ITV market already protected by undue preference rules: CCTA submission

Existing rules against undue preference in broadcasting and telecommunications are sufficient to protect interactive television (ITV) players without further regulation, argues the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA). In its submission to the CRTC’s fact-finding inquiry on ITV (PN 2001-113), the association says the sector is too under-developed to contemplate protecting the various carrier, broadcaster, and producer interests with specific regulations until technological and business issues are more mature. In an interview with Canadian NEW MEDIA, Michael Hennessy, author of the CCTA submission, argues that several parties, notably CHUM Ltd. and Rogers Communications Inc., are already experimenting with new digital strategies in advance of hard-and-fast CRTC guarantees (CNM, Feb. 22/02). While others have noted the potential for anti-competitive behaviour at any number of stops in the ITV supply chain, Hennessy says regulation isn’t possible without concrete examples of the problems that may arise – something that won’t come about until more players have tested the ITV waters. Hennessy, the CCTA’s senior VP of policy and regulatory affairs, is also adamant that interactivity on television not be hyped to be of greater importance than it is, and thus be subject to quick rule-making by the CRTC. "The problem is we’ve got so wrapped up in these debates about, well, somebody may do a bad thing," he tells CNM. "We’ve divorced ourselves from the economics. If there’s no dollars on the table, then we shouldn’t get all worked up and worrying…Once there’s actually some revenues being generated there, then you’ll start to see people competing for those…At the end of the day, I think our biggest message throughout this whole thing is let’s not inflate another bubble. Let’s get a grip on this. TV is still fundamentally about TV. That’s why people watch it… "I was reading some submissions that said the future of the Canadian broadcasting system is dependent on interactive revenues. If the future of the broadcasting system is dependent on interactive revenues, then we might as well pack it all in and go home." Hennessy applauds current experiments by CHUM to provide enhanced TV programming on a number of its TV channels using Wink Communications technology. He argues the regulator doesn’t have enough experience with ITV under its belt to begin dictating market competition issues. "Whether you’re CHUM or Pelmorex or Rogers, they’re experimenting," Hennessy says. "They’re spending money to try to define what will eventually become a business proposition. You can’t regulate that ahead of time. Even if you set the rules, so what? Somebody’s going to have to take the risk. If you try to define it before the consumer’s telling you what they want, then you’re just going to waste a lot of time having people chatting about public policy. "It really has to be a cooperative effort. Nobody owns, from product to retail to technology licensing to distribution rights to content – nobody owns a whole piece of any puzzle. You can’t do this alone. When you can’t do something alone, that’s usually a good time to allow business people and consumers to define what it is. If there’s a problem at the end of the day, then the regulator can step in. But, remember that the regulator has rules both on the broadcasting side and the telecom side to deal with undue preference." Hennessy notes that technology and standards issues need to be addressed first, likely outside the country by large ITV players such as Microsoft, Motorola and other software and hardware providers. "If you read the (Canadian Association of Broadcasters) position, it reads a lot like people used to talk about the Internet – this is a gold mine and, oh, we’ve got a few problems with standards and things like that, and the Canadian government will fix it. Well, the Canadian government is not going to fix the standards issue. These are global issues and we’re a bit player when it comes to that…The consumer electronics industry does not take its marching orders from Canada."

ITV market already protected by undue preference rules: CCTA submission

Broadcast | March 7, 2002

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