ROBTv, the new business-minded specialty service first pitched to the crtc by Duncan McEwan and partners almost three years ago, is finally going to launch on Sept. 1. The programming, as one might expect, will be all about business, both at home and abroad. While programming details remain sketchy, the channel is just starting to nail down a programming schedule and a way of doing things that project manager Mark Jan Vrem believes will appeal to its target.

‘We are looking at a well-educated audience with a high disposable income, primarily senior business and financial professionals – sort of Canada’s business decision makers,’ says Jan Vrem.

The Globe and Mail, whose daily Report on Business section is the basis for the channel in name and content, has a 50% stake in the service, wic has 26% and Cancom 24%.

As it stands, the programming for robtv is divided more or less into two blocks. The first will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will consist of business news as the channel monitors the tse, u.s. and international markets. The block begins with a two-hour live program produced by robtv, providing full, fast coverage of the markets with a u.s. supplier. Coverage will continue as the day progresses, then at 5 p.m., the robtv flagship hour-long program (yet to be named) will take to air, recapping the day’s activities.

The second block, running from 6 p.m. to midnight, will involve programming focusing on a broad range of business-related topics.

Reluctant to mention production companies currently in talks with the channel, Jan Vrem would say that team robtv is actively talking to producers about acquiring and commissioning and is open to pitches from producers who understand what the service is about.

‘Our niche is pretty narrow, and our targets are pretty well defined,’ says Jan Vrem. ‘We have a tight focus on business and business news, but that does broaden out when you start talking about programs and items of interest that would make it on to the service. Anything with a business spin to it, we will take a serious look at.’

Jan Vrem says the channel would be open to programming about the business of advertising, entertainment, sports, fashion, etc., and that no reasonable idea will be glossed over by robtv.

When the channel launches, Jan Vrem says that its progression will be comparable to that of Citytv’s CablePulse24.

‘What we plan to do is launch modestly, then expand and grow aggressively once we get the service up and running,’ he says, adding that the channel is not looking initially to be compared with established business news networks like cnbc and cnn-fn. ‘It took those services many years to get to where they are, and while I am not saying that it is going to take us as many years to get to where we want to be, it’s going to be a modest launch, but we will grow aggressively after that.’

Jan Vrem, himself a tv news veteran, having served a tenure as vp news for WIC Alberta, has been on a recruiting mission, trying to find the right set of execs for the robtv head office. He has started with the appointment of executive producer Jack Fleischmann, another established Canadian newsman who has worked as an executive producer for CTV News, and ran ctv’s Current Affairs group with partner Pamela Wallin.

‘Jack Fleischmann is a seasoned producer and broadcaster,’ says Jan Vrem. ‘He knows a lot of people, and he can get what needs to be done done in the short amount of time we have available to us.’

Time is an issue for the new specialty channel, and Jan Vrem admits that, ‘the time frame in which we have to operate kind of restricts what we can bring to our viewers.’ He is confident, however, that the service will be a useful and welcome one in the Canadian business, financial and investment communities.