CAB wants CRTC to push ahead with iTV policies, but not to use American WGN test

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) tells the CRTC it’s time to develop a policy framework for interactive television, but that a U.S. test shouldn’t be used. In reply comments submitted March 7, the CAB responds to earlier comments made by the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and Bell ExpressVu. The reply comments were filed as part of a CRTC process looking at what iTV content is program-related and thus should be subject to mandatory carriage rules (CCR, Nov. 7/02). Excerpts of the CAB submission appear below. …The CAB wishes to address three issues raised by the CCTA submission: (i) the need for a regulatory proceeding relating to iTV at this time, (ii) the appropriateness of the WGN test , and (iii) BDU capacity concerns. As a general observation, the CCTA questions the need for further regulatory hearings into iTV at this time, stating that iTV in general remains a series of experiments, not a market. In a similar vein, the CCTA cites the "absence of real, concrete examples" of iTV applications, arguing that it would be extremely difficult to determine in advance what types of iTV activities would encompass program-related data. The CAB strongly disagrees with this position. As the CAB demonstrates in detail in its submission, the iTV market is advanced and active in other countries, and notes that it has provided numerous concrete examples of iTV applications that have been commercially deployed in other countries. Similar applications are likely to become part of the Canadian context, in addition to the early examples of interactive services that have already been deployed by some Canadian programmers, and make it clear that iTV is growing rapidly, discovering its audience and business models in countries where digital television platforms support interactivity. The CAB submits that the commission should proceed quickly to develop a regulatory framework for iTV that sets out which iTV content must be passed through without hindrance by BDU…The CCTA supports the application of the WGN test "as an appropriate benchmark for determining where interactive data are program-related." The CAB phase 1 submission demonstrated that the WGN test was unduly restrictive. Seventeen of the 18 "real concrete" international examples of iTV applications provided by the CAB would fail the WGN test, although all of them are clearly related to the programming of the service with which they are associated. Under the WGN test, excluded applications include: applications that allow viewers to "vote," news applications offering "tell me more" information that viewers access after they have seen the relevant video, and game shows in which the "play-along" game for viewers is optional, and not referred to in the video program…The CCTA has provided no specific evidence that there is insufficient distribution capacity to pass through all programming-related interactive data. …iTV activity will not generally require significant bandwidth. …The CAB agrees with the CFTPA position that the third component of the WGN test, requiring that the information must be an integral part of the program, is vague and is not particularly helpful as a definition. …The CAB disagrees with the CFTPA and the CBC, however, with respect to the first two components of the WGN test . As the CAB demonstrates…the first two components of the WGN alone would exclude 12 of 18 examples of potential iTV services. …The CAB wishes to address the two-year moratorium on regulatory proceedings relating to iTV, proposed by Bell ExpressVu. Bell ExpressVu submits that iTV is not developed enough for the commission to make informed regulatory choices…The CAB submits that it has provided numerous examples of iTV applications currently deployed in markets around the world…Moreover, the CAB notes that a number of programming services are about to enter into new licensing terms that will terminate at the end of the decade. For this reason, the commission needs to act in a timely manner in developing a regulatory framework governing iTV in Canada.

CAB wants CRTC to push ahead with iTV policies, but not to use American WGN test

News | 03/13/2003 5:00 am EST

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