Péladeau calls for changing of regulations, looking forward to next spectrum auction

The Canadian television business is facing challenges but changes to regulations and to tax laws could brighten the picture, the CEO of Quebecor Inc. believes. In a wide-ranging telephone interview with The Wire Report, Pierre Karl Péladeau expanded on comments he made this summer regarding the broadcast sector in this country. In August, he proposed disallowing Canadian firms from deducting spending on advertising via foreign platforms from their taxes. Coupled with that would be an incentive to encourage advertising on domestic platforms. He concedes in this latest interview that some damage cannot be undone. “Conventional television has a single source of revenue. It’s not true for the specialty channels, the cable channels, but it’s true for the conventional,” he states. “The only source of revenue is advertising. Like the newspapers, 25 years ago, that basically lost a significant amount of revenues. You remember the classified ads?” Add to that the cable cutting by consumers and conventional broadcasters like Quebecor’s TVA are in difficulty. But other measures could alleviate the situation, the CEO opines. Péladeau notes that many people now access content through streaming services based outside of Canada such as Paramount+, Disney+ and Apple TV. Foreign streamers making more than $25 million are required to pay into Canadian content funds. He wants the federal government to stop advertisers from deducting the cost of ads placed on foreign outlets. “You advertise on Netflix, you’re not going to be able to ask for a deduction on your expenses,” he urged. CBC/Radio-Canada should stop accepting advertising for television service, he maintained, having said in the past that “despite the generous public funding it receives, Radio-Canada competes directly and unfairly with private broadcasters on every front — ratings, content acquisition, and advertising revenue.”Radio is already commercial-free. Earlier this year, then-Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge recommended that the crown corporation remove advertising from news programming. The Journalism Labour Tax Credit should be expanded to include broadcasting, Péladeau believes. Currently it is only available to newspapers and online publications. Telecom bright spot for Quebecor Péladeau is happier with the CRTC when it comes to the telecom side of Quebecor’s business than the broadcasting side. He is glad the commission is promoting facilities-based competition in the industry. He questions why the tariff for third-party internet access is lower in Quebec and Ontario than it is in western provinces. “We don’t see why westerners are forced to pay more than easterners,” Péladeau states. Quebecor owns Freedom Mobile, which is in the process of working to become a larger player in the wireless market in Canada. The CEO is happy with the emergence of the firm. Third quarter results showed that the firm brought in $1.4 billion in revenues for the three months ending Sept. 30. “We now have over four million customers in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba, and we’re clearly the fourth operator in Canada,” he states. He demurs when asked if Freedom will expand into Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces. “We need spectrum for that and we do not have spectrum right now,” he explains. “There will be an auction, I don't know when, maybe between 12 and 36 months from now. We don’t know the conditions right now so it would be premature to give any indication.” In June, the department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) closed a consultation on spectrum auctions. The department tells The Wire Report a decision on when to hold that auction is currently in development. In addition, there will be an auction of unsold and returned spectrum licences. It will be held next January. In the recent budget, the government committed to providing access to quality spectrum. Péladeau took a break from business a decade ago to enter politics. He was a member of the Quebec National Assembly and served as leader of the Parti Québécois. He disavows any ambition to return to the political sphere. “I’m too old, I’ll be 64 ,” he laughs. “I got two small children, one is four and one is five.” ppark@thewirereport.ca

Péladeau calls for changing of regulations, looking forward to next spectrum auction

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By Paul Park
|November 10, 2025

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Péladeau calls for changing of regulations, looking forward to next spectrum auction

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