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Bell Media to take Vrak off the air

By Josh Kolm
August 21, 2023
The decision followed Videotron's move to pull the French-language specialty channel from its TV service last week.

After being dropped by Videotron last week, Bell Media is planning to shut down French-language channel Vrak on Oct. 1.

“Closing Vrak’s activities is not a decision we wanted to make. However, given Videotron’s decision and the current context in which we operate, a reassessment of our programming is in order and viewers are no longer numerous enough,” Karine Moses, SVP of content and news at Bell Media, said in a statement.

Last week, Videotron followed through on plans to remove Bell Media’s Vrak and Z channels from its cable service after a CRTC ruling earlier this year permitted it to do so. Z, which was also dropped by Videotron last week, remains in operation.

Videotron had approximately 1.4 million television subscribers at the end of 2022.

In addition to no longer being available on Videotron, the company attributed regulatory issues as another factor in closing Vrak. “The Canadian media industry faces significant challenges from an ever-changing operating environment. The regulatory framework with which broadcasters like Bell Media must comply is obsolete and does not take current challenges into account,” said Bell Media in the news release announcing Vrak’s closure.

Canada’s major broadcasters all currently have applications being considered by the CRTC to amend their licensing requirements; in Bell’s case, the company is asking for reductions in its Canadian content obligations, as well as eliminating quotas for local news.

Vrak began broadcasting as Le Canal Famille in 1988, largely serving a similar age group as its English language counterpart, The Family Channel. It changed its name to Vrak.TV in 2001 and became simply Vrak in 2014. Based on the success of its Vrak2 programming block, the station shifted focus in 2016 to an audience of teenagers and young adults.

Though still classified as a station for youth, it has more recently been airing dubbed versions of U.S. dramas geared towards a slightly older audience, such as Chicago Med, Riverdale, Transplant and Castle, as well as a French version of Canadian series Sullivan’s Crossing and original production Pour toujours, plus un jour, which is available on Crave. A Bell Media spokesperson confirmed that no original programming would be impacted.

This story originally appeared in Media in Canada