Cable pres upset TV networks demanding a tax
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To the editor:
Canadian broadcasters, namely CTV, Global and CBC, have converged to petition the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to tax cable and satellite providers and their customers. This new TV tax—called fee-for-carriage—threatens to significantly impact Canadian consumers and businesses and permanently damage our current broadcasting system.
Canadians have always been able to receive CTV, Global and CBC’s over-the-air signals for free, and CRTC regulations require cable and satellite providers to distribute broadcasters’ signals in preferential dial positions guaranteeing that their signals—and their ads—are delivered directly to 90 per cent of Canadian consumers, and now in full high definition. The broadcasters pay nothing under this system—they get the service for free.
CTV, Global and CBC would like you to believe that they receive nothing from cable and satellite providers. What they neglect to tell you, the consumer, is that under the current arrangement they make billions in revenue from exclusive TV advertising rights.
The current broadcasting model is one that benefits broadcasters immensely, but after making a series of bad business decisions, they want to change it—and make you pay an additional monthly TV tax of $6 to $10 for a service that you can receive for free.
Broadcasters brazenly challenge that cable and satellite companies don’t contribute to the system, but CTV, Global and CBC are wrong. And the numbers don’t lie.
Cable and satellite providers have collectively paid broadcasters more than $1.5 billion in financial support from 1997 to 2008. We already contribute more than $250 million annually to support the production of Canadian television programming. Shaw alone funds broadcasters to the tune of $2.5 million every week.
We say enough already—the TV tax is unjustified and won’t fix the broadcasters’ incompetence.
Fee-for-carriage will strap already hard-pressed Canadian families and businesses providing absolutely no new or improved benefits and make CTV, Global and CBC even more reliant on bailouts as quick fixes to their problems.
Shaw’s commitment to local programming extends far beyond the balance sheet; we are local television. Every year Shaw proudly produces more than 9,000 hours of popular original local programming in small communities across the country. Throughout the Okanagan Valley, we provide exclusive broadcasts of important community events such as the Penticton Share a Smile Telethon, Kelowna General Hospital Foundation Planned Giving fundraiser and Vernon Winter Carnival. We’re proud of our up-to-the-minute coverage of the recent wildfires, which was produced for the community without any third-party support or government subsidies as the voice of the Okanagan. We also highlight Kelowna Rockets WHL games and the provincial and municipal issues that matter most to residents.
The CRTC will be holding public hearings on Nov. 16 and Dec. 7 to make recommendations to government on a TV tax. It’s an issue that will affect all Canadian consumers. Take a stand against the TV tax by asking MPs to join the opposition to fee-for-carriage.
Peter Bissonnette
president,
Shaw Communications Inc.
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