Anglophone Quebeckers being denied access to must-carry English service, argues Allarco

Allarco Entertainment Inc. is using a government-mandated hearing on minority language TV services in an attempt to force Videotron Ltd to make Super Channel available to nearly eight million anglophones living in Quebec.More than a year after its launch, Super Channel still isn't available to terrestrial cable subscribers in Quebec, despite receiving must carry status from the CRTC in 2006. It's now hoping to persuade the CRTC - as part of its hearing into the availability of English and French-language broadcasting services in English and French minority communities - to force Videotron to carry the service, particularly in Montreal and the Outaouais region which have significant English-language minority populations. The public hearing begins Jan. 13 in Gatineau PQ."Allarco Entertainment considers it important that a premium service such as Super Channel, which has a national must carry licence, should be available to all Canadian consumers in every region of Canada, including in English language minority communities such as the Quebec market, with close to 8 million consumers (23% of the national population," Allarco president and COO Malcolm Knox writes in a letter to the CRTC.Allarco has been battling terrestrial cablecos and satellite distributors since its pay TV service launched in November 2007. Most BDUs blamed a lack of channel capacity for their inability to carry some of all of the six channels offered in Super Channel's package. Bell ExpressVu (now Bell TV) was the only major BDU to provide Super channel with all six channels --- high and standard definition - soon after it was awarded its licence.Knox acknowledges things have improved, saying they have just recently concluded agreements with BDUs to carry most of their channels, although "the road to getting adequate carriage over the last year of all our signals by BDUs has been more than a lesson in patience.""This outright lack of respect of Commission rules by BDUs has had an importance financial impact on the original business plan we had developed for Super Channel and we are still feeling the serious financial results of such inaction on the part of BDUs." In April, it estimated the carriage problems would cost his company about $12 million in its first year.CanWest Media Inc. is taking a similar tact in the CRTC review in an effort to get its TV channel, CKMI-TV Global Quebec, distributed on DTH."CKMI-TV Global Quebec remains the only English-language regional OTA television station in the Province of Quebec and has never been carried by either DTH operator," CanWest's senior VP regulatory Affairs, Charlotte Bell, writes to the CRTC. CanWest predicts "financial peril" for the station unless the situation changes.If it isn't broken, don't fix itResponding to the CRTC's call for comments on minority language services, large cable and DTH companies say the current regulations are working and that no new rules are required."Bell TV's current programming features approximately 70 French-language channels available to all subscribers regardless of where they live in Canada. No other BDU, be it cable company or DTH service provider, comes close to matching Bell TV's broad selection of French-language services," Bell Aliant Regional Communications and Bell Canada write in a joint submission to the CRTC.Similarly, Star Choice notes that it distributes 61 French-language channels, which are available to all subscribers, as well as 268 English-language channels. Its sister company, Shaw Communications, says it also provides adequate French-language services, although few people subscribe to these discretionary services in Western Canada.Telus submits that its offerings cover the needs of francophones in Alberta and BC and that it has not received any requests from subscribers for additional new French language services.Rogers Cable Communications identified only two areas where there's a deficiency in delivering specialty services to linguistic minority communities - francophones living in Owen Sound/Midland ON and in parts of Newfoundland. It says infrastructure upgrades in both areas are currently underway and should have access to a full complement of French-language services by mid-2009.The CRTC has until March 20, 2009, to file its report with Canadian Heritage.

Anglophone Quebeckers being denied access to must-carry English service, argues Allarco

News | 12/15/2008 8:39 pm EST

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