Weather channel owner urges CRTC to establish early regulation of ITV

The owner of The Weather Network wants Canada’s broadcast regulator to introduce rules for interactive television, despite the cable industry’s preference for a hands-off approach to this new medium. Appearing before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) June 20, executives with Pelmorex Communications Inc asked that interactivity be made a condition of licence for its two specialty channels, The Weather Network and Météomédia. "Uncertainty is going to hinder, prolong, and complicate the rollout of interactivity in Canada. If there are no clear rules so that people can move ahead, we are not going to have interactivity for a long time," Pelmorex senior VP of corporate development, Paul Temple, told the commission. Pelmorex wants to add an interactive component to its weather channels providing digital subscribers with on-demand access to weather information, including text and graphics, on-screen using only their remotes. An amendment to its licence conditions isn’t necessary, but the company is keen to see uncertainty surrounding interactivity eliminated through regulatory oversight and new rules to govern the sector – including how to negotiate new contracts. It’s unlikely the commission will move to regulate this area of new media, at least not yet. In May, the CRTC followed the broadcasting industry’s advice and left interactivity out of a new digital code setting out how broadcasters and cable companies could hammer out carriage agreements (CNM, May 31/01). At the time, the commission said it expected some issues would be addressed "in the short to medium term", and encouraged programmers and distributors to work together in such areas as technical standards. Both the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Cable Television Association support a fact-finding hearing by the CRTC into interactive television, possibly as soon as this fall. Temple is calling for something more definitive. "If we drift into (interactivity), precedents will be set," he said. "If the rules are not clear and straightforward, people are moving ahead, precedents will be set, services will be launched. Then, when it comes time to sort out the rules, the commission’s ability to implement good policy could very well be compromised." Pelmorex stressed that its proposal would only require distributors to carry its ITV content if the technical capability was there to do so. The company says it is also prepared to work with distributors to deliver that content to whatever ITV platform is selected. Regardless of what the CRTC decides on the proposed licence amendment, Pelmorex officials have indicated that they will try to negotiate carriage of its ITV content. Full details of Pelmorex’s proposed amendment can be found in the July 4/01 issue of Canadian Communications Reports.

Weather channel owner urges CRTC to establish early regulation of ITV

Broadcast | July 12, 2001

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Weather channel owner urges CRTC to establish early regulation of ITV

Broadcast | July 12, 2001

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