Herring's One America News Network (OANN) and AWE (A Wealth of Entertainment), which have been authorized for distribution in Canada, have secured a master distribution agreement with the Canadian Communications Systems Alliance (CCSA), essentially Canada's version of the NCTC program buying cooperative in the U.S.
The CCSA agreement is basically a "hunting license" that allows Herring to try and sell its programming to the 100-plus video distributors in CCSA.
Herring Networks President Charles Herring tells Multichannel News that the agreement means CCSA will not only allow Herring to pitch its networks, but will work with it to encourage "consideration and deployment" by member distributors.
Herring says there are some restrictions to the affiliation agreements secured through CCSA, including that channels must be offered a la carte and there can be no minimum penetration or channel packaging and tying provisions in the agreements.
Herring says the company also retains OTT, digital and international rights to the networks, "giving us the flexibility to capitalize on emerging revenue sources and expand our services into Europe and other international markets.”
“Our sponsor, Ethnic Channels, was extremely helpful in guiding us through the CRTC process and educating us on the Canadian video market.”
Earlier in the year, OAN and AWE were authorized for distribution in Canada by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which in turn paved the way for the master agreement.
