TORONTO – "Approving the applications will only further the interests of those who do not want the Canadian broadcasting system to remain fair and competitive and open to new and independent Canadian voices and entrants.
"In addition , it is impossible to marry the applicants request for long term, protected status with the idea that the Commission should be supporting and encouraging investment and innovation in the Canadian broadcasting system," says High Fidelity HDTV in its intervention submitted today on the so-called "digital basic" 9(1)(h) hearing.
In anticipation of the digital migration of analog specialty services, the CRTC asked existing specialty channels to submit applications, if they wished, to secure their placement on the channel lineups of Canadian cable companies when the switch happens. So if it goes though, The Weather Network, for example, will stay "on basic" on channel 20 in Cogeco Ontario when the MSO switches to all-digital.
There are several criteria each of the channels that have applied (a list that includes Vision TV, Vrak.tv, TWN, MétéoMédia, YTV, TV5, RDI and CBC Newsworld) have to satisfy in order to be considered for digital basic, such as "having digital basic status will enable its service to contribute in meaningful ways to fulfilling the policy objectives of the Act."
"We submit that none of the applicants in their respective applications has provided sufficient and compelling evidence to support their perceived need for the protection and certainty implied by digital basic status. We believe that the benefits to the few associated with granting such status to any of the applicants are far outweighed by the costs which would be borne by many," says the HiFi HDTV submission, authored by SVP David Patterson.
HiFi HDTV is a relative newcomer on the Canadian scene and offers four all-high definition Canadian channels, Rush HD, Oasis HD, Treasure HD and Equator HD.
Despite their carriage by Bell ExpressVu and some other BDUs, the company has not been able to secure distribution with Canada’s largest cable operators as yet, partly because of the bandwidth requirements of all-HD channels.
"There should be no illusion that the approval of any of the Applications will not come at a significant , long term cost to Canadian consumers and other existing and new participants in the Canadian broadcasting system. For example, the applicants’ channels will place additional and unnecessary strain on the already scarce bandwidth that is available to Canada’s cable and satellite companies at the expense of other broadcasters and would-be broadcasters who already cannot get access to their distribution systems," writes Patterson.
The hearing will take place March 26.
– Greg O’Brien
