It may soon cost most Canadians a little more to watch TV.
That could be the trade-off the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will aim for today when it hands down its much-awaited review on the broadcasting system.
Many expect that the centrepiece of the CRTC review will be a rule change allowing over-the-air broadcasters such as CBC, CTVglobemedia Inc. and Canwest to charge cable and satellite operators for their signals.
That proposal was the focus of three weeks of often heated hearings in April, as different camps within the industry fought to defend their positions.
Conventional broadcasters squared off against companies with cable or satellite distribution systems, accusing each other of greed and mismanagement, at the hearings and in op-ed newspaper articles.
Historically, cable and satellite companies–which deliver TV signals to about 90% of Canadians–haven’t paid for programming from over-the-air broadcasters, but do pay a portion of subscriber fees to specialty channels.
The broadcasters have long argued that they, too, should get some of the subscriber fees to offset a loss in advertising share to the specialty channels and to help pay for programming they produce.
But the cable companies are equally adamant that higher subscriber fees would scare away customers and that the broadcasters–which also own most of Canada’s specialty channels–are already making plenty of money.
Jim Shaw, chief of Shaw Communications and the StarChoice satellite service, went so far as threaten to go over the head of commission chair Konrad von Finckenstein to the prime minister to stop new fees.
Cable operators say the new proposals would wind up costing Canadians between $2 and $8 a month in additional subscription fees.
In a note to clients, TD Securities suggested the CRTC will move to give the conventional side of the industry more room to raise revenues. That can be done through the fee-for-carriage charge, or by charging cable and satellite for the use of conventional “distant signals”–which allows viewers in one part of the country to watch a show airing in another.
“In general, we expect the commission to take steps it feels will help the conventional broadcasters,” the bank note states.
For Canadians, the trade-off may be having a wider variety and greater choice in the programs they can watch.
While few expect the CRTC to open the doors wide to U.S. specialty stations like ESPN, which would compete directly with Canadian counterparts like TSN and Sportsnet, many see some relaxation of so-called genre protection to allow more rival Canadian stations to emerge.
The carriers may also be given greater flexibility in the “must carry” stations that the CRTC insists they offer on their basic packages.
Few now expect cable operators to get the almost total deregulation that some, particularly Shaw, have called for.
Von Finckenstein has remained tight-lipped about his thinking, other than saying he wants to “introduce more market forces… as long as they work towards the objectives of the Broadcasting Act,” which gave comfort to both sides.
The CRTC will release its report at 4 p.m. this afternoon.
