Mar 29, 2024
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Front Page, Industry News

Shaw Cable attacks CRTC, asks PM to reign in broadcasting regulator

GATINEAU, Que. – Calgary-based cable giant Shaw Communications Inc. sent a shot across the bow of the CRTC by writing to Stephen Harper and asking the prime minister to bring the “misguided” broadcasting regulator to heel.

In an extraordinary move, Shaw chief executive Jim Shaw accused the regulator of flouting the Harper government’s policies by allowing the current hearings on the future of Canadian television to be hijacked by broadcasters’ demands for new fees.

It is the second time in as many weeks that Shaw has blasted the CRTC for allowing discussion on what is called fee-for-carriage, a request by conventional networks like CTV and Global to charge cable operators 50 cents a month per customer for each channel carried.

Shaw is scheduled to appear before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission next week, but he said he could not wait.

In the latest salvo, released by the regulator Thursday afternoon just after hearing the testimony of CTVglobemedia Inc. and CanWest Global Communications Corp., Shaw suggests that the prime minister and Industry Minister Jim Prentice directly intervene in the hearings.

“In short Prime Minister, your policies are being derailed,” Shaw writes. “We hope that your government will restore your policy direction, refocus your departments and agencies to pursue this policy and regain the confidence of the industry in the wisdom of your decisions.”

Shaw says the CRTC is flouting the government’s clear direction against more regulation, and toward “greater choice and to efficient markets.”

In testimony before the commission Thursday, CTV and CanWest Global chief executives Ivan Fecan and Leonard Asper argued that charging fee for carriage rights would reverse a 37-year “wrong” that they said unfairly advantages the cable and satellite industry.

Shaw noted the regulator had decided the matter last year and should not have re-opened the issue in the current review of broadcasting policy that was designed to open the system to market forces.

“It is not the job of the CRTC to guarantee profitability for the broadcast industry or develop taxes and subsidies that determine winners and losers in the marketplace,” the letter states.

Source: The Canadian Press</font.

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Front Page, Industry News

Shaw Cable attacks CRTC, asks PM to reign in broadcasting regulator

GATINEAU, Que. – Calgary-based cable giant Shaw Communications Inc. sent a shot across the bow of the CRTC by writing to Stephen Harper and asking the prime minister to bring the “misguided” broadcasting regulator to heel.

In an extraordinary move, Shaw chief executive Jim Shaw accused the regulator of flouting the Harper government’s policies by allowing the current hearings on the future of Canadian television to be hijacked by broadcasters’ demands for new fees.

It is the second time in as many weeks that Shaw has blasted the CRTC for allowing discussion on what is called fee-for-carriage, a request by conventional networks like CTV and Global to charge cable operators 50 cents a month per customer for each channel carried.

Shaw is scheduled to appear before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission next week, but he said he could not wait.

In the latest salvo, released by the regulator Thursday afternoon just after hearing the testimony of CTVglobemedia Inc. and CanWest Global Communications Corp., Shaw suggests that the prime minister and Industry Minister Jim Prentice directly intervene in the hearings.

“In short Prime Minister, your policies are being derailed,” Shaw writes. “We hope that your government will restore your policy direction, refocus your departments and agencies to pursue this policy and regain the confidence of the industry in the wisdom of your decisions.”

Shaw says the CRTC is flouting the government’s clear direction against more regulation, and toward “greater choice and to efficient markets.”

In testimony before the commission Thursday, CTV and CanWest Global chief executives Ivan Fecan and Leonard Asper argued that charging fee for carriage rights would reverse a 37-year “wrong” that they said unfairly advantages the cable and satellite industry.

Shaw noted the regulator had decided the matter last year and should not have re-opened the issue in the current review of broadcasting policy that was designed to open the system to market forces.

“It is not the job of the CRTC to guarantee profitability for the broadcast industry or develop taxes and subsidies that determine winners and losers in the marketplace,” the letter states.

Source: The Canadian Press</font.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Front Page, Industry News

Shaw Cable attacks CRTC, asks PM to reign in broadcasting regulator

GATINEAU, Que. – Calgary-based cable giant Shaw Communications Inc. sent a shot across the bow of the CRTC by writing to Stephen Harper and asking the prime minister to bring the “misguided” broadcasting regulator to heel.

In an extraordinary move, Shaw chief executive Jim Shaw accused the regulator of flouting the Harper government’s policies by allowing the current hearings on the future of Canadian television to be hijacked by broadcasters’ demands for new fees.

It is the second time in as many weeks that Shaw has blasted the CRTC for allowing discussion on what is called fee-for-carriage, a request by conventional networks like CTV and Global to charge cable operators 50 cents a month per customer for each channel carried.

Shaw is scheduled to appear before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission next week, but he said he could not wait.

In the latest salvo, released by the regulator Thursday afternoon just after hearing the testimony of CTVglobemedia Inc. and CanWest Global Communications Corp., Shaw suggests that the prime minister and Industry Minister Jim Prentice directly intervene in the hearings.

“In short Prime Minister, your policies are being derailed,” Shaw writes. “We hope that your government will restore your policy direction, refocus your departments and agencies to pursue this policy and regain the confidence of the industry in the wisdom of your decisions.”

Shaw says the CRTC is flouting the government’s clear direction against more regulation, and toward “greater choice and to efficient markets.”

In testimony before the commission Thursday, CTV and CanWest Global chief executives Ivan Fecan and Leonard Asper argued that charging fee for carriage rights would reverse a 37-year “wrong” that they said unfairly advantages the cable and satellite industry.

Shaw noted the regulator had decided the matter last year and should not have re-opened the issue in the current review of broadcasting policy that was designed to open the system to market forces.

“It is not the job of the CRTC to guarantee profitability for the broadcast industry or develop taxes and subsidies that determine winners and losers in the marketplace,” the letter states.

Source: The Canadian Press</font.

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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