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Headline, Industry News
Netflix Threatens Canada Culture, Quebecor CEO Says
Tuesday June 21st 2011June 21 (Bloomberg) — Online video providers such as Netflix Inc. and Apple Inc. are threatening Canada’s broadcasting industry and culture and companies shouldn’t face increased regulation as they take on this threat, said Quebecor Inc. Chief Executive Officer Pierre Karl Peladeau.
The broadcasting regulator shouldn’t burden Canadian broadcasters and content providers, such as Quebecor and BCE Inc., with new rules, Peladeau said at hearings of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission near Ottawa.
“What could have been perceived until now as a simple market evolution has transformed into a veritable threat to the Canadian character of our industry,” Peladeau said at the hearings. “It’s the very existence of our cultural industries that is in peril,” as the increased competition will reduce cable carriers’ revenue, making them less able to contribute to the fund for local content production, he said.
The CRTC is examining whether increasing integration of the broadcasting and telecommunications industries means the nation’s broadcasting rules need to be changed. Three of Canada’s four biggest telecommunications companies by market value have bought broadcasters in a wave of consolidation that has seen the producers of television content merge with the carriers that distribute it.
BCE Inc., Canada’s biggest phone company, completed its C$3.2-billion ($3.3 billion) acquisition of broadcaster CTV in April. Shaw Communications Inc., a Calgary-based cable television and internet provider, bought the television assets of Canwest Global Communications Corp. in October. Montreal- based Quebecor owns the TVA French-language network and Sun TV.
Internet Competitors
Netflix started services in Canada in September, offering to stream TV shows and movies over the Internet for C$7.99 per month. Apple offers online viewing through Apple TV, while Google Inc. owns YouTube, which said last month it is adding about 3,000 titles to its movie-rental service.
The arrival of companies such as Netflix is spawning an uneven playing field for Canadian carriers, which are subject to regulatory restraints and have made “colossal” investments into network infrastructure, Quebecor’s Peladeau said.
Netflix has said that Canadian companies are exaggerating the threat it represents. In a submission to the CRTC ahead of the hearings, the company said its service has increased competition in the market, encouraging Canadian companies to introduce their own online video services.
By seeking help from regulators to slow down Netflix, Canadian telecom companies are trying to “create another competitive barrier to entry,” Netflix lawyer David Hyman said in an April 27 letter.
The CRTC needs to ensure companies “fairly share” televised content with competitors so consumers aren’t prevented from watching sports and other programming on their mobile phones, Ken Engelhart, senior vice president of regulation at Rogers Communications Inc. said at the hearings today.
Exclusive Rights
Some companies that both produce and distribute televised content have already tried to acquire exclusive rights to television programming on mobile phones and the internet, Engelhart said. Such an approach will lead to higher prices and less choice for consumers, he added.
Toronto-based Rogers, which owns the Sportsnet sports network, wants any televised content broadcast in Canada and distributed online or on mobile phones to be made available to competitors at a “commercially reasonable” rate, Engelhart said.
Public Mobile, a Canadian company that offers flat-rate mobile plans, said it is concerned that integrated telecom companies will restrict content to their own mobile-phone customers. The CRTC should ensure that companies don’t use their content to create an “unfair advantage” in the wireless internet market, Bob Boron, Public Mobile’s vice president of regulatory affairs, told the hearings.
“The commission should not, either deliberately or inadvertently, deem vertically integrated enterprises the chosen ones,” Boron said.
Source: SF Gate
Headline, Industry News
Netflix Threatens Canada Culture, Quebecor CEO Says
Tuesday June 21st 2011June 21 (Bloomberg) — Online video providers such as Netflix Inc. and Apple Inc. are threatening Canada’s broadcasting industry and culture and companies shouldn’t face increased regulation as they take on this threat, said Quebecor Inc. Chief Executive Officer Pierre Karl Peladeau.
The broadcasting regulator shouldn’t burden Canadian broadcasters and content providers, such as Quebecor and BCE Inc., with new rules, Peladeau said at hearings of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission near Ottawa.
“What could have been perceived until now as a simple market evolution has transformed into a veritable threat to the Canadian character of our industry,” Peladeau said at the hearings. “It’s the very existence of our cultural industries that is in peril,” as the increased competition will reduce cable carriers’ revenue, making them less able to contribute to the fund for local content production, he said.
The CRTC is examining whether increasing integration of the broadcasting and telecommunications industries means the nation’s broadcasting rules need to be changed. Three of Canada’s four biggest telecommunications companies by market value have bought broadcasters in a wave of consolidation that has seen the producers of television content merge with the carriers that distribute it.
BCE Inc., Canada’s biggest phone company, completed its C$3.2-billion ($3.3 billion) acquisition of broadcaster CTV in April. Shaw Communications Inc., a Calgary-based cable television and internet provider, bought the television assets of Canwest Global Communications Corp. in October. Montreal- based Quebecor owns the TVA French-language network and Sun TV.
Internet Competitors
Netflix started services in Canada in September, offering to stream TV shows and movies over the Internet for C$7.99 per month. Apple offers online viewing through Apple TV, while Google Inc. owns YouTube, which said last month it is adding about 3,000 titles to its movie-rental service.
The arrival of companies such as Netflix is spawning an uneven playing field for Canadian carriers, which are subject to regulatory restraints and have made “colossal” investments into network infrastructure, Quebecor’s Peladeau said.
Netflix has said that Canadian companies are exaggerating the threat it represents. In a submission to the CRTC ahead of the hearings, the company said its service has increased competition in the market, encouraging Canadian companies to introduce their own online video services.
By seeking help from regulators to slow down Netflix, Canadian telecom companies are trying to “create another competitive barrier to entry,” Netflix lawyer David Hyman said in an April 27 letter.
The CRTC needs to ensure companies “fairly share” televised content with competitors so consumers aren’t prevented from watching sports and other programming on their mobile phones, Ken Engelhart, senior vice president of regulation at Rogers Communications Inc. said at the hearings today.
Exclusive Rights
Some companies that both produce and distribute televised content have already tried to acquire exclusive rights to television programming on mobile phones and the internet, Engelhart said. Such an approach will lead to higher prices and less choice for consumers, he added.
Toronto-based Rogers, which owns the Sportsnet sports network, wants any televised content broadcast in Canada and distributed online or on mobile phones to be made available to competitors at a “commercially reasonable” rate, Engelhart said.
Public Mobile, a Canadian company that offers flat-rate mobile plans, said it is concerned that integrated telecom companies will restrict content to their own mobile-phone customers. The CRTC should ensure that companies don’t use their content to create an “unfair advantage” in the wireless internet market, Bob Boron, Public Mobile’s vice president of regulatory affairs, told the hearings.
“The commission should not, either deliberately or inadvertently, deem vertically integrated enterprises the chosen ones,” Boron said.
Source: SF Gate
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Headline, Industry News
Netflix Threatens Canada Culture, Quebecor CEO Says
Tuesday June 21st 2011June 21 (Bloomberg) — Online video providers such as Netflix Inc. and Apple Inc. are threatening Canada’s broadcasting industry and culture and companies shouldn’t face increased regulation as they take on this threat, said Quebecor Inc. Chief Executive Officer Pierre Karl Peladeau.
The broadcasting regulator shouldn’t burden Canadian broadcasters and content providers, such as Quebecor and BCE Inc., with new rules, Peladeau said at hearings of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission near Ottawa.
“What could have been perceived until now as a simple market evolution has transformed into a veritable threat to the Canadian character of our industry,” Peladeau said at the hearings. “It’s the very existence of our cultural industries that is in peril,” as the increased competition will reduce cable carriers’ revenue, making them less able to contribute to the fund for local content production, he said.
The CRTC is examining whether increasing integration of the broadcasting and telecommunications industries means the nation’s broadcasting rules need to be changed. Three of Canada’s four biggest telecommunications companies by market value have bought broadcasters in a wave of consolidation that has seen the producers of television content merge with the carriers that distribute it.
BCE Inc., Canada’s biggest phone company, completed its C$3.2-billion ($3.3 billion) acquisition of broadcaster CTV in April. Shaw Communications Inc., a Calgary-based cable television and internet provider, bought the television assets of Canwest Global Communications Corp. in October. Montreal- based Quebecor owns the TVA French-language network and Sun TV.
Internet Competitors
Netflix started services in Canada in September, offering to stream TV shows and movies over the Internet for C$7.99 per month. Apple offers online viewing through Apple TV, while Google Inc. owns YouTube, which said last month it is adding about 3,000 titles to its movie-rental service.
The arrival of companies such as Netflix is spawning an uneven playing field for Canadian carriers, which are subject to regulatory restraints and have made “colossal” investments into network infrastructure, Quebecor’s Peladeau said.
Netflix has said that Canadian companies are exaggerating the threat it represents. In a submission to the CRTC ahead of the hearings, the company said its service has increased competition in the market, encouraging Canadian companies to introduce their own online video services.
By seeking help from regulators to slow down Netflix, Canadian telecom companies are trying to “create another competitive barrier to entry,” Netflix lawyer David Hyman said in an April 27 letter.
The CRTC needs to ensure companies “fairly share” televised content with competitors so consumers aren’t prevented from watching sports and other programming on their mobile phones, Ken Engelhart, senior vice president of regulation at Rogers Communications Inc. said at the hearings today.
Exclusive Rights
Some companies that both produce and distribute televised content have already tried to acquire exclusive rights to television programming on mobile phones and the internet, Engelhart said. Such an approach will lead to higher prices and less choice for consumers, he added.
Toronto-based Rogers, which owns the Sportsnet sports network, wants any televised content broadcast in Canada and distributed online or on mobile phones to be made available to competitors at a “commercially reasonable” rate, Engelhart said.
Public Mobile, a Canadian company that offers flat-rate mobile plans, said it is concerned that integrated telecom companies will restrict content to their own mobile-phone customers. The CRTC should ensure that companies don’t use their content to create an “unfair advantage” in the wireless internet market, Bob Boron, Public Mobile’s vice president of regulatory affairs, told the hearings.
“The commission should not, either deliberately or inadvertently, deem vertically integrated enterprises the chosen ones,” Boron said.
Source: SF Gate
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