OTTAWA – As the CRTC kicked off its Let’s Talk TV hearing Monday morning, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (FCB) was quick to assert that the proposed changes to the broadcasting regulations would be “bad” for both consumers and broadcasters.
The self-proclaimed independent watchdog of Canadian programming cited the results of a recent Nanos Research survey, that it commissioned along with ACTRA and Unifor, that found that more than half (54%) of the 1,000 respondents think it is unlikely that unbundling TV programming packages in favour of pick and pay will result in lower TV subscription costs. The survey also found that only one-in-four (24%) believe the federal government’s promise of lower prices, while 62% believe cable and satellite companies who say prices won’t go down by unbundling TV packages.
According to FCB, proposals such as pick and pay and the elimination of Canadian simultaneous substitution could spell the end of local broadcasters in certain markets and perhaps even some Canadian services.
“Small, niche Canadian services like Treehouse, Biography, Mystery and Bold that have made expensive programming commitments to the CRTC will find it difficult to survive in a pick-and pay-world, reducing the choices currently available to Canadians”, reads the news release. “CBC NewsNet, CTV News Channel and that favourite of the Conservative caucus, Sun TV News, will also lose. Canadian programming in general will lose too as the changes will drain hundreds of millions of dollars from the system broadcasters use to finance Canadian shows.”
FCB also reminded the CRTC that the Broadcasting Act mandates that the Canadian broadcasting system is “predominantly and distinctively Canadian because this helps to define and enhance our cultural sovereignty”.
Formed in 1985, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent, Canada-wide, non-partisan voluntary organization whose mission is to defend and enhance the quality and quantity of Canadian programming in the Canadian audio-visual system.
