Canada to get its first domestic porn TV channel

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Etan Vlessing reports for Reuters, 27 April 2010:

 

http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCATRE63R01320100428

Canada's first pay TV pornography channel will begin airing October 28.

 

Montreal-based Sex-Shop Television licensed the channel, called Vanessa, in 2007 as a national pay TV service. But it's only now launching the French-language adult subscription channel in liberal Quebec for $14.95 a month, with an English-language counterpart promised for the rest of Canada in late 2011.

 

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada's TV watchdog, said the porn channel must follow industry codes on violence and "equitable portrayals" of the sexes.

 

The service, billed as "Canada's Playboy Channel," must air at least 20 percent homegrown content, leaving lots of room on the dial for U.S.-originated content.

 

The CRTC overcame earlier objections from Christian groups that argued the Canadian-content obligations for Vanessa meant young Canadians will be hired to work in the porn industry, and that Ottawa was in effect sustaining a homegrown adult entertainment industry.

 

The Vanessa channel promises a range of erotic-themed dramas, reality shows, documentaries and variety and magazine shows. The Quebec broadcaster also will broadcast its soft-core porn content in HD.

 

Canadian cable and satellite TV services already feature a host of XXX-rated pay TV adult content at the top of their dials, but they source the programing from U.S. suppliers.

 

Sex-Shop Television must now convince cable and satellite TV services to carry the French-language porn channel and market it to potential subscribers.

[Carrie Moon 68826]

I for one hope this is for real. There was talk about the calgary porn station last year making Canadian made porn more of a reality. Our own 5Dtv here in Ottawa is supposed to be doing the same. Maybe I'll finally get to do some more Canadian made movies!

[Guest s******ecan****]

Nice find WIT, thanks.

[antlerman 17064]

geez...I wionder what the French language laws are going to do to this one..........hehehehe

[PistolPete 61421]

Maybe I'll finally get to do some more Canadian made movies!

 

Now that is TV worth watching ;) You go Carrie :)

[Carrie Moon 68826]

Now that is TV worth watching ;) You go Carrie :)

 

Thanks Pete! I did 2 Canadian movies that were on our paytv channels and some as well were shown here that I did in LA. I only went to LA after being disappointed that there were so little in the way of professional companies in Canada making porn. It's the same as mainstream entertainment.. Canada takes a while to catch up.

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Marianne White reports for Canwest News Service, 14 May 2010:

 

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/rated+channel+will+tasteful+says+exec/3030369/story.html

QUEBEC ? The woman behind Canada's first homegrown pay TV adult entertainment channel insists its programming will be soft and tasteful.

 

Quebec TV personality and producer Anne-Marie Losique, a household name in her home province for her daring style and X-rated series, promises content on Vanessa ? that's the channel's name ? will be much more than just porn movies.

The French-language adult subscription channel is launching in Quebec for $14.95 a month in October, with an English-language counterpart promised for the rest of Canada in late 2011.

"There's nothing shameful about Vanessa," Losique said in an interview. "It's going to be a general-interest TV with a sexy twist."

 

She noted the channel will offer some hard-core material, but stressed that overall, it is going to be soft ? a Canadian answer to Playboy Channel.

 

Recently, Christians expressed outrage that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) gave the green light to a national pay TV sex channel that will encourage and sustain a homegrown adult entertainment industry.

 

Don Hutchinson, director of law and public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, told Canwest News Service he's worried a channel like Vanessa will support a pornography industry that will lure young Canadians.

 

Losique said she understands religious groups' concerns, but said Vanessa is not a porn channel.

 

"There are enough of those already. That's not what we're interested in," said Losique, whose Montreal-based production company, Image Diffusion International, will produce most of the content.

 

She said X-rated movies will represent less than 10 per cent of the programming aimed mostly at couples.

 

The channel will offer a range of erotic-themed dramas, reality shows, documentaries and variety and magazine shows. Losique said market studies have shown Quebec viewers want to learn something while watching X-rated content.

 

"We're also going to have sexy cooking and sports shows," Losique said.

 

The businesswoman is no stranger to the TV and cinema scene ? she's the daughter of Montreal World Film Festival president Serge Losique.

 

She has adapted three popular English-language TV show for a Quebec audience ? the hit BBC series The Office, the Fox series The Simple Life and WB's The Surreal Life. She is currently working on a Quebec version of Bravo's franchise The Real Housewives.

 

But Losique is better known in Quebec for her syndicated entertainment shows and series about the sex industries for the pay-per-view and cable market.

 

"Vanessa is the result of several years of experience producing shows about the sex industry and sex in general," Losique said.

 

The U.S. and France have several adult entertainment channels, but Quebec and Canada have yet to follow suit, Losique said.

 

"It's a niche that hasn't been tapped into here," she noted, adding that her channel will stand out by the quality and variety of its programming.

 

"We're in a very conservative era in general-interest TV and it amuses me to push the envelope a little bit with Vanessa," Losique said, adding she doesn't aim to be provocative, but doesn't mind ruffling feathers.

 

The English-language Vanessa will share programming with the French equivalent, Losique said, but also will air original content.

 

Anne-Marie Losique

[Guest C**Tra****er]

 

"We're also going to have sexy cooking and sports shows," Losique said.

 

The Naked Chef staring Amelia goes National? Borscht for the masses? This could be the top rated show in Canada! I guess I should get a cable subscription!