With appeals behind them, there is nothing between the owners of Toronto’s two new over-the-air stations and their launch dates but clear sailing and an endless sea of details.

Both Rogers Broadcasting’s new CFMT-Too and Craig Broadcast Systems’ toronto|one received the go-ahead last month when the federal cabinet opted to throw out appeals targeting the new licences awarded by the CRTC in April.

Both broadcasters are in the midst of building and renovating studio spaces and hiring staff to operate the new stations, which promise to reflect the mosaic of local culture.

The tasks facing Rogers include dividing up its multicultural programming along ethnic lines between its established CFMT and the new ‘CFMT-Too,’ which will launch Sept. 16.

The broadcaster is expected to announce a more suitable name for the new station July 8. Also to come are its programming lineups, which according to Leslie Sole, CEO of Rogers Television, will be split roughly along the lines of Pan-Asian and African running on ‘CFMT-too’ and European and Latino on CFMT.

‘We’re going to keep this as easy to explain and consume as possible. So they will not overlap services. But you will see cross-cultural programming that is run on both,’ he says.

In terms of long-term revenue streams, Sole anticipates that it will be years before the new station turns a profit.

‘The business argument on this is going to unfold as the diversity of the market does. We’re confident that it’s a solid business model. It’ll never be a raging cash turner, but it’s what we do.’

The focus on the kind of multicultural programming that both stations plan to highlight is being hailed as a smart way to go considering the developing ethnic makeup of the city.

‘The GTA is made up of a mosaic of cultural entities, both from a language and a heritage standpoint, so a station that focuses on the Toronto market wants to reflect that as best they can,’ says Bruce Classen, CEO of Genesis Media in Toronto.

‘The incidence of multiculturalism is growing year to year, and if anything I’d imagine that there are more languages than ever represented in this area,’ adds Theresa Treutler, SVP, broadcast investment director at Starcom Worldwide in Toronto.

Like ‘CFMT-Too,’ toronto|one’s programming lineup includes a large multicultural component.

While the new station is not due to hit the airways until spring, Craig has already released a list of shows that will run. On the local side, these include music/variety program The Toronto Show, arts and entertainment program Toronto Life: The TV Show, comedy with Second City Improv and local newsmagazine show Metro.

Perhaps most intriguing of these is The Toronto Show, which will run five nights a week featuring local comedic and musical talent.

‘That was our big commitment to trying to do something and exposing the talent of Toronto as opposed to doing a lot of news to fulfill our Canadian content commitment. Our local reflection will be a music and variety show as opposed to news,’ says Joanne Levy, manager of independent production for Craig.

Another challenge facing Craig will be to begin distributing funds from its $15.4 million allocated to independent production. About half of that will go to the New Voices Fund for English-language multicultural programming.

Levy will be in Toronto in mid-July to meet with producers to bring them up to speed and dispel any misconceptions as to what kinds of programming the fund is intended for.

‘We find that a lot of producers have been producing for the specialty channels and so they tend to look at audience as very niche-oriented. The programming that we require is going to need a more general and broader appeal,’ she says.

With several multicultural applications failing to draw funding from Telefilm earlier this year, Levy knows she will have her work cut out for her. But she’s not fazed.

‘We’ve never relied entirely on the Canadian Television Fund. We have commitments that far exceed the scope and the ability of that fund to cover everything. We’ve never expected it to,’ she says.

With files from Lisa D’Innocenzo