Just days after the release of CRTC's new regulatory policies on broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) and discretionary programming services, chairman Konrad von Finckenstein discussed it at the 2008 Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) Conference in Ottawa.
One of the key decisions was with regards to fee-for-carriage. The CRTC ruled that there would be no new fee-for-carriage of broadcast signals in Canada. While the chairman acknowledged that over-the-air (OTA) broadcasters have experienced a decline in profitability, he defended the CRTC's decision by explaining that broadcasters did not present them with detailed business plans or enough evidence of how their performance has dropped. In addition, they did not commit to use fee-for-carriage revenue to improve Canadian programming, nor did they offer plans for how this could be accomplished. The chairman argued that there is already a lot of regulatory support for the OTA sector with mandatory carriage, local advertising and simultaneous substitution, as well as the ability to adapt to the changing broadcast environment through major ownership consolidations. These consolidations have provided significant business synergies. While the CRTC does understand that the OTA sector is under real financial pressures, this comes from the shift of viewers and advertising away from general interest TV to more specialized platforms, including video-on-demand and the new media. The chairman says that " 'this is clearly a systemic problem that requires a systemic solution -- not just a fiscal fix.' "
von Finckenstein explains that " 'individually, broadcasting companies are struggling to find that right business plan to help them prosper in the Canadian environment. At the Commission, we continue to be prepared to address any systemic solution that the industry is prepared to bring forward.' "
Source: Broadcaster, 11/04/2008