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Telus is asking the federal
broadcast regulator to ensure that rival Shaw Communications doesn't have
an unfair competitive advantage with its acquisition of the former
Canwest's broadcasting assets.
That means clear rules set out by the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission so that Calgary-based Shaw doesn't have
exclusive access to Canwest content on any platform, said Michael
Hennessy, senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs at
Telus.
Shaw will get 11 local Global TV stations across Canada and a group of
specialty channels, including Showcase, MovieTime and HGTV in the
$2-billion deal. It also gets the broadcast rights to a variety of
Canadian TV shows, as well as valuable agreements with U.S. networks.
Vancouver-based Telus doesn't want to be starved of content, including
access to such specialty channels, as it competes against Shaw for
television and Internet customers in Western Canada. The two companies
will also be rivals in the mobile phone business when Shaw launches its
wireless network in late 2011.
"It's what price you pay for the TV channels, it's what price you pay for
the individual programs that you can put on video-on-demand, access to
content for the wireless platforms and for the Internet," Hennessy said
Monday in an interview.
"It's ensuring there's no exclusivity and that you have access to the
content when it comes to the new media platforms as well," he said.
"Telus submits that the CRTC must adopt, as conditions of approval of this
transaction, safeguards to limit any abuse of market power and
anti-competitive behaviour by Shaw and its affiliates," Telus said in a
brief submitted to the CRTC.
Hennessy also questioned whether Shaw would try to do exclusive
arrangements with Global TV for video-on-demand, online or wireless
services.
"It's a level of concentration that we're now seeing in the country that's
really quite unprecedented," he said.
Hennessy suggested commercial arbitration to settle such disputes.
"The CRTC has rules to say you can't give yourself an undue preference.
But if you have to argue every individual case before the CRTC, then
delays always play to the vertically integrated player," he said,
referring to Shaw.
He used the example of negotiating rights to a hockey package, saying:
"You want to make sure you've got access by the time the hockey season
starts."
For more on Shaw and the company's acquisition of Canwest's TV properties,
see the next issue of Marketing, on streets Sept. 2.
Source: Marketing, 08/24/2010 |