Corus’s application for a network of Category 2 ‘hyper-local’ news channels in Western Canada has been denied by the CRTC.

The regulator issued its decision on the matter Friday morning, turning down the Toronto-based media company’s bid to launch Local1, a network of channels focusing on local news, weather, community events, traffic and weather reports.

In the decision, the CRTC stated that it did not feel that it had been provided enough evidence that the channel would not primarily focus on weather programming, and would therefore compete directly with The Weather Network.

The CRTC also turned down the network’s proposed news programming strategy and the local advertising rights tied to it, stating that it did not meet its definition of local programming for markets outside of Calgary. Although the proposed newscast would feature a mix of content from Corus properties and third-party sources, the programming would not include on-site reportage from each community in the Local1 network, the decision stated.

In reaction to the decision, Corus issued the following statement:

‘Corus Entertainment is disappointed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s decision denying our application for a regional Category 2 service to provide local news, information and weather related programming to communities throughout Western Canada. Currently, we are examining the decision and we will be exploring our options.’