GATINEAU – The simultaneous substitution of American broadcast signals for Canadian ones, when the programming is identical, has been going on since the 1970s.
Back then, cable operators were often described by broadcasters and others as pirates who brought in American TV channels and charged customers for the privilege of seeing them, even though they paid nothing for the signal and Canadian broadcasters had often purchased the copyrights of much of that U.S. programming for our country. Faced with the threat of a federal government crackdown on its business (yes, the Commission of the day was pondering forcing all American channels off all cable systems), the cable industry itself came up with the idea of simultaneous substitution, where it would make sure that all shows whose broadcast rights had been purchased by a Canadian broadcaster would be inserted into the cable stream (complete with the Canadian ads) in the place of the American broadcast.
The system works pretty seamlessly for pre-recorded fare like dramas and comedies. As for live sports and some live events like awards shows, simsub is still regularly bungled (but to be fair, it’s sometimes due to the unpredictable nature of live event). Canadian sports fans have missed the ends of games and various post-game interviews, not to mention important putts, kickoffs, pitches, and much other action over the years because the switch was performed poorly either during overlong commercial breaks or poor decisions made at or near the end of certain games.
It’s a sore point for many Canadians. And despite the fact that performing simsub at the behest of a broadcaster is a regulatory requirement which can not be ignored, the CRTC is tired of hearing it is at fault.
In a letter sent to Rogers Media president Keith Pelley and Rogers Cable SVP video content David Purdy, Commission chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said a Twitter exchange which happened during the NFL conference final game between San Francisco and Seattle was off-side, telling the two men in 2,610 characters what he thought was wrong with the @Rogershelps 140-character explanations of why someone with the @AmeriCanadian2 handle couldn’t just watch the Fox feed (for what it’s worth, we sympathize with @AmeriCanadian2’s complaints by noting that by the end of the NFL playoffs, we’re just sick of seeing endless and oh-so-repetitive show promos).
“As you are aware, there are a number of misconceptions and a certain frustration among Canadian television viewers regarding simultaneous substitution. These are often expressed at this time of year—specifically, during the NFL playoffs and following the broadcast of the Super Bowl game." – Jean-Pierre Blais
“As you are aware, there are a number of misconceptions and a certain frustration among Canadian television viewers regarding simultaneous substitution. These are often expressed at this time of year—specifically, during the NFL playoffs and following the broadcast of the Super Bowl game,” Blais wrote.
“Canadian broadcasters enjoy simultaneous substitution since it allows them to protect the rights of the programs they have acquired for broadcast in our country. It provides local stations with revenues to maintain their operations and offer local and international programming to their audiences. In addition, simultaneous substitution contributes to the Canadian economy through the jobs created by broadcasters and advertisers, as well as the taxes paid by these companies and their employees.
“Broadcasters have indicated that they benefit tremendously from simultaneous substitution. They have earned many millions of dollars in ad revenues since 1972
The chairman believes there is an “important distinction… between authorizing broadcasters to substitute signals and forcing them to do so” and that broadcasters and distributors need to start speaking up on simultaneous substitution rather than simply passing buck to the CRTC.
Blais asked that Rogers remind its CSRs that broadcasters choose to have the signals substituted – and that the distributor and broadcaster are responsible for the quality of the substitution.
All that said though, if a broadcaster makes the request for substitution, a distributor is simply not allowed to say no. It is required by CRTC regulations to do it. So, while we can certainly see the nuance in the chairman’s argument, asking a CSR monitoring Twitter to get that across in 140 characters – during a game – seems a very tall order.
Nevertheless, Blais wants to see better information come out of the broadcasters and BDUs in this question and “I would also ask you to provide a report outlining the training your customer service representatives receive on this issue, as well as copies of fact sheets or other materials at their disposal,” wrote the chairman.
