GATINEAU – For many companies there is much riding on what the CRTC has to say at 11 a.m. this morning.
The Commission will make public its decisions on a wide range of license application requests and renewals Thursday morning, but a few will get far more notice than most. For example, if Sun News does not get its must-carry (and must-pay) status, will owner Quebecor Media really follow through on its threat to close up shop?
Did all-Canadian movie channel gambit Starlight pull the right heartstrings with the panel of commissioners to be granted an all-Canadian must-carry movie channel license? Will APTN gets its rate increase? Will Moses Znaimer’s Vision TV remain the country’s only national multi-faith must-carry?
As for Cartt.ca, we made our feelings known back in April – that the era of “must-pay” for TV deemed “needed” or “good for us” is over (save for some exceptions for accessibility channels). We covered the hearing extensively back in April and have linked some of the highlights. We even suggested a solution of our own.
There were actually 110 decisions to be made stemming from the April 23rd proceeding, from new licenses to old licensees wanting changes to renewals asking for no changes at all.
Check out the CRTC site at 11 a.m. for the official releases, and surf back here later for stories on the decisions.
