Sun News was distributed by most major cable and satellite providers across Canada[7] but was included in channel tiers subscribed by only 40% of all Canadian households (5.1 million homes with a pay television subscription).

[8] Quebecor had sought wider distribution for Sun News since its launch,[9] most notably making an unsuccessful request for mandatory carriage on basic cable and satellite tiers in 2013.

The petition claimed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper sought to "push American-style hate media onto [Canadian] airwaves" with Sun News, and that the network would be "funded with money from our cable TV fees" (in contradiction to the "mandatory access" request in Quebecor's second CRTC application); the petition also cited Martin's column as evidence that CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein was the "one man" standing in the way of Sun News getting a preferential licence.

This relationship was expected to change as a result of Quebecor's proposed sale of Sun Media's English-language print properties and their related websites to Postmedia Network, a deal announced in October 2014 and awaiting regulatory approval and consummation.

Some reports on the possible acquisition cite sources as saying that should the deal have taken place, the channel could have become a reboot of the unconventional news-and-lifestyle CityNews model utilized by CITY/Toronto and CP24 which were both founded by ZoomerMedia CEO, Moses Znaimer.

[29] The Canadaland website reported on January 26, 2015 that the negotiations with ZoomerMedia had stalled over the issue of severance packages for executives and that the channel faced imminent closure, "within as little as two months", if a deal with Znaimer was not reached.

[42] The arrangement led to complaints by other broadcasters, and cable and satellite providers that Sun was trying to "have it both ways" by having both guaranteed over-the-air coverage while asking for the subscriber fees to which a specialty channel is entitled.

As a remedy, Quebecor requested that Sun News receive a mandatory placement on basic channel tiers through the end of 2017, with a per-subscriber fee of $0.18/month ($0.09/month in primarily French-speaking markets).

[54] The CRTC's decision came at a time when it showed concern about the affordability of cable and satellite services, worrying that while a mandatory basic tier presence would help Sun and its fellow applicants fulfill their respective mandates, the added rates the channels would have received would unduly inconvenience customers.

[53][55] Though Sun News expressed disappointment at the denial of its mandatory carriage request, the network believed their campaign served as a "catalyst"[56] for what the CRTC included in its decision: addressing the broader issue of rules governing distribution of Category C national news channels, the Commission acknowledged that those rules may serve as "barriers" that prevent the channels from having a "pride of place" on the broadcast system and reduce their "exchange of ideas on matters of public concern."

[59] CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais stated that the changes were to ensure that Canadians "have access to the news services that are of interest to them and will therefore have an opportunity to be exposed to a variety of opinions on matters of public concern."

[2][63][64] Writing several years after leaving Sun News, former senior anchor Theo Caldwell wrote of the station's output that "the finished product was lousy television, even by Canadian standards."

When it became clear, however, that no amount of Suzuki-bashing and Justin Trudeau prizefights could save the enterprise, they insisted it was unfair not to grant Sun a guaranteed income stream, on the risible basis that CBC and CTV had received similar treatment decades before.

Erickson blamed Teneycke for the channel reporting during the 2011 federal election of a 16-year-old incident involving Jack Layton being allegedly found in a massage parlour by police.

On these facts, the justification of public interest was arguably thin," according to Erickson, who claimed Sun News Network management nevertheless coached its on-air staff to treat the story as if it was "a major sex scandal involving the NDP leader."

Erickson also claims that Sun News contributor Michael Taube stopped being asked to appear on the channel after he expressed disagreement with the Harper government's proposals to allow income splitting.

[66] In his August 19, 2010 column in The Globe and Mail, Lawrence Martin claimed, citing "insiders", that CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein was under pressure from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to resign from the commission and take another government position, such as an ambassadorship, in order to facilitate Sun News getting its desired licence.

[77] Later in the week, columnist Tasha Kheiriddin of the National Post slammed Sun News over the "low cut, sleeveless" attire of the network's female anchors;[78] Maclean's Washington bureau chief Luiza Ch.

Sun News management has defended their anchors' "right to bare arms," as did New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament Olivia Chow – who unveiled a sleeveless look during an April 21 appearance on The Roundtable, stating that "It’s not what [women in politics] wear that matters, it's the ideas they bring forward.

The first centred on a photo that appeared to show Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff posing with U.S. military forces in Kuwait in late 2002, months before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

[80] On April 29, 2011, Sun News ran a report contending that NDP leader Jack Layton was in attendance at a Toronto massage clinic when police visited it in 1996 on suspicion of it being a brothel.

[91] An earlier incident that gained much more attention and complaints, but which had a different outcome, occurred during a June 1, 2011 broadcast of Canada Live, when Krista Erickson discussed public funding for arts programmes with interpretive dancer Margie Gillis.

[94] After reviewing the complaints, the CBSC determined in February 2012 that no violation of Clause 6 of the Code of Ethics occurred, stating that Erickson's line of questioning, though forceful, did not cross into personal attacks.

"The CBSC's National Specialty Services Panel concluded that Sun News Network breached Clause 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics for including inaccurate information in the talk show.

[107] However, in a February 2, 2012 Canadian Press report, which relied on documents and e-mails released under the Access to Information Act, about six of the 10 who reaffirmed the oath were in fact CIC employees, who were there to fill in for those new citizens who had to back out due to other commitments and to ensure "the right numbers" for the Sun News broadcast.

[109][110] CIC was criticised for its role in the incident, while opposition members in the House of Commons of Canada laid blame on Immigration Minister Jason Kenney for the "deceptive" reaffirmation ceremony (an e-mail revealed in the CP report as coming from a SunMedia.ca address appeared to suggest that Sun News offered to "fake the oath" on-air).

[112] Pat Bolland, in his February 3 interview with Candice Malcolm, acknowledged that both Sun News and the government "had a little bit of egg on our face [sic],"[112] but both he and fellow Roundtable host Alex Pierson asserted they were personally not privy to CIC's actions or the actual citizenship status of the participants when they presented the event to viewers.

[114] Kenney, in response to the new CP report, backtracked on his earlier blame of CIC bureaucrats, claiming in House of Commons that "at every citizenship ceremony Canadians are invited to reaffirm, including public servants", and that the Sun News incident "was perfectly normal and legitimate".

[128] Sun News was headed by Kory Teneycke, vice president of development for Quebecor and a former director of communications and chief spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

[citation needed] At its June 2010 launch announcement, Sun News respectively named David Akin and Brian Lilley as national bureau chief and senior correspondent;[13] both men serve as on-air hosts.