CRAIG BROADCAST BRINGS MTV TO CANADA
By Adnews Staff
Calgary-based Craig Broadcast Systems has formed a partnership with MTV Networks in the U.S. to create Canadian versions of TV Land, MTV and three additional music genre-based MTV-branded channels. The channels, all in the English language, will launch in September. A Web site will also be built at <http://www.mtvcanada.com>. MTV Canada will target 12- to 24-year-olds with a mix of programming including animation, drama, movies, documentaries and music-based content. It will be one of the new digital channels that must be carried by cable companies this fall. Craig's digital youth channel "Connect" was one of 16 new digital channels approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. According to a report in the National Post, Craig is rebranding "Connect" as MTV. TV Land Canada will target viewers 25- to 54-years-of-age with Canadian and American classic TV programming from various genres from the past 50 years. Craig said an operations team, launch dates, programming line-ups and additional details of the new channels will be released in the near future.