Bell urges a more laissez-faire approach to BDU, programmer relationships

By Ahmad Hathout Bell urged the CRTC on Wednesday to loosen the rigid rules surrounding how broadcasters and programmers are allowed to negotiate the packaging and payment of content. The vertically-integrated company said there are certain commission rules dating back to 2015 that are hampering the ability of both the distributor and programmer to get the best commercial outcome in a system that is now flooded with online options. “Since the introduction of the Wholesale Code, there's a lot of prohibitions on specific packaging terms in our negotiations with BDUs,” Ben Keys, Bell Media’s director of content distribution, said Wednesday....