With oil pipeline drama, hockey riots and always-exciting regional politics, there’s no shortage of news in Canada’s western-most province and starting this summer, Shaw Media is looking to deliver that news around the clock to British Colombians.

The Calgary-based media company has filed an application with the CRTC for a regional all-news specialty channel.

Slated to launch this summer pending regulatory approval, the yet-to-be-named channel will be B.C.’s first all-news network, providing local, national and international news 24 hours a day in a multiple-screen format within the broadcast. Content for the channel will be driven by Global’s B.C. news team.

Kenton Boston, senior director and national news and station manager for Global BC tells Playback Daily that the channel will feature a mix of live coverage and specific format shows, and coverage from Global BC personalities, reporters and anchors, including a primetime talk show hosted by Global BC anchor Jill Krop (pictured), though programming specifics are still in the works.

“There will be a ticker of some variety,” Boston says. “We have to have conversations about how localized we can get for a lot of the communities across B.C. There will be a wheel format of some variety, to make sure people do get the news, weather and sports – all the things they do want.”

Boston says they are also looking to deliver the channel to multiple platforms, so that viewers can access it online and through mobile devices and tablets.

“We’re a brand that people really identify with, and we have seen the success of our station is not only [in] primetime programming, but our news division in British Columbia. And there certainly is a need for more of a representation for 24-hour news in this province,” he says.

News and talk programming in Canada has been a primary beneficiary of tangible benefits dollars flowing out of the flurry of acquisitions in the media space over the past several years. Last fall alone, Rogers Media debuted a new 24-hour news channel, Shaw created a new national morning show and CTV rolled out new morning talkers in its Western Canadian markets.