• Hollywood Reporter, Monday, March 26, 2007 11:15 AM

Canadian regulators will consider allowing USA Network to enter the market there. That's after the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission received an application from cable behemoth Shaw Communications to sponsor the U.S. cable TV network's possible migration to digital cable.

In the tightly regulated Canadian TV market, entry to foreign TV services is granted only when they do not compete directly with existing channels. Shaw says that USA Network does not go head-to-head with any Canadian pay or specialty operation, and the CRTC requests that Canadian broadcasters or other parties wishing to take issue with that should file written comments.

They would also need to indicate the source and target market for USA Network programming that competes partially or directly with existing Canadian services. Already, various USA Network shows, including "Monk," "WWE Raw" and "The Dead Zone," air in Canada under licensing deals with broadcasters.

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