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News :: Sep 2010
An Important Message: The Real Truth on Fee-for-Carriage
Canada’s conventional broadcasters – both public and private – want to charge cable and satellite providers a fee for TV programming. Bluewater TV Cable and other cable and satellite TV service providers oppose such fees as they charge cable and satellite subscribers a fee for a service that is provided free of charge to everyone else. It’s essentially a tax on cable and satellite subscribers. What are over-the-air signals and carriage fees?
In Canada, local TV station broadcasts are available for viewing free of charge, over-the-air. This means viewers can receive signals from these stations “over-the-air” using rabbit ears or antennae. Broadcasters want to charge cable and satellite companies for the right to carry these signals, known as fee-for-carriage, even though they provide them free to anyone with an antenna. What is Bluewater TV Cable’s Position on Fee-for-Carriage?
Bluewater TV Cable is opposed to carriage fees. We feel our customers should not have to pay for something that is free, over-the-air. Nor should consumers have to pay for the poor financial performance of the big networks. I’m a cable TV subscriber, how does this affect me?
Canada’s conventional broadcasters have suggested that carriage fees for these over-the-air signals should range anywhere from $0.50 cents to $1.50 per channel, per subscriber, per month. When you factor in the number of over-the-air conventional broadcast channels available in any given area, it is estimated that individual cable bills could increase anywhere from $3.50 to $6.00 per month. According to the website savelocal.ctv.ca, if the networks don’t get programming compensation, I could lose my local TV station. Is this true?
There have been no guarantees from the networks that carriage fees will secure the future of local television broadcasting. You don’t pay to listen to your local radio station, so why should you pay to watch your local TV channel? What role does the CRTC play in this?
The broadcasters are asking the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the independent public authority that regulates telecommunications and broadcasting, to allow carriage fees. This appeal to the CRTC is not new. In 2007, Canada’s big conventional TV networks lost their request to charge cable and satellite companies carriage fees, when the CRTC ruled that they had not demonstrated why carriage fees were necessary. Does any of my monthly cable bill go to supporting Canadian programming?
The CRTC requires that cable and satellite service providers support the production of Canadian television programming by contributing five percent (5%) of gross annual revenues derived from broadcasting activities. If you have further questions or require additional information on fee-for-carriage, visit www.crtc.gc.ca.
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