The Algoma Broadcast Group, a Sault Ste. Marie-based company that wants to establish a new local television station to compete with MCTV, is hoping to apply for grant funding to produce a newscast on a community channel as a pilot project for this fall. The group of former MCTV broadcasters has launched a Web site (www.sault.tv.com) and are exploring opportunities to deliver local news and other programming via Shaw Cable's community channel. The project has been branded as LTV (local television), and the company is also considering buying CJIC-TV, which they believe could cost as much as $5 million. With CRTC approval, they eventually hope to hire as many as 11 full- and part-time reporters to cover the Sault and Algoma district, a market of about 100,000 viewers.
