A temporary ban imposed on BCE on exclusive deals for TV programs carried on its mobile devices should not become the law of the land, the company told the federal broadcast regulator Tuesday.
The CRTC imposed the moratorium on exclusive deals after BCE bought the rest of the CTV television network that it didn’t already own for $1.3 billion earlier this year.
“Despite no evidence of anti-competitive behaviour after a decade of vertical integration, some interveners want the commission to impose heavy-handed regulation to prevent us from maximizing the opportunities from our chosen business strategy,” said Mirko Bibic, senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs at BCE.
The CRTC is holding six days of hearings into the ownership of TV channels and other media properties by the major broadcasters and telecommunications companies.
Bell said exclusive deals for content have been the exception, not the rule.
“The important implications are that content creators do not favour integrated companies and non-integrated players are not rendered defenceless by those that are integrated,” Bibic told the hearing.
Rogers Communications took the opposite stance in testimony Monday, telling the regulator that it should not allow exclusive deals for wireless when it comes to shows broadcast on television.
If companies are allowed to sign exclusive deals for content on smartphones and other devices, it could mean customers would need multiple subscriptions and multiple devices to see all the shows they want.
However, Rogers said companies should not be required to make content produced specifically for websites or mobile devices available to competitors.
Telus, which does not own any major media assets, is expected to present later Tuesday.
As more TV content goes online and to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, consumers want to see as much of it as possible from whatever provider they choose — no matter who owns it.
In recent years, much of Canada’s private broadcasting sector has been swallowed up by a handful of big communications companies.
CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein has said independent distribution and programming services have raised concerns that rules are needed to prevent anti-competitive behaviour.
“The commission will only consider new or improved measures if convinced they are needed to maintain a competitive market and necessary to achieve the objectives of the Broadcasting Act,” von Finckenstein said when the hearings opened.
The hearings were called after Shaw Communications bought 11 local Global TV stations across Canada and a group of specialty stations such as HGTV and Showcase for $2 billion.
