GATINEAU – What would have been fun, was a debate.
Day three of the CRTC hearings into BDU and specialty service regulations featured the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, two groups with decidedly different constituents, and points of view, on the future policy direction of the TV industry.
The CAB represents most broadcasters in Canada who together serve basically 100% of the Canadian population. The CCSA, on the other hand, has a far smaller group of members whose companies deliver cable and broadband service to under a million rural Canadians.
While each had their turn…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – To many we’ve talked to so far this week, it smacks of re-regulation, not de-regulation, but commissioner Michel Morin wants to know what the industry thinks of a new points system he has devised to help small specialty services gain more notice.
At the BDU and specialty service hearings on Monday and Tuesday, the first-year commissioner has explained and re-explained his proposal to just about each intervener – several of whom seem a little perplexed by the proposal. Count some audience members in that group scratching their heads, too.
After hearing Morin (a former broadcaster explain it…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – A press release issued by Shaw Communications this afternoon that some might term a little imprudent, took some new swings at the CRTC and in the overall direction the Calgary-based company believes this month’s Commission hearing is headed.
The three-week-long hearing has just completed its third day of proceedings (Shaw isn’t scheduled to appear until April 23) into the policies governing broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services, but the company which owns Star Choice and Shaw Cable clearly doesn’t like the tone of the discussions so far.
"When it was first announced, we were optimistic that this…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – While Rael Merson said repeatedly that he believed the conventional broadcast system will right itself, if left to market forces, there was one idea he brought up that he will hear about for a while.
It’s the idea of a luxury tax. Merson, the president and CEO of Rogers Broadcasting, insisted during Monday’s first day of hearings into the policies on BDUs and specialty services that Canada’s top two conventional broadcasters, CTV and Global, have been beating themselves up so bad buying programming Stateside every year, paying ever-higher for prime time fare. That, he said, is the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Score Media broke even in the second quarter ended February 29, with net income down $0.3 million from the same period a year earlier, according to financial results released Wednesday. The company attributed the decline “largely due to a restructuring provision recorded in the second quarter of fiscal 2008 in the amount of $0.9 million.”
Revenue in the quarter was $8.4 million, up $0.7 million from $7.7 million in the same period a year earlier, but operating costs increased due to anticipated increased spending for high definition television programming, higher rights fees associated with broadcasting live…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Rogers Broadcasting Inc.’s application to acquire CTV’s stake in Outdoor Life Network, and the CBC’s application to purchase CTV’s shares in ARTV inc. were gazetted Tuesday (Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-27).
On behalf of 1163031 Ontario Inc., Rogers Broadcasting is applying to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares currently held by CTV in Outdoor Life for $38.805 million. Rogers is proposing a $3.880 million tangible benefits package in conjunction with the sale.
CBC is paying $1.760 million for CTV’s stake in the French-language arts channel ARTV. The CBC currently holds 45.09% and CTV 15.57% of the channel. If…
Continue Reading
I’VE HEARD NO END of parallels spun in attempts to explain the complex structure we call the Canadian television industry.
From cars and roads and traffic lights to water bottles and Lake Ontario. A house of cards to yarn and a sweater – and even an airplane ride and airline peanuts. Various parts of the industry are the gears in the car, the pre-and post-processed water, the air pressure inside and outside the plane. The yarn-and-sweater analogy is always “if you pull at one thread, the whole things comes apart.” I can’t repeat without a potential libel suit what…
Continue Reading
IT’S FUN TO PROGNOSTICATE. To try and read the tea leaves and make educated (or not) guesses about certain things. Sports (pro and amateur) is utterly built around such predicting, thanks to the billions of dollars bet on the games every year.
Similarly enormous amounts of money and the fate of our industry are collectively at stake beginning this week when the cable, satellite, telco and specialty broadcasting community take their turn in front of a panel of CRTC commissioners who will largely determine how the broadcast distribution undertaking and specialty services industries will be run for perhaps the…
Continue Reading
FIRST, THE GENRE PROTECTION rules established by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission consist of two distinct components, with two distinct goals. The first rule is directed at limiting the distribution in Canada of foreign services which are partly or fully competitive with licensed Canadian services.
The second is intended to limit the licensing of a number of Canadian services in one genre of programming, so that the onerous requirements of services licensed to Canadians with regard to the exhibition of, and the expenditures on, Canadian programming can be met, maintained and increased.
Secondly, nowhere do the BDUs mention…
Continue Reading
LEAVE IT TO SHAW to not only demand genre protection go away, but to use a lovely incendiary word that broadcasters have long used against cable: monopoly.
When Shaw Communications’ submission to the CRTC on its upcoming policy review on broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services addressed the Commission’s policy on genre protection (which means there’s only supposed to be one comedy specialty, one short film channel, one preschool channel, and so on), it refers to the protection as a genre monopoly.
“I’m not going to be lectured to by Jim Shaw about being in the monopoly business,” said…
Continue Reading
