WE ALL HAVE A WISH-list, don’t we? Things we think and sometimes say about what we’d change if a genie popped from a bottle.
While a genie grants but three wishes, I have many, many more than that. Greedy, I guess, but here goes. I wish:
* I had telephone call display on my TV screen. That’s a nifty option Sasktel and MTS offer on their DSL TV service. It’s something I’d certainly pay for.
* Telcos and cablecos would quit going after each other at the Commission so often and concentrate on their marketing and engineering. Each side uses slights and errors (real or imagined) to build a regulatory case against the other. The telcos want the win-back rules tossed out, claiming they infringe the Charter of Rights, of all things. Telus says Shaw didn’t get into the telecom game properly. The cable industry says that Bell can’t offer VOIP services and should be made to stop until they file a tariff. Bell says they’re going to file a tariff in accordance with the CRTC’s VOIP decision… which they are appealing to cabinet, anyway. Consumers don’t care about the forbearance hearings or win-back rules or tariffs or any of that stuff. They care about price and service and that everything works right.
* BCE would stop saying the CRTC has decided to regulate the Internet with its VOIP decision. That’s clearly not what happened.
* I could be 100% on this, but was told today that the targeted release date for the decision on satellite/subscription radio is Tuesday June 21st. Not 100% on it, but that’s the word.
* I could get satellite radio right now. Almost like a randomized iPod for your car or boat or cottage or home.
* My PVR would get smart enough to record the show that comes next if my recorded basketball game goes into overtime. I know I should remember to set it for that but it’s a drag to get home, speed-watch the game and miss the best part because the recording ended promptly at 11 p.m.
* I had an HDTV set.
* There was more Canadian HD programming to make it worth my while – and my money. Rogers Sportsnet, TSN, The Movie Network all offer lots. Where’s everyone else? Sim-subbed U.S. shows don’t count.
* Radio stations would tell me the names of the songs and artists and stop talking over the music so much.
* I knew what that wire I dug through on the weekend in my front yard is for. My phone lines and cable all still work, and I would have known quickly if it was a power line.
* People wouldn’t take so many easy digs at the Commission and recognize the work it does. Its job is extraordinarily complex and it is struggling to deal with new technologies and new industry directions and not only adapt to, but also lead, the change vortex swirling all around. Overall, the CRTC does a pretty good job. Every developed nation has such a body. It’s necessary and needed.
* CRTC decisions happened faster.
* The Sopranos would come back earlier than next year.
* Broadcasters the best of luck in a PVR world. I got mine last summer and rare is the show that I actually see the commercials. I feel bad about this, I honestly do, because ad sales is the lifeblood of the industry’s revenue – and it’s the one I cover for a living. But, I can’t help myself. Watching a 48-minute NBA playoff game in under 60 minutes, or an hour of the Amazing Race in 45 minutes is something I just can’t resist.
* My car radio had a PVR-like rewind function. When talking to the kids or taking a phone call or fretting traffic causes me to miss something I might then only half-hear, like the traffic chaos on the QEW or a good song or a bit of local news, I’d like to be able to rewind.
* I enjoyed TV news more. I get my news from radio (immediate headlines and local stuff), newspapers (best for depth) and, of course, on-line (immediacy and depth, plus links to more news). I don’t exactly avoid TV news, it’s just not on when it’s convenient for me. But when I do watch, I get the impression the sky is always about to fall in some way. Every newscast has some sort of health scare or frightening crime story that makes me think everything I eat is killing me or that killers stalk all neighborhoods. I’m a happier person not watching, I think.
* The federal government would get around to giving a hoot about the broadcast and telecom industry. It can’t always be about partisan politics and keeping a shaky grip on minority power on the Hill, can it? There’s got to be some work than can get done, right?
– Greg O’Brien
