CCR Editorial
Media | 10/24/2006 4:00 am EDT
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports. The recent over-the-air television review has served to highlight a lot of the pressing issues that broadcasters, producers, regulators and other parties must deal with to ensure a future for Canadian broadcasting. One of the most important, of course, is the financial viability of private television. After all, cultural and social policies can be tweaked, but a money-losing firm soon finds itself starved for capital and unable to compete. Not surprising, then, that various aspects of the broadcasting business model were debated and deliberated upon during the public consultation process. But while there was some disagreement between OTA and specialty broadcasters as to whether the 12-minute-per-hour limit on conventional spot advertising should stand – conventional broadcasters want it abolished, specialty programmers want it to stand, and some in both camps argue that ads promoting foreign programming
...