Super Channel, an Edmonton-based TV network that is one of just three players in Canada's pay-television industry, has filed for bankruptcy protection.

The channel's parent company, Allarco Entertainment Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday in an Alberta court. Media reports indicate day-to-day operations will continue.

"We want to make it clear to our customer base that Super Channel is not bankrupt or in receivership," the Hollywood Reporter website quoted Super Channel president Malcolm Knox as saying.

"Operations continue without interruption," he said in a statement to subscribers and program suppliers.

Allarco is expected to announce Thursday that the channel will restructure under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, according to the Globe and Mail.

According to court documents, Super Channel has around 220,000 subscribers, and liabilities that total $139 million. The number of subscribers falls well short of the company's target of 800,000 for its first four years, the Hollywood Reporter said.

Regional monopolies

There are only two other players in Canada's pay television market — Astral Media Inc.'s The Movie Network (TMN) and Corus Entertainment Inc.'s Movie Central. Until Super Channel opened for business in October 2007, those two companies effectively had regional monopolies — TMN operates in Eastern Canada, while Movie Central services the West.

The Super Channel faced competition not only from those two Canadian channels, but also U.S. channels like Turner Classic Movies and American Movie Classics, both of which landed on Canadian airwaves in 2008.

A statement by Knox published in the Globe report, however, appears to single out cable carriers as one of the main offenders when it comes to his company's financial woes.

"Our biggest challenge has been accessing consumers through distribution undertakings that have become increasingly powerful vertically integrated companies which no longer take CRTC decisions seriously," Knox said in a statement.

The channel broadcasts feature films, original series, specials and mini-series in high definition.

Allarco is owned by Charles Allard, whose Touch Canada Broadcasting Inc. operates radio stations in Calgary and Edmonton.