Altering the Acts: Fear the power of the vertically integrated

By Denis Carmel

It’s the oligopsony, of courseTHE CANADIAN MEDIA Producers Association’s mission is to defend it members, so of course it is the focus of its submission to the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review (BTLR) panel.A main concern is the concentration of ownership in the English TV market: “Given the substantial vertical integration and consolidation of broadcasters in Canada, the oligopsonistic nature of our domestic market, the information asymmetry between producers and broadcasters, and the resulting significant buying power yielded by broadcasters, there is a real risk that ownership concentration will reduce the programming options and the number of distinct creative and...