February 17 1994
Cartoon, Sci-Fi TV Channels Make Their Pitch
Kitchener-Waterloo Record
The Space channel wants to boldly go where no Canadian TV service has gone before.
So the federal broadcast commission -- normally a pretty down-to- earth body -- reviewed the interplanetary proposal Wednesday.
Space, the nation's sci-fi station, plans to offer viewers science fiction, fact and fantasy 24 hours a day.
Along with movies and live phone-in shows, regular programs would include classics like the Twilight Zone, Dr. Who and Lost in Space.
The channel, proposed by MuchMusic creator CHUM Ltd., would also broadcast a daily half-hour news magazine called Galaxy Pulse and profiles of Canadian science celebrities like astronaut Marc Garneau.
It's one of many proposals before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for new special-interest TV licences.
The bid was heard the same day that two other applicants proposed fun fare in the way of animated features and a cartoon network.
As for Space, it might drop in on a Star Trek convention in Winnipeg or broadcast rare footage of the heavens photographed by space agencies.
The channel promises to be an entertaining and educational window on tomorrow, said CHUM's Moses Znaimer.
"Sci-fi offers all kinds of insights," he said. "I think it's very important to plant the Canadian flag into the future."
Commission chairman Keith Spicer seemed receptive, but questioned whether blending fact and fiction was a good idea.
"Does it tend to pollute serious science?"
Znaimer said while critics once called video games frivolous time- wasters, the toys helped many children learn about computers.
"So aspects of play can lead to education."
In its first year, Space would feature 15 per cent Canadian content, including series like Prisoners of Gravity, produced by TVOntario. That level that would gradually rise to 25 per cent.