TORONTO – IPTV service provider VMedia Inc. has charged Bell Media with “outrageous delays” in its attempts to acquire rights to add Bell-owned TV channels and says it has no choice but to take its case to the CRTC.
The Toronto-based company’s complaint claims that Bell Media is in breach of the Specialty Service Regulations, and seeks expedited relief to enable VMedia to launch a broadcast distribution undertaking (BDU) which would compete with Bell TV. VMedia said the complaint follows more than a year of “fruitless efforts to negotiate agreements that would allow VMedia to carry certain of Bell Media’s specialty services, including TSN, MuchMusic and Discovery” it stated in a release.
“We have been stonewalled by Bell Media and we simply no longer believe it wishes to negotiate a fair deal with us in good faith,” said Alexei Tchernobrivets, Chief Executive Officer of VMedia. “Bell Media has subjected us to an outrageous series of delays, pre-conditions and obstacles which we have not experienced with any other channel provider in Canada or the U.S. We have no choice but to take this matter to the CRTC.”
Bell Media has failed to provide even the most rudimentary information to VMedia, such as its rate cards or conditions related to how or whether its channels have to be packaged says VMedia. The company maintains that under The Broadcasting Act BDUs such as VMedia are entitled to carry all licensed channels broadcast in Canada, and are obliged to carry certain of them, including a dozen of Bell Media’s channels.
“Without Bell channels it is difficult to launch, and hard to compete,” explained Tchernobrivets. “This puts VMedia at a major and unfair disadvantage, particularly when compared with how Bell Media is dealing with Bell TV. That sort of anti-competitive behavior is exactly what we believe Section 10.1 of the Specialty Service Regulations was intended to prohibit.”
VMedia will be appearing before the CRTC at its ongoing hearing into Bell’s proposed acquisition of Astral Media this Friday, September 14.
“Bell Media is using the leverage of its content assets to keep us out of the business, which would be odd in any other case, where channel suppliers are eager to deal with new customers, “said Tchernobrivets. “We believe BCE’s business strategy is to drive consumers to its Bell TV BDU business, and by behaving this way with us, Bell Media is showing an undue preference to its sister company. We are a customer like Bell TV, and we should be dealt with similarly. For over a year Bell Media has chosen to do otherwise with us.”
