 |
 SUN TV's Inside Jam will be all over the Toronto entertainment scene weeknights starting next Tuesday. The Grill Room will feature Sun sports columnists grilling local jocks. |
After a couple of years in the dark, the Sun has finally come up on Toronto 1.
The fledgling station -- Toronto's first new TV channel in decades -- got a facelift yesterday as it officially changed its name to SUN TV.
The rebranding reflects the fact that the station is now part of the Quebecor family, the same media/printing conglomerate that cuts my cheques here at the Sun -- at least until that first SUN TV review comes in. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Quebecor snapped up this sucker after the original Calgary-based owners somehow won it in a CRTC licence lottery and then booted it directly into Lake Ontario.
SUN TV's biggest asset up until now is its position: Channel 15 on Rogers Cable. It gets less respect from Bell ExpressVu (channel 243) and Star Choice (326).
So far, viewers have stumbled on its mix of "Prime Ticket" movies as they flip between CTV, CH and the U.S. networks.
|
Want hit shows like CSI, Desperate Housewives and American Idol? You'll find them on other channels. Hey, CTV was once The Littlest Hobo network.
But if you missed 24 the first two seasons, you can catch up with it now on SUN TV. Back-to-back episodes will air Sunday nights beginning at 8 p.m. Watch this show with Elisha Cuthbert in it, the way God intended it to be watched.
SUN TV hopes to claw its way back into Toronto's super competitive TV market with a mix of movies, cable goodies and a couple of shows the other networks somehow forgot to buy. Freddie (Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.), a new ABC sitcom starring Freddie Prinze, Jr., will premiere Oct. 5. The comedy/reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List (Wednesdays at 9 p.m.) got an early jump last week.
Joan Rivers' racy new Brit sex series, The Joan Rivers Position, will make people tawk Sundays at midnight.
SUN TV has also stolen a few favourites from other channels. Charmed is now a SUN show (Fridays at 9 p.m.). George Lopez is in the house (Wednesdays at 8 p.m.). Yes, they're both still on the air, wiseguy.
Want to see Robert Blake before he started leaving guns behind in restaurants? SUN TV has Baretta, along with Leave It To Beaver, The King Of Kensington and other played to death oldies throughout the day.
And speaking of played to death, look for some Sun scribes to turn up on a couple of home grown shows: The hour-long Inside Jam (formerly The A-List) will be all over the Toronto entertainment scene weeknights at 7 p.m. starting next Tuesday. The Grill Room will feature Toronto Sun sports columnists as they banter and match wits with local jocks (always a challenge).
And what's a noisy little station without Jerry Springer (weeknights at midnight)? SUN TV -- more chair tossing than any other network (well, okay, except CBC).
Quebecor Showtime
Quebecor's chain of media properties include:
TORONTO SUN
Toronto's Other Voice, the daily tabloid newspaper, founded in 1971 by Douglas Creighton, Donald Hunt and Peter Worthington, is read by more than 1.2 million readers daily.
CANOE.CA
Created in 1996, Sun Media's web window is the largest Canadian-owned Internet portal and a leading player in e-commerce, with 5.3 million users last month.
24 HOURS TORONTO
Canada's largest circulation free daily. Debuted in 2003, the quick-hit magazine-style newspaper is designed to be read in approximately 20 minutes.
SUN TV
Formerly Toronto 1, our new tube presence has been rebranded and will offer two original programs this fall: A daily entertainment show, Inside Jam, and The Grill Room, a nightly round table sports talk show.
Other programs include Charmed, George Lopez, Freddie and The Jerry Springer Show.