Fox Sports World shutting down?!

[bigoranget]

It's about time Canwest put this channel out if it misery. It's been a pathetic excuse of a station for years.

Hoefully Canwest will wash their hands of Men TV aka The Cave. While there at it, they should give up on IFC too.

[musimax]

It makes more sense to sell it, but if they want to shut it down, hey, it's their station, it's their lost potential money, so be it.

[CDN Viewer]

It's about time Canwest put this channel out if it misery. It's been a pathetic excuse of a station for years.

Finally!

Someone who agrees with me that the channel is waste of bandwidth and should be shut down since they appear to have no intention of making any improvements to it.

It makes more sense to sell it

No it doesn't?! This channel has no value and they know it, which is probably why they aren't looking to sell it or perhaps they tried and no one wanted it.

Who would want to buy it first of all- Rogers- they have Setanta, CTVgm- probably not interested, Corus/TLN- they just launched their own soccer channel, MLSE- they have GolTV. Who does that leave that would be interested, none of the major players that's for sure.

I suspect this move to shut down FSWC (if it is shutting down, since this is just a rumour for now) is probably coming from the new ownership, namely Shaw. With their other subsidiary (Corus) launching a soccer channel of its own, there is no need for this channel so Shaw is making the right decision by shutting this Asper-created Canwest channel down. Hopefully this is the first of many house cleaning moves Shaw makes once they fully take control of Canwest.

[bigoranget]

I forgot, they should shut down Discovery Health too.

[NB Josh]

Sounds good to me, EuroWorld Sport would probably get a lot more subscribers (assuming Bell adds it). I guess this means they didn't get Serie A rights from The Score.

[musimax]

Finally!
No it doesn't?! This channel has no value and they know it, which is probably why they aren't looking to sell it or perhaps they tried and no one wanted it.

How does it not have value? It's carried by every major TV provider in Canada plus tons of smaller ones and it has over a million paying subscribers. And you may say that means nothing because of the packaging rules, but it does whether you want to believe it or not. How do you think CTV was able to get $24 million for Drive-In Classics? Among other things, it had over 1.2 million subscribers and was carried by most major TV providers in Canada. You honestly think they got that much money for that channel because it was offering great programming that people were watching in droves? It was DIC for heavens sake, I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if more people watch FSWC then watched DIC.

It also has potential, probably another reason why DIC got $24 mil. It seems as though whenever you dislike or feel as though a channel is a waste of space, the first and only response to it is to shut it down. Channels don't have to stay the same, Sundance Channel is a good example. New or existing owners can change it up by rebranding and adding new programming that people will watch and thus turn it into a profitable, watchable channel.

Let's just say they are shutting down. Whether it's better to shut it down or sell it, the point I'm trying to make is that it does have value. It may actually be better to shut it down because it's one less channel to compete for viewers, ad dollars, and programming rights, but it does have value.

[CDN Viewer]

I am looking at things from the subscribers point of view and for subscribers it has no value because it offers little in the way of live programming which is pretty much a must for a sports channel. I see what you're saying though and from a broadcasters standpoint it has value because thanks to the packaging rules these specialty channels make money without having to lift a finger. You can run a channel on a shoestring budget, spend very little on programming and still turn a profit all because of the way these channels are sold. However, I could care less about the conglomerates, I am only interested in the consumer who has to pay for this crap.

[SportsFan]

I suspect this move to shut down FSWC (if it is shutting down, since this is just a rumour for now) is probably coming from the new ownership, namely Shaw. ... Hopefully this is the first of many house cleaning moves Shaw makes once they fully take control of Canwest.

Are the Shaws pulling the strings at Canwest already? It would be very odd if this was their first major decision.

I am only interested in the consumer who has to pay for this crap.

No one has to pay for it. If you don't like it, don't subscribe. If their programming disappears, I'll miss it.

[CDN Viewer]

No one has to pay for it. If you don't like it, don't subscribe.

Not quite true, FSWC is available in packages with other sports channels, so if you want to subscribe to the others then you will be subscribing and paying for FSWC as well.

If their programming disappears, I'll miss it.

I wonder if Rogers might look at picking up Sky Sports News for Setanta, it would fit well with that channel since they air a lot of English football.

[musimax]

Not quite true, FSWC is available in packages with other sports channels, so if you want to subscribe to the others then you will be subscribing and paying for FSWC as well.

You can always just subscribe to the other channels one by one. Doesn't just about every BDU have an option to pick individual digital channels at a price usually around $2 - $3? It may suck if an analog channel in the package since you can't subscribe to those individually though.

[bigoranget]

It looks like the cut off date for Bell is now November 23, 2010. Can anyone confirm if Fox Sports World Canada is indeed shutting down?

[NB Josh]

I can't confirm, but I honestly don't think that it is. They have just picked up rights to 2 Serie A matches, 2 Europa League matches, 1 Ligue 1 match, every Copa Sudamerica match and lots of other things in the past few months. I don't understand why they would go to the bother of adding all of these properties if they channel is just going to shut down.

FSWC is able to rely on FSC, FS+ and Fox Deportes (with English voiceover) for most of their Serie A, Ligue 1 and Copa Sudamerica matches. Plus they do a good job selling FSR to FSC. I don't think that it makes a lot of sense to shut the channel down.

[TVViewer]

FOX Sports World Canada isn't shutting down, no fall schedule on the Canwest website means nothing.

[bigoranget]

It may after Bell drops it. That will be a large chunk of people without access to it.

[CDN Viewer]

FOX Sports World Canada isn't shutting down, no fall schedule on the Canwest website means nothing.

And you know this because??

New owners coming to town, they might have something different to say ;)

[TVViewer]

And you know this because??

New owners coming to town, they might have something different to say ;)

I wouldn't comment if I didn't know.

You are welcome to not believe me.