CanWest MediaWorks will rebrand the CH Network as E! on Sept. 1 following an exclusive multi-platform agreement with Comcast Entertainment Group’s U.S.-based E! Networks announced on Tuesday. The deal marks the first time the E! brand will be delivered as an over-the-air network, and makes CanWest the keyholder for the broadcast, online, mobile, VOD and satellite radio opportunities in Canada.

The Canada E! schedule will mix network primetime shows with the E! library content airing during weekends, late prime and daytime. A commitment to develop and coproduce Cancon is also part of the deal, supported by a dedicated development fund.

‘The launch of the E! brand in Canada will redefine our second conventional television network,’ said Kathleen Dore, CanWest’s president of Canadian television, in a statement.

Local news at each CH station will relaunch under the banner of its official call letters — CHCH, CHEK, CHBC, CHCA and CJNT. The network’s complete programming schedule will be revealed at the CanWest fall preview in June.

Sunni Boot, president and CEO of Toronto’s ZenithOptimedia, says the move is ‘absolutely in the right direction,’ noting that it will give them ‘a new platform, brand new to Canada.’

‘That generates excitement. And they can monetize it. Advertisers are looking to be participatory on all platforms in a holistic way, so when you have a single owner, a single seller, a single opportunity to develop content and distribute your content as an advertiser — this is part of the future,’ says Boot.

Will the deal help CanWest ‘eclipse’ the competition?

No, says Boot. But it will put CTVglobemedia on its toes and force them to sell smarter when it comes to on-air, online and mobile assets.

‘The competitor has phenomenal cable offerings, fantastic conventional offerings, and it’s going to add a really, really strong radio network through CHUM Radio,’ she says. ‘That’s pretty powerful. But the other thing is increasingly we’re not buying all the assets of a single company for a single campaign. So it’s nice that CTVglobemedia has all that, and it’s nice that CanWest has all that. Each component has to be best-in-class.’

From Media in Canada