The Federal Court of Appeal has cleared the way for broadcasters to charge cable and satellite providers for carrying their programs but with major changes in the Canadian TV landscape in recent months the implications are unclear.
The CRTC had asked the court to rule on whether it had the right to establish a regime whereby broadcasters could attach a value to their signals–long called fee for carriage but more recently dubbed value for signal by the CRTC.
In a 2-1 ruling released Monday, the court said Yes.
Currently, cable and satellite companies carry network TV programming without paying for it.
Now, private broadcasters such as CTV and Global can begin negotiations with cable and satellite companies to determine rates. The battle between broadcasters and cable companies has gone on for years. At one point Global owners Canwest, and its CEO Leonard Asper, were the most vocal advocates for fee for carriage while cable companies like Shaw said broadcasters had been badly managed and did not deserve the extra money from the distributors. But Shaw now owns Global and CTV (another broadcaster who wanted fee for carriage) will soon be owned by Bell, leaving many to wonder what broadcasters will pursue the new revenue option and from which distributors. Indeed, of the four major network broadcasters in Canada, only the CBC is on its own since Rogers also owns Citytv.
The cable and satellite companies have warned that the extra costs will be passed on to consumers.
The Conservative government had been cool to the idea of value for signal because of that potential added cost for Canadian subscribers.
The private broadcasters had warned repeatedly that without the extra funds, they would have to shut down more local stations and cut back on Canadian productions.
