Poll: Most Canadians approve of CRTC restricting access to foreign TV channels

Despite a proliferation of programming from around the world with the emergence of the multichannel universe and the Internet, a majority of Canadians approve of the CRTC’s policy that restricts the distribution in Canada of foreign TV channels competing with Canadian services. The results emerged from a Decima Express telephone survey of 2,022 people from across Canada conducted between Aug. 20 and 29. Fifty-one per cent of Canadians said they approved of the CRTC’s recent decision not to allow U.S. and other foreign TV channels that might compete directly with existing Canadian channels, while 40 per cent felt the regulator should allow foreign channels carrying similar content to Canadian specialty services. Among this latter group, about half said they would be less likely to support the introduction of foreign channels if it meant the potential loss of some Canadian channels they currently watch.This summer the CRTC added 19 foreign services to a new list of channels eligible for carriage in Canada on a digital basis – a move that was aimed at helping drive consumer demand for digital TV (CCR, Aug. 2/01). At the same time, it dismissed 10 television services that had sought eligibility for carriage on the grounds that they would be competitive with Canadian channels. These services included RTP International, which received significant public support (CCR, April 11/01), Family Net, Noggin, Spice Platinum and the Sundance Channel. In its July 13 decision, the CRTC appeared to loosen up its interpretation of what was competitive, giving the go-ahead, for example, to Euronews, which it had rejected in the past. But at the same time, the CRTC’s digital licensing framework also promotes alliances between Canadian and foreign players. A recent example of such alliances is TV Land, which was added to the eligibility list, but eventually entered the country in partnership with Craig Media Inc. The survey revealed regional and gender differences in the level of approval given to the CRTC policy. "Women and Quebecers are among the strongest supporters of this policy, while residents of Alberta and B.C. are most likely to favour competing foreign channels," says Keith Neuman, Decima Research Inc. senior VP. The survey also suggested that Canadians do not appear to have a strong appetite for additional foreign channels. Asked if they would be interested in having access to new cable or satellite TV channels from the U.S. and other countries, 39 per cent said yes and 58 per cent no. The survey, commissioned by Decima Publishing, provides results accurate for the population overall to within plus or minus 2.2 per cent, in 19 out of 20 samples. Decima Express is a national telephone survey conducted monthly by Decima Research.

Poll: Most Canadians approve of CRTC restricting access to foreign TV channels

News | 09/13/2001 4:00 am EDT

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