Friends tackles “BDU rhetoric” in final comments to CRTC

The BDU's "iron control" of specialty television was confirmed multiple times during last month's BDU and specialty hearing and the CRTC should avoid rule changes that would give more control to distributors, says Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. Even Ted Rogers, notes the advocacy group in its final comments on the hearing, is satisfied with the existing rules. Referring to the hearing transcripts, Friends writes the president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. shared some of the best observations regarding the overall review. "As for the Canadians, I don't know who is pressing for a change in the existing rules," said Rogers. "The existing rules mean that our existing players, in the different areas, have enough funds to do a good job and to produce a good service for Canadian. If you have a free-for-all in the market, that always leads to a lower standard of programming, and less money spent on programming." Rogers the BDU, however, did advocate a substantial loosening of the regulations, joining the other BDUs in warning the commission that failing to take care of customers will result in viewers moving out of the Canadian broadcasting system, either to the Internet or black-market services. Friends says this rhetoric is reminiscent of the cable providers' predictions in 1993 that DTH services would put them out of business. "The CRTC did not buy the cable argument then, and we trust you will not buy it now," writes Friends. "It seems as if BDUs wish to take over the commission's role, and determine virtually every aspect of basic carriage, access, linkage, genre protection and also rates. In essence, the commission is being asked to trust these all-powerful entities with the only copy of the keys to the Kingdom. The public interest is incompatible with such trust." Indeed, Friends notes that according to a Pollara survey of 1,200 Canadian cable and satellite subscribers it commissioned: 87% of respondents think that Canadian TV production is important to the economy; 55% believe that the Canadian television production industry will not be able to survive and succeed in an unregulated cable and satellite environment; and almost three-quarters of subscribers believe that less regulation is likely to have a negative impact on the quality and viability of Canadian programming. According to Friends, lightened regulations resulting in more negotiating power for the BDUs will have a detrimental impact on every player in the broadcasting system. "Even larger players like CTV and CanWest Global, presumed to have the greatest negotiating clout with the BDUs have noted the un-level playing field," write Friends. "Smaller corporate groups have told you how difficult it is to negotiate with dominant BDUs, and independent groups have told you that negotiating with the BDUs is an oxymoron." And counter to what the BDUs say, deregulation will not benefit all Canadian cable and DTH subscribers. Specifically, Friends reminds that many of the BDUs do not endorse the idea of an entry-level basic package, which would allow access to cable and satellite by economically challenged Canadians. "On this first and fundamental point it is clear that what BDUs mean by ‘customer choice' or ‘market forces' is what they themselves want, not what their customers want." "As suppliers of cable, Internet, home phone and wireless, BDUs are the principal conduit for the distribution of Canadian content in this country," writes Friends. "If such immense concentration is to be allowed, then it is critical to have rules in place to protect all of the stakeholders in the system." Canadian Communications Reports will examine more final submissions on the BDU and specialty hearing in the coming days.

Friends tackles “BDU rhetoric” in final comments to CRTC

Broadcast | May 12, 2008

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