‘What MuchMusic is doing for the music world and Bravo! is doing for performing arts, Star! will do for the entertainment industry,’ says Marcia Martin, vp and gm for CHUMCity’s latest specialty.

The new channel, Star! The Entertainment Information Station, hits the airwaves this September and will provide an outlet from which to increase the exposure of show biz in Canada, as well as be a vehicle to help foster a Canadian celebrity system.

‘Nobody was running Canadian videos before MuchMusic, and because of [the channel], there are more videos being produced,’ says Martin. ‘So, even if there are not a lot of entertainment shows being made in Canada now, there will be once there is an outlet for them.’

An information magazine with light entertainment-driven programming, Star! has an output deal with u.s.-based E! Entertainment Television in which it can choose from the American station’s internationally available programs.

Some E! shows making their Canadian debut this fall include Talk Soup, a compilation of highlights from outrageous moments from the daytime talk shows, and Wild On, which takes a look at hot exotic spots around the world.

Aside from E! programming, Star! has picked up Late Night with Conan O’Brien for 10 p.m. and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for 5 p.m., both of which will run the day after their original nighttime slots. A new National Enquirer show will air at 11:30 weeknights covering scandal and gossip, and some movies will unspool, but only those with a show-biz theme like The Player or A Star Is Born.

According to Martin, E! is a great fit for Star! since it has the same sensibility Star! is going for – a fun approach to the entertainment world – and although, for starters, around 50% of the lineup will be from E!, as the new station grows, it will produce more Canadian programming.

Dubbed ‘the white channel,’ Star!, unlike the other channels coming out of the Citytv environment, will lack the broadcaster’s gritty, street-level, in-your-face appeal and instead will be clean, simple and bold, with everything, including the Star! news show, being shot against a crisp, white background.

While no budget for programming has been nailed down to date, Martin says three different proposals for entertainment game shows – something she is interested in – have already passed over her desk. Tips for independent producers: she likes fresh ideas, and comedy is very important.

The plan at chum was to launch Star! with tier three of the specialties two years ago, but since the channel didn’t get the go-ahead at that time and the broadcaster was eager to get things moving along, it decided to launch the half-hour magazine show Startv on City instead.

Following the launch, Startv, which focuses on famous as well as up-and-coming Canadian celebs, will move over to the new station for its first window and repeat on City later in the week.

‘We thought, let’s launch the show and let people get to know the name, and what we are planning,’ says Martin. ‘[Star! is] all about awareness and celebrating our industry and the famous celebrities in this country.’

The Star! signal makes its way over the airwaves Sept. 1, at which time a promo reel will run until 10 days later, when the new station officially kicks off live during the Film Festival Schmooze at City.

‘I just can’t stress [this] enough. . . .When you create awareness, you create excitement, and when you create excitement, you get a higher profile,’ says Martin. ‘And that is what we want to do – create excitement and profile for our entertainment industry.’