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March 3, 2000 World Télémonde: An Electronic Bridge Spanning Canada and the Globe Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced it will hear an application by the World Télémonde network (WTM), in Kingston on Tuesday, May 9, 2000. The World Télémonde network will be a unique national television service with basic status carriage on Canadian cable and direct-to-home systems. All Canadians for the first time will have access to the world's best in television in its original voices with state-of-the-art subtitles in English and/or French. Diversity at its best in 7,000,000 homes. The Marshall McLuhan Institute of the University of Toronto notes that the notion of the 'global village' was created in Canada and that it is surprising that it has taken so long for television to catch up with this revolutionary insight. "WTM's powerful concept," says Derrick de Kerckhove of the Institute, "will make that notion a reality through its provision of television that addresses the interests of cosmopolitans - world citizens sharing a common Canadian fabric, aware of their heritage links and curious about others. WTM will be the electronic bridge spanning the neighbourhoods of the global village." "We welcome the opportunity to make our case to the Commission. WTM will provide its viewers with original programming that is reflective of Canadian experiences and interests", says Dan Iannuzzi, President and Executive Producer of WTM. "Our team will provide Canadians with the best of the 'whole world of television', another Canadian first." Press conferences in Ottawa and Montreal have been scheduled for Monday, March 6, where both Iannuzzi and Kerry Johnston, WTM's Senior Vice President, will outline the proposed programming and present the partners and various alliances of WTM. "Data from Gallup demonstrates that 76% of Canadians in 1996 stated that a priority should be given to a service that reflects Canada's and the world's diversity," says Johnston. "And, over 75% of Canadians preferred world, as opposed to more American, programming. WTM fulfills this pent up and growing demand." "WTM is dedicated to fostering creativity and production stimulation", says Johnston. Also stated in its application to the CRTC, is WTM's commitment of spending a minimum of $72 million for the purchase of Canadian productions, script and development initiatives during its first license period. "And", adds Johnston, "additional funding sources are available to supplement this to $150 million." Headquartered in Ottawa, World Television Network (WTM) is a subsidiary of Multimedia WTM Corporation, an integrated communications enterprise trading on the Canadian Dealing Network (CDN-Otc) under the symbol MWTM. For more information, please contact: Kerry W. Johnston
Doreen Iannuzzi
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