CCR Short Takes

Quebec court prosecutes grey market dish dealerA Quebec provincial judge has found a Hudson QC businessman guilty of selling U.S. grey market satellite TV services to Canadians. The March 15 ruling by Justice Claude Prevost is the latest in a series of cases that have used the Radiocommunications Act as the legislation of choice to crack down on grey market dealers (CCR, Jan. 17/01). In this case, Charles Pearlman, who owns New Advanced Technologies, sold the receiving equipment, arranged for Canadians to have a false U.S. address, and acted as the broker for all billing between the customer and the U.S. satellite TV company. The judge sided with the Crown, agreeing that section 9(1)(C) of the Radiocommunications Act makes it illegal to decode a subscription programming signal or a network feed unless it is done with the authorization of a lawful Canadian distributor (i.e. Bell ExpressVu or Star Choice Communications Inc). The sentencing decision was not available at press time. Opposition opposes CBC being pulled off C-bandThe Canadian Alliance Party called the CBC management "out of touch" for cutting off C-band access to 1 million Canadians living primarily in remote communities at a time when the public broadcaster is suffering from audience fragmentation. "It’s time for the CBC to admit its mistake and restore service to the large C-band dish owners of this country," Cheryl Gallant, the opposition critic for Canadian Heritage, charged in the House of Commons last week. The MP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke added, "Now, with the direct-to-home licensed monopolies looking to move into that market and charge by subscription to a package that includes the CBC signal that had been available at no charge, it appears that the CBC’s conversion from an analog to digital transmission format is being governed more by politics than by technology." On Jan. 19, the CBC turned off an internal network distribution signal that could be picked up by C-band dish owners in Canada and the United States.Ottawa nixes special media panel Ottawa has dropped its plan to appoint a panel to study media concentration in Canada, and will instead let the House of Commons Heritage Committee look into the matter.CRTC oks Shaw’s buy of MoffatThe CRTC approved Shaw Communications Inc’s acquisition of Moffat Communications Ltd of Winnipeg last week. Shaw launched a $1.2-billion friendly takeover bid in December for Moffat. Before the takeover, Shaw had about 1.8 million cable subscribers, while Moffat had 315,000 customers concentrated in Alberta and Manitoba. The merger gives Shaw a total of 630,000 subscribers in Vancouver, another 305,000 in Calgary, about 260,000 in Edmonton, 225,000 in Winnipeg and 140,000 in Victoria BC. Moffat also owned cable and Internet operations in Florida and Texas. Shaw had a 15% stake in Moffat before the takeover. CTV puts Sportsnet in trustCTV Inc filed an application with the CRTC March 23 to place Sportsnet in trust until it’s sold. With the price for analog channels rising, and sports being a coveted category, CTV claims the value of its regional sports channel has increased substantially in the last year. Women’s Television Network, for example, sold for more than 24 times EBITA. Sportsnet, which launched in October 1998, has 7.3 million analog subscribers. Last March, the regulator ordered CTV to divest itself of the channel within a year when it approved CTV’s acquisition of NetStar Communications Inc, which controls 100% of rival TSN and the French-language sports channel Le Reseau des Sports Inc.V-chip information hits the webA web site devoted to educating the public about Canada’s television program ratings system, the V-chip, and media literacy (www.vchipcanada.ca) was launched Friday by the Action Group on Violence on Television. Starting this month, broadcasters have also begun encoding their television programming with Canadian ratings so that parents can use the V-chip to block out violent and/or sexually explicit programming. (CCR, Feb. 1/01).CRTC removes fund name from Corus’ pay-per-view licenceThe CRTC has removed Westcom Entertainment Group Ltd as the recipient of 5% of gross annual fees derived from Corus VC Ltd’s direct-to-home pay-per-view broadcasting activities. Corus must now contribute a minimum of 5% of the gross revenues to independently administered Canadian funds to support the development of Canadian programs.Chum to go to court over fashionChum Ltd has pledged to continue its legal action against a Paris-based fashion channel over its use of the name Fashion Television, Fashion TV, and FTV, after U.S. District Court judge Kimba Wood ordered that the matter proceed to trial. Fashion TV Paris tried to have Chum’s claims of unfair competition dismissed. Chum says it has built "immeasurable equity and goodwill in the FashionTelevision brand" and that a new player using a substantially similar name has caused "significant confusion" in the marketplace. Chum’s lawsuit was initiated in July 1998 against Adam Lisowski and Fashion TV Ltd in a U.S. court.Bell ExpressVu shuts down two pay -per-view porn channelsBell ExpressVu announced Wednesday it had shut down two of its adult film channels – True Blue and Extasy. The move was made as CBC’s fifth estate prepared to air an investigative report Wednesday night that stated the BCE Inc-owned satellite distributor was offering porn that had not been rated by Canada’s censors. The CRTC wrote to ExpressVu on Monday asking for proof by April 27 that the adult films it was broadcasting had been rated under the Pay Television Programming Standards and Practices Code. "We feel its important to respond promptly and to investigate any concerns that have been raised with respect to the quality standards of our programming," said ExpressVu president and COO David McLennan. The fifth estate report contends that big media conglomerates, such as Bell ExpressVu, are making large profits from hard-core pornography on pay-per -view channels. McCabe calls for united front in promoting Canadian musiciansCanadian Association of Broadcasters CEO and president Michael McCabe urged greater cooperation between the radio industry and the music industry to better promote and develop Canadian artists and music in the face of globalization and new technology. Speaking at the Empire Club of Canada in Toronto on Wednesday, he questioned whether it made sense for 239 small Canadian music companies to fight over $200 million in business, while a few multinationals control $1 billion in Canadian record sales.

CCR Short Takes

Broadcast | March 29, 2001

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