My first business venture : The Canadian Public (1 Viewer)

[Francois Caron]

This is a heads-up to let you all know that the deadline for submitting interventions, comments and questions to the CRTC about the proposed service is November 23 2006.

That's NEXT THURSDAY!

You'll find the link to the CRTC's submission form at http://www.thecanadianpublic.com at the bottom of the page.

This is the last message I'll post on the subject until the application is approved or denied some time in the New Year, most likely in March of 2007.

 

[Francois Caron]

It is March 19, 2007 and the CRTC has rendered its decision.

The license application is APPROVED!

More info at the following link. http://crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisi.../db2007-90.htm

Now comes the hard part. Actually making it work!

 

[Cees Alons]

Great news, François!
Let's hear now and then how your business will be going.

Good luck with your enterprise!


Cees

 

[Francois Caron]

A quick update. Things are moving faster than expected!

- Sold the condo on "Le Plateau" and moved into a rental in downtown Montreal last week. In a way, I'm glad I've got rid of the place. The condo fees and municipal taxes were getting pretty expensive. Add the interest from the mortgage payments and it's as much as what I'm paying now to rent the new place! Throw in the paperwork and fees required to buy or sell a place today and it starts to become insane! Sheesh! Signing a lease is so much easier.

- I gave my notice of termination to my employer today. I leave at the end of July. That one felt good and bad at the same time. Good because I'm firmly committed to this new project. Bad because I have been working for the same company for seventeen years and the boss really hates to see me go.

- in August, I start contacting distributors, upgrading the Web site and programming the Fish Tank. Even if I don't have any programming near the launch in the fall of 2008, at least I can put the fish on the air temporarily. Plus, I believe it'll qualify as 100% Canadian content even though it's basically an "off-air" signal.

- My neighbour at the old place wants to invest in the new station. I didn't even ask him! I simply discussed the project with him! I tell him "it's not about making money." He says "here's some money!" It's not a huge amount, but still. How many times is this gonna happen now?

That's it in a nutshell. Once the Web site no longer sucks and I launch my promotional campaign, I'll post another update.

Thanks for your support!

 

[Cees Alons]

Not bad at all, François!


Cees

 

[BobV]

Very interesting Francois! I had seen this application and wondered "who the heck is this and what the heck is he doing?!"

I will be watching your startup with interest as well and will most likely be submitting some programming and maybe even purchasing some ad time ... and like one said in this thread already... maybe even come looking for a job .

Good on ya and here's to your success!

 

[Francois Caron]

Bob, I'm a bi-cultural French Canadian who's rocking the boat! That's who!

Good thing my boat is a kayak!

As for applying for a job, there's three things you should know.

1 - The station will be based in Montreal. Are you ready to relocate?

2 - The station will probably have at most six employees and two interns. That's because the broadcast system will be entirely automated. I won't even need anyone to keep an eye on things during the evenings.

3 - The station won't be ready before the fall of 2008. That's how long it'll take me to program everything -- under Linux! Honestly, I don't want to do Windows anymore. I fear a pop-up will show up during the broadcast asking to authenticate the station's copy of Windows. The bigger fear? A BSOD!

Despite being a bit complicated to set everything up properly, Linux just keeps on working for as long as the computer is powered up. And yes, all the software will be open source. This way, anyone out there can launch their own TV station if they have the appropriate hardware.

I'll let everyone know when I'm ready to receive their material. In the meantime, check out my *sucky* Web site every few weeks for the latest developments. ( http://www.thecanadianpublic.com )

Thanks for your support!

 

[Francois Caron]

An update.

I'm still working on launching my TV station, hopefully by the end of the year. I'm also enjoying a much deserved sabbatical which has done wonders for me. Sometimes you just need to stop and catch your breath.

There's still a lot of work to do, but things are moving ahead. I'll be contacting advertising agencies very soon, the Web site will eventually be updated, I'm in talks with a trade organization representing small cable companies, I'm still exploring the possibility of using only Linux boxes for all computer related operations (very likely -- goodbye Windows!)

The latest thing I did was send a video pitch to a CBC reality TV show called "The Dragon's Den", where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to five billionaires with the hope of entering into a business partnership.

Yes, I'm pitching my concept for a TV channel on a future rival's television show!

My pitch can be viewed on the show's Web site at Dragons' Den - The Canadian Public where you can vote for and rate my pitch. The ten highest rated pitches get to pitch their business idea in front of the Dragons.

So get out there and vote for me! Please! Pretty please! With sugar on top!

Thanks!

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> But one thing I never did understand is the 'Canadian content' law. Why must so much broadcasting time be devoted to it?

Because socialists hate freedom of choice.

 

[Ruz-El]

very cool, I missed all this. I wish you luck!!

Oh, and I voted to

 

[Eric_L]

I thought you planned on auctioning ad space...

 

[Francois Caron]

Yeah, but I have to let them know the service will be available.

Also, I need to know how they currently purchase their advertising time, more specifically how the ad blocks are organized. Does an agency purchase a whole two minute block all to themselves? Do they select specific 30 second spots such as the first or last spot during a break? Once I have all that information, I can program it into the auction system.

 

[Francois Caron]

An update.

1 - I'm still working on launching the new channel, now scheduled for some time in 2009. I was on Sabbatical Mode a bit longer than expected, mainly because it felt so good!

2 - The Canadian Public is now a registered trade-mark in Canada.

3 -