Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to the story written by Susan Tolusso titled “Cultural groups in stark contrast to broadcast positions”, December 5, 2006.
The Ontario Ministry of Culture appeared before the CRTC’s public hearing on the regulatory framework for over-the-air television on Monday December 4, 2006.
I would like to correct the reference to the ministry’s position on fee for carriage.
The ministry’s comments on fee for carriage are in response to specific questions put forward by the Commission in Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2006-5:
“Should the Commission consider permitting a subscriber fee for the carriage of OTA television signals by broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs)? If so, what stations and under what circumstances?
If such a fee were to be considered, should it be restricted to services that offer new or significantly improved services to subscribers – for instance, services that provide a program schedule that is predominantly in HD?”
In both the ministry’s written submission and oral comments before the hearing, we outlined a number of options that the Commission might consider:
Carriage fees for value-added HD services is one option along with:
• Incentives for HD programming
• Flexible advertising guidelines that would bring new revenues
• Funds diverted from the government’s auctioning of analog channels as part of digital conversion.
It is the ministry’s interest to ensure that funds flow to content producers to help them remain competitive in global markets by building a library of HD television programming.
Therefore, it is important in the ministry’s view, that any fee for carriage should be directed to HD services only.
Yours truly,
Steven Davidson
Assistant Deputy Minister
Ontario Ministry of Culture
