"There is a battle coming", says Asper

WINNIPEG – Cable and satellite companies paying fees for the Global TV signal is just one of the major structural changes that must happen if conventional broadcast television is to endure, CanWest Global Communications CEO Leonard Asper said on Wednesday. While the company’s fourth quarter press release made a vague, innocuous reference to “structural and regulatory” issues that need to be addressed, Asper was much more specific in his comments to financial analysts in a conference call late in the afternoon. Referring to a “rigorous regulatory plan”, Asper said the company wants: * Cable and satellite companies to pay broadcasters...