Post Tagged with: "blais"

XOKA7253bs by Phuket@photographer.net (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/A764kg

Yachts and Helicopters?: Why All Stakeholders Should Be Concerned By Blais’ Blast

CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais traveled to Toronto yesterday to deliver a speech to the Canadian Club on television news in an era of change. The talk laid out his vision for the future of communications policy in Canada and feistily defended recent CRTC decisions for broadcast and the Internet. While there is much to like about Blais’ vision – CRTC skeptics will be surprised by the forward-looking approach – it will be lost in the chair’s unnecessary attacks on the industry’s efforts to slow the pace of regulatory change and use of the appellate process.

Blais’ speech tackles many of the big communications of the moment. He notes the need for more aggressive broadband targets and the real-world impact of leaving even a few percent of Canadians without Internet access. He rightly identifies the benefits of the forthcoming broadcast changes, including pick-and-pay and small cheaper basic packages. He argues that the days of simultaneous substitution are coming to an end (and not just for the Super Bowl), noting “squeezing every last drop of profit out of simultaneous substitution and rented, made-in-America content is no longer sustainable.” He is sensitive to the concerns on local television news, but warns of the dangers of government interference in the industry if independence is lost through direct funding mechanisms.

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February 18, 2016 4 comments News
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.

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March 26, 2015 7 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.

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March 25, 2015 11 comments News
Protest at the White House for Net Neutrality by Joseph Gruber (CC BY-ND 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/p294TD

Net Neutrality and Netflix Taxes: The Tension Between Government and Regulatory Agencies on Digital Policy

U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday came out strongly in favour of net neutrality, urging the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to uphold core net neutrality principles. Obama’s comments was unsurprisingly welcomed by net neutrality activists throughout the U.S., though some caution that the ultimate decision still lies with the regulatory agency. Obama focused on greater transparency along with rules to ensure no blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. I wrote earlier this year on how Canada passed net neutrality regulations (termed Internet traffic management practices) in 2009, which address many of the issues raised by Obama and has not resulted in the horrors suggested by critics of net neutrality policy.

Obama’s decision to wade into the net neutrality debate highlights how politicians can no longer simply avoid telecom, broadcast, and Internet issues by claiming that the matter is solely for regulators to determine. Policy issues such as net neutrality and Internet regulation have profound importance for millions and we should not be content to leave the issue exclusively to unelected regulators (no matter transparent their processes).

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November 11, 2014 2 comments News

The Canadian Wireless Debate is Over: How the Incumbent Carriers Lost the Support of the Government

For the past few years, there has been a lively debate on the state of the Canadian wireless marketplace. Consumer advocates and others have argued that Canadian market is not sufficiently competitive and that aggressive policy action is needed to foster greater competition and to adequately protect consumers until market forces can be fully relied upon. The incumbent telecom companies and the CWTA present a far different story, contesting multiple international studies and painting Canada as a market leader.

The events of this week – the introduction of a CRTC consumer wireless code and the Industry Canada decision to uphold its set-aside spectrum policy by killing the Telus – Mobilicity deal – point to the fact that this debate is now over in the minds of the government. Government telecom policy in 2006 was focused on deregulation and a hands-off, industry-led approach. Those days are long gone as the government has now adopted a consumer-focused, populist approach premised on the view that a public fight with the telecom companies is a political winner.  Moreover, the government may have shifted, but the incumbent providers clearly have not, failing to adapt to the new policy terrain.

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June 5, 2013 5 comments News