Montreal: In a June 5 address to the Canadian Public Relations Society in Ottawa, TVA Group president and ceo Daniel Lamarre made it clear the broadcaster intends to leverage its high level of Canadian content programming to obtain new specialty tv licences.

Lamarre says tva spends 90% of its annual program budget on Canadian content programming. The 1,500 hours a year is tops in Canada, he says. ‘I am an ardent defender of local content. I now hope to have the opportunity to show English Canada the value and the importance of investing in our content. That’s why we will so aggressively defend our applications for English-language specialty channel licences at the coming crtc hearings.’

tva has filed 12 applications with the crtc for new specialty channel licences; half are for English-language services.

tva’s English-language applications include: Digipix (filed with Toronto artist/producer Elaine Waisglass), a showcase for the world’s digital video artists; infashion (filed with Global Television Network), covering subjects such as fashion, arts, decoration, antiques, health and beauty care for women; and Men tv, on health, sports, fashion, travel and leisure for men.

French-language channels include Exit, focusing on local and foreign stars and celebrities; LCN Affaires (with Publications Transcontinental and BCE Media), a business and finance channel; and Tele Ha ! Ha ! (filed with Films Rozon, a subsidiary of the Groupe Juste pour rire, and BCE Media), a comedy service.

Bilingual specialty apps include Game One (with I-Line, a unit of France’s Canal+ and Infogames), a youth service dedicated to video games and tv/Internet convergence; Premieres loges/Front Row (filed with Groupe Feeling, producing interests associated with singer Celine Dion, and BCE Media), a service profiling show business, international sports events and new films; and 13e Rue/13th Street (filed with Global Television Network and Rogers Broadcasting), a mystery, police drama, suspense and fantasy channel aimed at teens.

tva and its partner Capital Communications cdpq have completed their $125-million takeover of Motion Interntional, now integrated under the TVA International banner. tva’s share is $78 million.