[ Cable and satellite providers team up to trash fee for carriage ]
October 05, 2009 | By Matt Semansky | Comments
 | |
A group of major Canadian cable and satellite providers have joined forces to launch an advertising and social media campaign aimed at halting the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s from possibly implementing a controversial fee-for-carriage system on behalf of the nation’s broadcasters.
The “Stop the TV Tax” campaign, a joint initiative from Bell, Bell Aliant, Rogers, Cogego, Eastlink and Telus, launched today and includes television, print and radio advertisements and a website, StopTheTVTax.ca (http://www.stopthetvtax.ca). Visitors to the website are encouraged to voice their displeasure with the proposed fee-for-carriage system by e-mailing the CRTC and/or commenting on the group’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
The site also features a ticker counting down to Nov. 16, the scheduled hearing date when the CRTC will content with the fee-for-carriage issue. Another hearing, open to the public, is scheduled to begin Dec. 7.
After twice rejecting appeals from Canadian broadcasters to implement fee for carriage–which would allow networks to charge cable companies for the right to distribute over-the-air channels previously available for free–the CRTC reversed course in July, opening the door to fee for carriage.
The federal government subsequently instructed the organization to hold hearings in which the opinions of cable and satellite distributors, as well as the public, would be considered.
Canadian broadcasters have advocated for fee-for-carriage, arguing that the funds are necessary to preserve local programming. Distributors have countered by claiming that fee for carriage is essentially a tax, one that would result in a $5-$10 increase in the monthly cable and satellite bills of Canadian consumers.
Jan Innes, vice-president, communications for Rogers Communications, said the goal of the Stop the TV Tax campaign is to inform consumers about the possible consequences of fee for carriage and urge them to take action in advance of the CRTC hearings.
“The Commission has asked for the views of the public, so we’re encouraging the public to make their views known,” said Innes.
“It’s an unnecessary new tax on consumers,” said Mirko Bibic, Bell’s senior vice-president, regulatory and government affairs, in a release. “Having just secured close to $100M from the newly implemented CRTC Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF), the broadcasters are simply asking for more handouts.”
“There is no justification for such increases at this time; no additional value is being delivered to viewers by broadcasters,” said Bibic. Toronto advertising agency Publicis developed English and French creative for the campaign.
