Cable industry calls on CRTC to include new media in Canadian content definition

Broadcasters should be allowed to apply their investments in Internet and web portals against their Canadian content requirements, according to the president/CEO of the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA). Speaking Nov. 21 at the Canadian Club in Ottawa, Janet Yale pitched her association’s five-point lobby campaign which, among other things, calls for regulatory changes that would entice broadcasters and distributors to invest in online and interactive content. "It seems to me that if you really want to encourage the use of the new digital platforms and interactive programming … then you really have to create incentives to produce (online Canadian content), just like we have done forever for Canadian television production," Yale told CCR following her address. Michael McCabe, president/CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, says the CCTA proposal has merit. "Obviously, if we are going to succeed on the Internet, we are not just going to rebroadcast what we have on traditional networks. We are going to have to have interactive programming and that is going to cost money," he says. Including new media in the definition of Canadian content may not be easy, says David Colville, the CRTC’s vice chair of telecom who oversaw the commission’s new media hearing in 1998. That hearing concluded that alphanumeric services and most interactive elements transmitted over the Internet were not broadcasting, and as such, are not Canadian content under the Broadcasting Act. "I would have to give that some thought as to how interactivity fits with the conclusions we made in our new media decision," Colville says. "We’d have to look at the (interactive online content) and decide the extent to which some of that may or may not be broadcasting. If it is broadcasting, we may well not have a problem with dealing with the suggestion that (the CCTA) has." Colville also has reservations about Yale’s call for tax credits or contributions to drive the penetration of high-speed Internet services and digital set-top boxes that support interactive services. He notes that Canada has the highest penetration of broadband access in the world and that Internet content is already being developed without incentives. "I find it interesting that fundamentally Janet’s approach was governments and regulators should be letting business operators and consumers drive this, so you want to see how they do drive this before we start saying we need some kind of incentives to make it go," Colville adds. The CCTA’s vision focuses on a consumer-based approach with less regulation. As outlined in its E-TV report, released in April, (CCR Apr. 13/00), Yale reiterated her industry’s call for removal of regulatory restrictions on vertical integration, particularly those preventing cablecos from owning content. She says the rule prevents cablecos from developing into fully integrated multimedia enterprises, as its main rival BCE Inc is already doing. The association also wants the CRTC to adopt a hands-off approach to interactive television, as it did with new media and the Internet. According to Yale, the interactive TV models that develop should be based on consumer demands for shopping, interactive programs, information and stories. She adds that market dominance is not an issue as the Internet, not interactive television, is the primary vehicle for distribution of new media and e-commerce today. "There is no need for rules yet – hopefully not ever – because the market is nascent and competition is still at the technology innovation stage," she said during her address. "So before we contemplate a regulatory model, let’s establish a market." Accommodating consumer choice The CCTA’s fifth recommendation, which Yale says is the most critical, is giving consumers greater control over programming and packaging choices, particularly in a digital world. "We need the regulator to ensure sufficient diversity in terms of niche markets. But once services are available we need to leave choices to consumers – even if that leads to rejection of things that are thought to be culturally significant."

Cable industry calls on CRTC to include new media in Canadian content definition

News | 11/23/2000 5:00 am EST

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