Canada blocks channel's plans to cut music videos
Canada's TV regulator has denied a bid by cable music video channel MuchMusic to become HalfasMuchMusic.
MuchMusic-parent CTV asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to amend the broadcast license for the cable channel so music videos would go from 50% to 25% of the programing schedule.
The request came as music videos, once the preserve of MuchMusic when it launched in 1984 to mirror the success of MTV stateside, can be widely seen on Youtube, mobile phones and other emerging digital platforms.
Maybe so, but the CRTC denied the CTV bid anyway, which included requests for MuchMusic to air more lifestyle programing and less Canadian content.
The CRTC did agree to see more feature films air on MuchMusic, which already air Friday nights under the MuchMovie banner. The Canadian cable channel is best known for its MuchMusic Video Awards held each June in Toronto.
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