Post Tagged with: "crtc"

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

Bell by David Yamasaki (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/GXZJK

Be Careful What You Wish For: Bell Launches Legal Challenge Against CRTC Net Neutrality Decision

In December 2010, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission passed the Open Internet Order, which featured relatively weak net neutrality rules. Despite their limited impact (the Order did not go as far as the Canadian Internet traffic management practices which were established a year earlier), Verizon challenged their validity in court. A U.S. appeals court sided with Verizon in 2014, ruling that the FCC did not have the authority to issue the order. The Verizon win proved to be short-lived, however, since later this week, the FCC will pass new net neutrality rules that go much further than the 2010 order. As Ars Technica recently noted, the Verizon net neutrality gamble backfired.

The Verizon blunder came to mind this past weekend as word began to circulate that Bell is seeking leave from the courts to challenge the CRTC’s recent net neutrality ruling involving its mobile television service. The company argues that the CRTC does not have the jurisdiction to issue its ruling under the Telecommunications Act (which forbids undue preferences) since the service should be governed by the Broadcasting Act (which does not have an undue preference provision). From Bell’s perspective, the court challenge presumably seems like a no-brainer: if it wins, the ruling is struck down. If it loses, it still delays the implementation of the CRTC decision for months or even years, thereby maintaining its existing practice for the time being.

February 25, 2015 — 4 comments — News

Sun News Network Interviewing Justin Trudeau by Alex Guibord (CC BY-ND 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/o3pCLp

Why the Demise of the Sun News Network May Be a Preview of Things to Come

The abrupt end of the Sun News Network – its owners pulled the plug on the all-news channel without warning earlier this month – sparked considerable commentary with many lamenting the lost jobs, others examining the quality of the content, and some celebrating the end of a service that was controversial from the moment it launched. Largely left unsaid, however, is that its demise signals the beginning of a new era in Canadian broadcasting in which services are allowed to fail rather than being propped up through regulatory or government support.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes the Canadian broadcasting system has long been shielded from market forces through a broad array of regulations that offer both financial compensation and marketplace protection. Those rules have been a boon to broadcasters, who have seen some services succeed with limited viewers and original content.

February 24, 2015 — 43 comments — Columns

Super Bowl XLIX by Joe Parks (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/qYFnR5

In Defence of the CRTC’s Super Bowl Advertising Ruling

Last week’s CRTC decision to ban simultaneous substitution from the Super Bowl broadcast starting in 2017 has generated mounting criticism in recent days. While analysts initially noted that the lost revenue for Bell Media would not be material (a prediction borne out by a quarterly conference call where the decision was not raised by anyone), anger over the decision has continued to grow. Nothing compares with Kevin O’Leary, a Bell Media commentator, ranting against the decision on Bell-owned BNN as he repeatedly calls the CRTC “insane” and laments lost foreign investment into a sector that still has Canadian ownership requirements. However, with Bell seeking private meetings with CRTC Commissioners to discuss the decision and more serious critiques from CMPA’s Michael Hennessy and Cartt.ca’s Greg O’Brien, the decision has clearly left many unhappy.

If the critics are right, the CRTC decision is the “beginning of the end of the system”, erodes the value of rights, and will lead to job losses and less Canadian content. It is undoubtedly true that changes are coming to the Canadian broadcasting system, but this simsub decision is at best a small part of the reason. The post raises six points in response to the decision and the critics.

February 6, 2015 — 11 comments — News

Super Bowl Boulevard by Sean Curry (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/jBZNtr

CRTC Rejects Bell Request for Private Meeting On Super Bowl Simsub Decision

The CRTC has rejected a request from Bell for private meetings with some or all of the CRTC Commissioners to discuss the recent simultaneous substitution decision involving the Super Bowl. According to recently obtained correspondence (posted below), Bell wrote privately to the CRTC Commissioners over the weekend to request an opportunity to discuss the ruling with each or all of them. The CRTC responded immediately, noting that the decision was the result of a public process that is still ongoing and that it would be inappropriate for Bell to hold private meetings with the Commissioners to discuss the decision. The full correspondence is posted below:

February 2, 2015 — 8 comments — News