BDUs "not just pipes," says Astral's Bureau, while Telesat's Goldberg appeals for more freedom

By Perry Hoffman

OTTAWA - Allowing more foreign investment in the telecommunications business, particularly for broadcast distributors, will almost certainly have an impact on the content carried on Canadian airwaves, according to Astral Media Inc.’s chairman of the board, André Bureau. Speaking to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology for its study on foreign ownership restrictions in telecommunications, Bureau said broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) have an “enormous influence” over the programming offered to Canadian consumers. “BDUs are not just pipes. BDUs make programming decisions everyday. They control and decide which programming services consumers will have access to. They...