Post Tagged with: "bell"

Desolate Destiny by Kat N.L.M. (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/hL5zvU

Why the Crull Controversy Is a Symptom of Bell’s Bad Bundles Bet

The furor over Bell Media President Kevin Crull’s banning of CRTC Chair Jean Pierre Blais from CTV news coverage following the pick-and-pay decision made for a remarkable news day yesterday. From the initial Globe report to the unprecedented response from Blais to the Crull apology, it was a head-spinning day. While Bell presumably hopes that the apology brings the matter to a close, that seems unlikely to be the case as there are bigger implications for Crull, CTV News, and Bell more broadly.

Crull’s future has been the subject of much talk, with some calling for his resignation, particularly since there is evidence that this is not the first instance of the editorial interference. Assuming it has occurred before (the reference to “re-learning” in the Crull apology is telling), CEO George Cope was undoubtedly aware of the practice and must surely have condoned it, suggesting that Crull will survive. However, Crull’s bigger problem may be that his ability to represent Bell Media before the CRTC has been irreparably damaged. Bell could have Cope represent the company rather than Crull (indicating the seriousness of the issues), but Crull will struggle as the public face of the company before the regulator for as long as Blais remains chair.

March 26, 2015 — 7 comments — News

Zeppelin IV by Dave Sutherland (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/gaQnJ

What On Earth is Happening at Bell?

March 25, 2015 — 4 comments — News

Brian by Mark Bray (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/4uyq2M

Bell’s Crull Banned CRTC Chair Blais From CTV News Coverage Following TalkTV Decision

The Globe and Mail’s James Bradshaw reports that Bell Media President Kevin Crull banned CTV media properties from including CRTC Chair Jean Pierre Blais in coverage of the recent TalkTV decisions. The report indicates that Crull ordered the head of CTV News to stop including Blais in coverage following an interview on BNN, which led to the cancellation of an interview with Don Martin and dropping him from local news stories (he was included in the national newscast as Robert Fife defied the order). Bell Media has still not publicly commented on the pick-and-pay decision. Crull is the same Bell executive who earlier this month called for the blocking of U.S. channels and for new measures to make it more difficult for Canadians to access U.S. Netflix.

I would say the story is shocking, but this is not the first time of reports that Crull has meddled in news coverage related to his company. In August 2013, Dwayne Winseck reported that Crull intervened on coverage of the wireless sector when Verizon was considering entry into the Canadian market. Winseck posted emails from Crull to news executives throughout CBC urging certain coverage of a wireless report throughout Bell Media’s television and radio stations. I wrote about Winseck’s story here.

March 25, 2015 — 11 comments — News

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Raising the Broadcast White Flag: What Lies Behind Bell’s Radical Plan to Raise TV Fees, Block Content, Violate Net Neutrality & Fight Netflix

Kevin Crull, Bell Media’s President delivered a much-anticipated keynote speech at the Prime Time in Ottawa conference on Friday. Titled “The New Reality: Broadcasting in Canada”, Crull’s claim was that the new reality for broadcasting in Canada is unsustainable and requires massive regulatory change. While Crull argued that Bell doesn’t want protection (in fact, incredibly claimed that a company that has benefited from foreign investment restrictions, genre protection, and simultaneous substitution has never had protection), he proceeded to outline a series of radical reforms that would raise television fees, block access to U.S. channels, violate net neutrality rules, and make Netflix less attractive to consumers. Couched in terms of “level playing fields” and “secure rights markets”, the speech was fundamentally an admission that given the competitive challenges, Bell’s hope is for a regulatory overhaul.

The key slide within the presentation can be found here. Crull certainly spoke about creating great content, though on the previous day Bell executives cautioned against programs that are “too Canadian.” The major focus of Crull’s talk wasn’t on content creation – the overwhelming majority of Bell Media’s leading programs are licensed from U.S. broadcasters – but rather on proposed changes to the regulatory framework.

March 9, 2015 — 27 comments — News

Kill Your Television by Jeremy Brooks (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/oqYVbH

Don’t Go Changing: The Canadian Broadcaster Fight Against Legal and Regulatory Reform

Throughout the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission TalkTV hearing, Canadian broadcasters such as Bell (CTV), Rogers (CITY), and Shaw (Global), tried to assure Canada’s regulator that they were ready to embrace the digital future and prepared for regulatory change. Yet in recent weeks, it has become increasingly apparent that Canadian broadcasters plan to fight change every step of the way.

The effort to keep core business models intact are sometimes obvious. For example, new services such as Shomi and CraveTV are often characterized as Netflix competitors, but given their linkage to a conventional cable or satellite television subscription, are a transparent attempt to persuade consumers to retain existing services and not cut the cord. The viability of those services remains to be seen, but more interesting are the regulatory and legal fights, where Canadian broadcasters are waging an ongoing battle against change.

Bell Media leads the way with the two legal challenges against recent CRTC decisions. Yesterday it asked the Federal Court of Appeal to overrule the CRTC on its decision to ban simultaneous substitution from Super Bowl broadcasts starting in 2017. The Bell motion for leave to appeal strikes me as weak:

March 3, 2015 — 6 comments — News