So truth be told it’s been a year-and-a-half since Knight Enterprises launched Gusto TV which has been available to customers of Bell TV, Bell Fibe, Eastlink, Telus Optik TV and MTS. But it will be just this year that it will become available on Cogeco, and the timing may be a little risky.
That’s because a new specialty network like Gusto is entering into unknown cable waters. Just recently the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced an upcoming shift towards a la carte programming and the Big Three Canadian media companies — Bell, Rogers and Shaw — are expected to get rid of specialty channels, not add them.
But that has not stopped Ottawa-based entrepreneur David Knight from surging forward with his passion which is being served up as a new alternative to the Food Network.
Knight, who coincidentatlly worked for the competition for many years (and reacquired rights to many of his early Food Network offerings) feels confident in his move in that he has the experience and says he knows how to produce things for a fraction of the cost . He actually says that one of his main motivations to get his station going was ” to be a positive disrupter in the clubby little oligarchy that is Canadian broadcasting.”
On Monday, the station launches its first original series, “One World Kitchen.” Airing weeknights at 8 p.m. ET, the series features five female hosts from three Canadian cities: Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal and the show reflects Canada’s diverse gourmet backgrounds. These hosts draw on Indian, Thai, Italian, South American and Japanese roots. Here is a promo of the program here:
The hosts were found through a cross-Canada casting call and Knight thought that casting five women would really appeal to his core demographic which is comprised mostly of women.
What do you think? Has Knight bitten off more than he can chew or do you think the new network is a welcome addition?
SOURCE: GustoTV, YouTube
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