Discovery U.S. says it isn’t seeking carriage to Canadian cell phone users

The VP of sales and marketing at Discovery U.S. denies in an interview with affiliate publication Canadian Communications Reports that it is in talks with MobiTV to deliver the channel to cell phone users in Canada. "We are certainly not looking to do that. That would really send the folks at CTV bonkers," says John Risinger. Discovery U.S. is a partner with CTV in Discovery Canada. "We actually asked our Canadian counsel, and we said we know that the CRTC doesn’t oversee the mobile world, but what’s the likelihood of (getting a channel not authorized for carriage in Canada in there), and they said, ‘You’re crazy. You’d be foolish to do that.’ Then even our internal folks said, ‘There’s no way we’ll do that.’" Risinger was surprised that a submission to the CRTC by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) complained that Discovery U.S. was one of three American channels not currently authorized for distribution in Canada that would be included on Rogers Wireless’ video to cell phone service that will be offered in conjunction with MobiTV (CNM, June 10/05). Risinger notes that MobiTV said it would move into Canada during brief discussions in March in New Orleans. "They started asking us about our services, including Discovery, and we said, no, you wouldn’t be able to do that. (Back in March) was the first time we had discussions, and we probably followed up with them two or three times since, but we haven’t met with them face-to-face about it," says Risinger. "I think Mobi may have taken some additional liberties when they said they were in discussions with TLC in Canada. If they want to say that we’re in discussions because they brought it up in March, I guess they can say that. But when I read (the Rogers media release), it looked like a deal was imminent, but there is no imminent deal right now." But Peter Miller, VP of planning and regulatory affairs at CHUM Ltd., says that the MobiTV people "have spoken to us and a number of other broadcasters" about carriage in Canada. CHUM’s CP24 channel is mentioned in the Rogers media release. "Because this service will be marketed entirely to Canadians, we are really looking at a lot of Canadian content. There will probably be some U.S. content, but we’re in discussions with the Canadian channels," MobiTV cofounder and senior VP of marketing, sales and business development Paul Scanlon tells CCR. "From our perspective this is definitely new media so there won’t be any regulatory issue with us providing other channels. But for us, it’s important that we focus on what are the right channels for the Canadian market. While both Rogers and Bell Mobility have announced plans for a MobiTV service in Canada, no one could confirm a launch date. Scanlon says the delay in Rogers and Bell launching MobiTV is "mostly technical right now." In response to the CAB’s submission, the CRTC has apparently sent out letters to the mobile carriers seeking clarification on the nature of their offerings. A CCR source states that it’s the CRTC intention to move ahead with some kind of proceeding on the matter, perhaps a written one. CRTC spokespeople would neither confirm nor deny that the commission had contacted the cell phone companies or was planning to look into the matter. Further information on this story is available in the most recent issue of Canadian Communications Reports, July 5/05.

Discovery U.S. says it isn’t seeking carriage to Canadian cell phone users

News | 07/08/2005 4:00 am EDT

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