Canada's new TechTV channel has assembled an eclectic mix of technology programming designed to go far beyond the pimply faced teenage-techie crowd and draw in just about any type of viewer.

"I think that the channel is going to have a very high appeal for Canadians, because there's absolutely nothing like it in Canada," Alison Clayton, TechTV Canada's general manager, said.

The channel will be available as a free preview to about 2.5 million Canadian homes for four months after its Sept. 7 launch, and then it will become a standard subscription service.

TechTV bills itself as, "a digital lifestyle channel for today's e-generation, devoted to programming about technology." It has breaking technology news, talk shows and features aimed at everyone from technophobes to technophiles. Topics range from interviews with top tech executives, to entertainment programming covering music in the digital age, gadgets and video-game technology. More than nine hours of the daily schedule will be live.

"There's a lot of depth in the programming. While not everyone is going to watch every program, there are programs there for all kinds of viewers," Julie Osborne, TechTV Canada's director of marketing, said.

"The way it's positioned is that if you want to know anything about technology or computers, you should first turn to TechTV, just as a sports fan would turn to TSN," Ms. Clayton added.

TechTV was started in the United States by billionaire Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp., and has about 25 million subscribers there. The Canadian channel is a joint venture between Mr. Allen and a pair of Canadian media giants, Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications.

"We are able to take advantage of the several years of experience that our U.S. partners have," Ms. Clayton said. "They launched a couple of years ago, and they have been able to fine-tune the programming to make sure that the appeal really does go across all levels of [technical] expertise."

The Canadian channel will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and in the beginning will draw heavily on its U.S. partner.

"For year one, we're going to be finding out who our subscribers are and how many there are," Ms. Clayton said. "We are relying on the excellent programming our partner is giving us to give us time to look at proposals for new Canadian programming."

She said the Canadian operation shares facilities with a broadcast group that produces several news shows a day, so it will have ready access to studio facilities to produce its own programs.

TechTV in the United States is one of the world's top producers of technology-related programming, and it exports its content to more than 60 countries. But Ms. Clayton said that at least 75 per cent of the U.S. TechTV programming that will be shown by the Canadian channel has never been seen here.

The flagship Canadian content on the channel in the beginning will be a regular show by technology guru Dave Chalk. In the following months, more Canadian shows will be added. The channel's stated target is to have 50 per cent of its content generated in Canada within five years.

"We'll be going up by 10 per cent Canadian content next year alone, which is a big jump," Ms. Clayton said. "By the fall of 2002, 35 per cent of the schedule will be Canadian, and that will grow until we hit 50 per cent."

The programs will be complemented by the channel's Web site, www.techtvcanada.ca, which will provide show schedules and take feedback from viewers. It will also offer content from the U.S. channel's Web site, and more Canadian material will be added as time goes on.

"For Canada, we are leveraging off the huge power that the TechTV.com Web site has," Ms. Clayton said. "They have just become the No. 3 technology Web site in North America ahead of some pretty major, established players, even though they're a fairly new presence in the market place."

Ms. Osbonre added that "viewers will be able to get the Canadian-specific information they need on-line, and then mine down seamlessly into some of the written content that the [U.S.] TechTV site offers, such as breaking tech stories and latest in gaming and so on."

What's On TechTV
As of TechTV's Sept. 7 launch, viewers will be able to tune in to a variety of daily and weekly features. They include: