Rogers has issued a press release raising questions about whether certain CRTC commissioners, including Chair Konrad von Finckenstein, have pre-judged the fee-for-carriage issue and should drop out of the hearing on the issue later this year.
Post Tagged with: "fee for carriage"
Bell Takes Fee-For-Carriage to the Federal Court of Appeal
The Globe reports that Bell has filed an action in the Federal Court of Appeal challenging the CRTC's recent decision on fee-for-carriage, arguing that the Commission overstepped its jurisdiction.
The Era of Free TV Coming to an End
Since the debut of broadcast television in this country more than 50 years ago, millions of Canadians have grown to expect free access to local television signals. While the mechanism for accessing those ad or taxpayer supported broadcasts has evolved from rooftop antennae to cable and satellite distribution, access has consistently been free (cable obviously charges for access but it does not pay for carriage of local signals). My technology law column this week (Toronto Star version, Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) noted that Canada's broadcast regulator has issued a decision that will bring the era of free local television to an end for many Canadians. Whether through the elimination of local over-the-air broadcasts or via additional cable or satellite charges to cover a new fee-for-carriage system, free is out and new fees are in.
The changes are the result of two policy decisions by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. First, the CRTC set the ground rules for the digital transition of Canadian broadcasting by determining that many Canadian communities are likely to lose their over-the-air signal as part of the change.
CRTC Re-Opens Door to Fee-For-Carriage
The CRTC has again opened the door to fee-for-carriage, saying that "is now of the view that a negotiated solution for compensation for the free market value of local conventional television signals is also appropriate. The Commission expects that these negotiations will be completed before the long-term renewal of licences […]
You Can’t Handle The Truth
Jim Henshaw has a great post on the CRTC licence renewal hearings, the use of in camera hearings to keep much of the discussion out of the public domain, and the questionable claims about local broadcast viability with a new fee-for-carriage plan [hat tip: Writers Guild of Canada] .
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