Bell backs Quebecor on standstill rule — but not for TVA Sports

In the case that sparked a year of conflict between rivals BCE Inc. and Quebecor Inc., Bell has now told the Federal Court of Appeal it actually agrees with Quebecor on its arguments to eliminate the CRTC’s standstill rule. The rule, which stipulates TV providers and broadcasters in a dispute must retain the status quo in regards to carriage of channels until it’s resolved, should stand when it comes to a CRTC decision forcing Quebecor to keep providing TVA Sports to Bell customers, but otherwise be scrapped, Bell told the court in a filing. But Bell said Quebecor must comply with that CRTC decision, since the “rule of law demands nothing else.” In April 2019, following an emergency hearing, the CRTC used the standstill rule to force Quebecor to continue to provide its TVA Sports signal to customers of Bell's TV service, after Quebecor yanked it as the puck dropped during the opening night of the Stanley Cup playoffs in a dispute over carriage fees. Quebecor then appealed that decision. It’s arguing that the CRTC doesn’t have jurisdiction over economic relationships or affiliation agreements between TV providers and individual channels. In its memorandum of fact and law, filed on Jan. 27, Bell said the CRTC’s order to Quebecor to keep providing TVA Sports was “valid when it was made, and, as a result, TVA’s appeal should be dismissed insofar as it challenges the validity of the Mandatory Order when it was pronounced.” But Bell said that it agrees with Quebecor that the order and the standstill rule should be “declared invalid from and after the disposition of this appeal.” It argued that the standstill rule conflicts with the Copyright Act because the act gives broadcasters the “sole right” to “authorize and set price and other terms for the retransmission by BDUs of their copyrighted programs," but the standstill rule then requires them to continue providing their content to TV service providers even if they don’t want to. This undermines “the careful balance between copyright owner and user rights that is the core purpose of the Copyright Act.” Bell also said the standstill rule isn’t supported by the Broadcasting Act, which it says didn’t intend to force broadcasters to “provide their programming services to BDUs unwillingly, at the BDU’s unilateral behest.” The idea that Bell would agree with Quebecor on the issue of the standstill rule was foreshadowed by Telus Corp. in October. It asked the court for intervenor status in the case, saying that the court could not rely on Bell to articulate the importance of the standstill rule for those that are not vertically-integrated. Because Bell is both a broadcaster and a TV service provider, it would in some cases benefit from the rule being eliminated, Telus said. Bell and Quebecor, like other large telecoms, team up on issues where their interests are aligned, such as fighting copyright infringement and lower wholesale rates. Over the past year, however, the row between Quebecor and Bell has also extended to proxy fights over issues like wholesale roaming, TIPA service and Bell packaging French-language specialty channel content with CraveTV. Quebecor is also fighting Bell’s announced purchase of Groupe V Media Inc.’s TV network V. Ahead of a CRTC hearing on the purchase, scheduled to take place in Montreal Wednesday and Thursday, Quebecor took out ads and launched a website asking the CRTC and Competition Bureau to deny the transaction. “Control of the media by Bell,” the ad reads. “To control the market from A to Z, all they need is V.” — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Adam Langenberg at alangenberg@thewirereport.ca

Bell backs Quebecor on standstill rule — but not for TVA Sports

Broadcast | February 10, 2020

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Bell backs Quebecor on standstill rule — but not for TVA Sports

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