Shaw. “Sun News Network went West for its first major distribution deal with a cable or satellite television provider,” according to a release from Sun News. The upstart TV network, set to launch next week, announced that Shaw Communications Inc. will offer the news-and-talk television channel to all of its customers in Western Canada and Ontario for free when the channel debuts on April 18.
“The sun will be shining on Shaw,” said Peter Bissonnette, president of Calgary-based Shaw. The deal with Shaw will put Sun News in two million more homes at the network’s launch. Shaw will make it available to all of its Shaw Direct and Shaw Cable customers for a free preview period which will run for six months.
“Shaw is a Western-based company and several of our on-air personalities are Western Canadians,” said Luc Lavoie, project spokesman for Sun News Network. “Just think of Charles Adler who became ‘king of talk radio’ in Canada. He is based in Western Canada. So is Corus, a component of the Shaw family of companies.
“We are very proud to say that Western Canadians will have access to Sun News starting on day one.”
Bissonnette said the addition of Sun News Network is one more compelling reason for Shaw’s customers to make the switch to its digital offering.
“You can never go wrong with news, especially with Sun TV News with its distinct voice,” said Bissonnette.
The network hopes to shortly announce deals with other cable and satellite TV providers.
Sun TV will be available on channel 213 on Tbaytel’s new digital television.