Pelmorex’s forecast gloomier after latest CRTC ruling

For the second time this year, the CRTC ruled against Pelmorex Communications Inc. last week, denying mandatory digital basic distribution of its The Weather Network and MétéoMédia channels.Although the broadcaster was clearly disappointed when the commission denied mandatory BDU carriage of its proprietary All Channel Alert system in March, this latest decision delivers a much harsher blow. Without the subscriber revenues that accompany mandatory carriage, the nature of both of Pelmorex's services could change dramatically as the migration to an all-digital television broadcasting distribution system progresses. And the people likely to be most affected are those who rely on Pelmorex's programming the most. "If your revenue are declining, you've got to cut back, and where are you going to cut back?" asks Paul Temple, Pelmorex's senior VP of regulatory and strategic affairs. "You're not going to cut back on serving Toronto or Vancouver, so you're going to cut back on service to smaller communities."It's these smaller communities that Temple feels the commission has slighted the most with its ruling. "In the commission's view, while weather information is an important topic to Canadians, such programming is readily available in every Canadian community through conventional over-the-air television services on the basic service as well as certain specialty services, through radio and through sources outside of the broadcasting system, such as print media and the Internet," read the CRTC's final assessment of Pelmorex's application. Temple calls the assessment a "big-city answer" since it largely ignores the needs of the rural population who have reduced access to weather information. But taking into account the public hearing process that preceded the decision, the CRTC seems to have ignored more than just rural Canadians. Pelmorex announced in March it had received an astounding 7,000 letters, emails, faxes and petitions from across the country in support of placing The Weather Network and MétéoMédia on the basic digital tier. While support from such notable organizations as the David Suzuki Foundation, Environment Canada and the Canadian Emergency Preparedness Association seemed destined to help Pelmorex's cause, it was the overwhelming support from Canada's private citizens that clearly illustrated the value of the two channels. Unfortunately, most of the CRTC's commissioners considering the matter didn't agree. Michel Arpin, however, dissented with his colleagues, stating that the majority of members didn't take into account the affect the two services have on Canadians' safety and health via road condition reports, UVA and UVB indices and air and water quality information. "The majority should have acknowledged the impressive support for MétéoMédia The Weather Network expressed by thousands of subscribers, as well as what Quebecor Media wrote in its intervention, i.e., that MétéoMédia and The Weather Network serve the national public interest ‘ through their practical content aimed at the health and safety of Canadians' and, accordingly, that they should benefit from mandatory distribution on digital basic," read Arpin's dissenting opinion. Of course, while Temple says the support from Arpin was gratifying, it does nothing to change the commission's final ruling. Similarly, the support Pelmorex received from BDUs pales in comparison to the binding regulations a mandatory distribution ruling would have brought. "A lot of people have said ‘You guys don't have to worry because no one will move you off basic anyway,'" says Temple. "I think it's dangerous to assume that just because you're popular, you're going to have some kind of right to basic." Even in such cases Pelmorex will likely have to negotiate new, less lucrative terms to stay on a basic package. Fair or not, it's all part of the new reality the broadcaster will have to start dealing with now that the commission has determined its future carriage status. Continues Temple: "I think we certainly put our best foot forward and I think the volume of support that we got from the public, and the type of comments that we got from the people who intervened, made the case for us, but I guess the commission didn't find that compelling."

Pelmorex’s forecast gloomier after latest CRTC ruling

Broadcast | August 1, 2007

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us