A report by the House of Commons Heritage Committee makes no recommendation about whether broadcasters should be able to charge cable companies for carrying their signals, referred to as fee-for-carriage. That key request by the TV networks will instead be handled by the CRTC, which has turned down the networks twice before.
Sources said Committee members felt they should not wade into the sticky area of legislating a market value for signals. The Conservative government has apparently come to the same conclusion.
But the Committee did throw a few bones to the broadcasters. It will recommend a beefed-up local programming improvement fund, administered by the CRTC and paid for by the cable and satellite companies.
Currently, those companies pay 1% of their gross revenues into the fund, roughly $60 million annually. Sources said the Committee would like that raised to 2.5%, with a specific amount set aside for the English and French services of CBC.
Source: Marketing, 06/18/2009