The Real Reason Conservative TV Died in Canada

(Photo: Toronto Life)

Last week, I told you the sad news:

The Sun News Network, Canada’s only conservative/libertarian alternative to the state-sponsored Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and other equally liberal TV channels, went off the air after four years.

Because the media’s favorite topic is “the media,” you can imagine the avalanche of “analysis” that followed, from Canada’s pundits and papers.

(By “analysis” I mean “unrestrained gloating bordering on slander,” although I also saw former Sun employees on social media, thanking particular fellow journalists for their words of support.)

It didn’t take long, though, for that story to get pushed aside by another one:

The launch of a new media venture to take Sun’s place.

And it “didn’t take long” because the face of this new venture — called TheRebel.media — is Ezra Levant.

This tweet says it all:

Add @ezralevant to the list of stuff that will survive the apocalypse (with cockroaches, Cher & Twinkies) @therebeltv http://t.co/ruigd5u8ov

— Rahim Mohamed (@rmohamed_nc) February 17, 2015

Ezra Levant was arguably the most famous, daring and controversial of all Sun’s hosts.

Before joining the network, he became world famous for printing the “Danish Mohammed” cartoons (and being taken to “court” for doing so).

While doing his daily TV show, he wrote a number of books, and remained in demand as a public speaker.

Even before Sun News came along, I was comparing Ezra to Evil Knievel, and now that description seems more apt than ever.

He’s up and around already with TheRebel.media, a web-based media play that’s still in the very early stages.

You can sign up at their website or follow them on Twitter to stay in the loop and find out when it rolls out.

For now, here’s Ezra Levant explaining what went wrong with Sun News — he calls it “the best job he ever had” — and what the future holds: