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The Canadian government is considering helping our private TV broadcasters. These broadcasters have been lobbying Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office to ask for relief in the form of regulatory changes.
Heritage Minister James Moore said that the federal cabinet is aware of the threat to local news if more local TV stations close down. He hinted that help for private broadcasters could come in the form of looser regulations and changes to the tax system.
Moore explains that " 'the role of the government is to make sure the regulatory regime, the tax regime is more flexible, more forgiving and more open in the future.' " He adds, " 'we're a low-taxation government that does not believe in over-regulating industries that are struggling.' "
The Commons Heritage committee has struck a sub-committee to examine the broadcasting industry, and has summoned CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein to appear next week. It is expected that the chairman will be forced to explain his "fee-for-carriage" decision.
Von Finckenstein has acknowledged that the model for conventional TV in Canada is "broken." He has asked the industry to give their views on how the regulatory regime should be changed.
Source: Broadcaster, 03/19/2009
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