GATINEAU – The Shaw Communications legal team and the Commission share a difference of opinion.
Qu’elle surprise, you’re thinking.
However, the one that arose Wednesday as Shaw faced the Commission during 2009-614 (the hearing forced by an Order-In-Council that will inform a report to the Heritage Ministry on establishing a value for signal regime for local broadcasters) was a different conflict than some of the others we’ve followed between Shaw and the Regulator.
In its opener on Wednesday afternoon, Shaw’s SVP regulatory, Jean Brazeau, insisted that the CRTC can not issue a policy ruling on the hearing held last month on setting a new value for signal regime (2009-411) until the government has responded to the report the Regulator has to file from this week’s.
“The requirements of the Order-In-Council to consult on this matter and make recommendations precludes the Commission from arriving at a final decision on the implementation of any signal compensation regime until the government has responded to the Commission’s report,” said Brazeau.
This idea did not sit well with chairman Konrad von Finckenstein. Noting that the CRTC is an arms-length body that sets policy for the telecom and broadcast industries, the fact that cabinet has asked for a report doesn’t mean the Commission has to delay anything. “Just because they ask us for a report does not mean automatically we can not proceed with our decision,” he said.
“I think we can make a decision when and where we please.”
Also during Shaw’s presentation:
• It asked again to do omnibus channels with Shaw Direct instead of carrying all local broadcasters, as the OTAs want DTH carriers to do. (Omnibus channels would see Shaw Direct carry the network content of, say CBC, on just a few omnibus channels, and injecting the local news content in each local region, but only during scheduled times where the content is different than the network feed). Without action from Industry Canada on an Extended Ku-band policy, Shaw is in a holding pattern with its DTH division, it says. “A complete overhaul of network design and capabilities to accommodate carriage of all local stations, or local into local, is not feasible,” said Shaw Communications president and CEO Peter Bissonnette. “The clear answer… is to allow the use of omnibus channels.
This is an old issue, and Shaw has been turned down on omnibus before, something von Finckenstein and vice-chair Len Katz said they were unaware of. “It was a few regimes ago,” noted Bissonnette. However, the CRTC is also letting Bell TV do it temporarily right now.
When asked for further information, Bissonnette said Shaw Direct could “take eight channels to distribute which could actually be carried on one channel… we could do that tomorrow.” He acknowledged however that such channels would not be flexible enough to allow local breaking news to cut into the omnibus feeds.
• When it comes to a negotiated value for signal. There is nothing to talk about, said Shaw SVP planning Michael D’Avella. “There is no uncompensated value in the signal,” he said.
• The Commission also announced any written final responses to this hearing are due December 18th.
The hearing continues today.
