|
Hearings scheduled at the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) next month to
review Quebecor Media's request for special conditions on its application
for a broadcast licence may be cancelled, following reports that the
company will withdraw its exemption request.
Quebecor will now seek a Category 2 licence, one without exceptions or
special carriage conditions, for the planned news service Sun TV.
Previous documentation from the company indicated it felt the launch of
the specialty channel would be a financial failure without special
carriage arrangements. Now, if approved, the channel will negotiate
carriage with individual providers, rather than having a special must
carry or must offer designation.
A spokesperson for the company says it will contact the CRTC in order to
remove the special conditions from its application. The issue was
scheduled to go before a hearing on Nov. 19, but applications without
unusual exceptions do not normally require a hearing.
Chief Executive Officer Pierre Karl Peladeau has indicated the company
would likely drop its request for a must-carry exemption. "I would say
there's a possibility that we drop our condition and go simply to Cat.
II," he said.
Peladeau also outlined the company's digital media convergence strategy,
one that encompasses content creation and news, sports, and entertainment
programming, with distribution across multiple platforms, including print,
TV, Internet and portable media devices.
Quebecor Media Inc. is a subsidiary of Quebecor Inc., which also controls
Quebec-based cable and Internet provider Videotron.
Source: Mediacaster, 10/06/2010 |