The Canadian conservative news station, Sun News Network, has taken itself completely off the air as of this morning, reported The Toronto Star.
According to the Toronto Star, Sun News failed because “negotiations to sell the troubled television network were apparently unsuccessful.” In short, no one wanted to buy Sun News. And who could blame them? Sun News created for itself a reputation of being an outrageous and vitriolic news network more focused on aggressive presentation and reaction than actual news coverage.
Last December, a report in the Globe and Mail quoted a source “familiar with the negotiations” who said that Moses Znaimer’s ZoomerMedia Ltd. was negotiating to acquire the network from Quebecor Inc. ZoomerMedia operates print, TV, radio, digital, consumer shows, and conferences aimed at the over-45 demographic.
Sun News was not included in the $316-million deal announced last October that will see Quebecor sell its 175 Sun Media English-language newspapers to Postmedia, pending federal approval.
Sun News began broadcasting in April 2011 on a very low budget, which was part of the reason why the station was never anything more than talking heads on camera and editorials. The Star further noted that Sun News was quickly nicknamed “Fox News North.” Because Sun News was so ridiculous and unprofessional, network host Ezra Levant was sued and ordered to pay $80,000 for libeling a Saskatchewan attorney.
A terrible, vitriolic pseudo-news outlet went defunct and shutdown in Canada. Now if only a few places in America (like Fox News) would just follow suit, that would be tremendous.
