May 26, 2009

 

Give us the money, or local TV gets it


So CTV has launched a campaign to get the CRTC to force cable and satellite companies to pay broadcasters for the right to carry their over-the-air (OTA) stations. But, being the clever marketers that they are, they're not calling it the "Government Should Force Cable Companies To Pay Us Fees That Of Course Will Be Passed On To Subscribers" campaign. They're calling it "Save Local Television."

Of course, this is purely emotional blackmail; there's just as much cause to call it "Save Our CEO's Executive Expense Account." But they know that "local" is a cause that is capable of rallying public support.

CTV says that they deserve the carriage fees, because otherwise cable companies are taking broadcasters' content for free and using it for profit. The problem with this is you could just as easily turn it around: the cable companies are currently performing a free service for the broadcasters by spreading their OTA content to a wider audience, thus increasing their advertising revenues, and so the broadcasters should pay the cable companies.

Fortunately, there's an easy solution to this debate: get the government out of the way completely. (Funny, that seems to be the solution to a lot of problems...) The CRTC should remove all regulations on which stations cable and satellite companies have to carry, where they have to be on the dial, whether they provide "simultaneous substitution," etc. Then, the broadcasters and cable companies can work out amongst themselves who will pay whom, and how much, and for which services - just like any other business deal.

The chances of the CRTC actually implementing such a system? Let's just say I'm not holding my breath...

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Comments:
Via Shaw Direct/Star Choice, we get Global Winnipeg, CTV Winnipeg and CBC Winnipeg - three local channels is overkill to say the least. Frankly CBC should be abolished. The other two are just a watered down left wing, regurgitated version of CBC. None are worth my hard earned dollar. If Cable/Satellite are forced to prop up the locals, the subscribers should have the option to opt-out or subscribe to them on a pay per view basis.
 
Very simple... OTA should be paid for cable company usage of their signal or feed... they are collecting part of their revinue by providing those local channels

second... people should not be told by big brother or anyone what channels they "have" to have on their cable subscription...we should be able to pick and choose what channels we want... if the satellite providers weren't getting paid for the channel then they don't need to pay CTV or CBC or any of the Canadian crap that simply buy's feeds from the USA in the first place because we've been so busy funding the CBC that there is no longer anything produced in Canada by Canadians worth watching because the talent has all gone south where the money is...
 
... so let me see how this works.

First CTV buys up many small TV stations such as A-Channel to smother competition.

Then when due to their crappy biased programming they fall on hard times , they throw the local stations over the side ...

... but wait then petition the very audience to whom they have pitched their biased crap to rise up and save local TV by hounding politicians to shovel even more taxpayer dollars to CTV , thereby saving local TV.

... amazing how the free market works in the minds of the Canadian MSM !
 
Canadians are so predictable.

About 4 years ago I warned people about the death of the analogue TV's free signal though the air and a Nation-wide control by the CRTC once all Media is a Pay as you go service when digital radio and HDTV/DTV take over.
I read the fine print for the CRTC changes suggested by Chretien after he hired Francis Fox to review the Cable Companies to make services better for the consumer.

Gee, a buddy of Trudeau and a ex-Cable-Company Executive comes up with a way to add the GST and CRTC control to every Media signal coming into a canadia home.
What are the chances that FREE-OTA signals will be phased out and Digital TV tuners will become the Law in Canada by 2010.

I was mocked on Blogs and Forums because I said back in 2005 that normal TV's will become obsolete very soon once the FREE signal stop and every TV will need a Cable box decoder and DAC/ADC chip to get the signals from a mandatory PAY-TV/GST-CRTC controlled incoming signal.

Sounds confusing?

It was,and I needed several hours
of digging into the CRTC documents
back in 2003-04 to find the subtle references that allowed for the death of Transmission Towers for Radio and TV Signals .
The wording had a loophole in Legalese language for the demands for more Digital/HD tv by consumers so it would justify terminating the costly FREE signal services , plus ,the basic Cable signal with analogue video could also be terminated to offer more HDTV/DTV channels to buy in a package.
The recent changes to the TV channels from 29-46 in Toronto were allowed by the CRTC because more PAY-TV HD/DTV channels could be put in those slots to be carries on cable rahter than Satellite dish signals in the higher bands above the channel 124limit on normal land line cable services.

Shelia Copps tried so hard to tax and control what canadians watch, but it to Chretien and a Trudeau buddy like Francis Fox to fool the masses with a scheme to add GST to every Media service and then have the CRTC control what canadians can see and hear.

Myself..I bought a HDTV/DTV/Analogue Tuner for my Computer and use the Aerial connector to pick up the current FREE HD signals from the CN tower Hot-Spots, plus on a clear night I get the USA TV signals coming in from N.Y. State ,and the odd TV show from Chicago .
I get to see the American commercials and some really funny TV promos with racial jokes by blacks that would never pass the CRTC standards for humour.
With the new G3 WiFi "n" signal coming online...the transmission quality will be around 1-gbps
for an amazing speed to watch HD/Blue-ray movies on your video phone or laptop screen with a HDMI input from the blackberry or iPhone.
 
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