CTV axes struggling WTSN, making it the first Category 1 diginet to fall

CTV Inc.’s Women’s Sports Television Network (WTSN) will go off the air at the end of the month, making it the first must-carry Category 1 digital specialty service to close. The shutdown of the world’s first channel dedicated to women’s sports and athletes will result in the loss of 11 full-time jobs at CTV. Five of the positions are to be reassigned within the company, while opportunities to place the remaining six positions are being sought. The high profile women’s programming that was to air on WTSN, including the World Hockey Championships, Scott Tournament of Hearts and both the Canadian championships in tennis and figure staking, will shift to CTV’s general interest sports channel TSN. TSN will also increase its women’s programming by broadcasting 27 hours of the Women’s Curling Tour and the remaining LPGA events that were slated to be shown on WTSN. "This is a tremendously difficult decision," CTV president Rick Brace said in a media release. "A combination of lower-than-expected growth and limited access to advertising revenue led to this unfortunate decision, along with the high cost of running a sports service." According to CRTC statistics, WTSN had acquired just 317,866 digital subscribers by Aug. 31, 2002. But the number is just 1,000 lower than the number of subscribers who had signed on for Raptors NBA TV and ESPN Classic Canada, and just 10,000 lower than the number acquired by NHL Network. WTSN had operating losses of about $2.4 million in 2002 on revenue of $693,856, including $130,756 in national ad sales. Still, WTSN hasn’t fared the worst of the digital sports services. In 2002, Woodbine Entertainment Group’s The Racing Network lost about $8.3 million, Global Television Inc.’s Fox Sports World Canada about $6.3 million, and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment’s Leafs TV about $4.9 million. The closure of WTSN, however, comes as no surprise. Before the summer, CTV withdrew an application to amend the digital channel’s conditions of licence. In its June 6 letter to the CRTC, CTV wrote, "WTSN is facing significant challenges," and that it was in "the process of conducting a full review of the various options available." Industry analysts claim one of WTSN’s weaknesses was that CTV ran all the top-notch women’s programming on TSN, where it commanded larger advertising dollars. A good portion of the WTSN schedule is full of exercise programs, rather than live sports. Last year, CTV appeared ready to address some of WTSN’s shortfalls. It applied on June 12, 2002 for licence amendments that would have increased the permitted level of programming that may be broadcast on WTSN that has been broadcast on CTV’s conventional television stations or TSN from 10% during each broadcast week to 20% on a semi-annual basis. Because its condition of licence limited it to 16.8 hours of shared programming per week, WTSN told the CRTC that the 10% limit was too restrictive. It noted, for example, that it could only air 12 of 35 hours of scheduled women’s tennis at the Australian Open tournament in January and on some days was unable to showcase the event on the West Coast because the programming had been broadcast on other CTV channels. At that time, WTSN also asked the commission to add the programming categories of analysis and interpretation, and reporting and actualities to its licence conditions. The CRTC gazetted the application on Aug. 28, 2002 and set October 2 as the deadline for intervention. But by early summer of this year, no decision had been made on the application, and CTV was re-evaluating its commitment to the channel. It asked the commission to withdraw the application for licence amendments on June 6. Others point out that women’s sports coverage does not tend to generate high ratings. In 2000, for example, not one women’s event made the list of the top 25 sports broadcasts in Canada, and only four cracked the top 50. WTSN was one of 16 English-language Category 1 digital specialty channels licensed in 2000. Corus Entertainment Inc.’s EdgeTV, a Category 2 alternative rock channel with non-mandated carriage, has also been deep-sixed. It died on July 12, and was replaced in most digital packages by CHUM Ltd.’s MuchLOUD (CCR, June 20/03).

CTV axes struggling WTSN, making it the first Category 1 diginet to fall

News | 09/04/2003 4:00 am EDT

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