Not so fast Zip. That's just what the CBC says. There's a 'but'.
$1:
CRTC to look at making Canadian news channels available to all
Canada news channels should be available to everyone in the country regardless of their television provider, Canada’s broadcast regulator suggested as it launched a review that could change channel lineups across the country.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced the review after rejecting a bid by Sun News Network to be placed on every basic cable packages in the country...
“The Commission considers that there is merit to the arguments raised by Sun News regarding the barriers to entry when launching a national news service and that these barriers constitute a significant obstacle to the exchange of ideas,” the CRTC wrote in its denial.
The commission said that it would like to solve the problem by forcing every cable and satellite operator in the country to carry all news channels, instead of having each channel to negotiate to get access to a company’s subscriber base...
The CRTC would also like to see all of the channel’s grouped together close on the dial, which would prevent cable and satellite companies that own competing services from burying competitors high up the dial where nobody will ever find them.
It is also concerned that foreign news channels seem to get better treatment than domestic.
“Due to incumbency, non-Canadian services are distributed for the most part in packages that enjoy high penetration and therefore significant access to potential viewership by Canadians,” it wrote.
“These services have also secured more lucrative wholesale fees when compared to their Canadian counterparts. On average, non-Canadian news services receive a wholesale fee of $0.73 per subscriber per month, whereas English- and French-language Canadian news services receive on average a wholesale fee of $0.36 per subscriber per month.”
The commission is asking for public comments until September 9, and hopes to issue a ruling by the end of the year.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... d/follows/I just caught the Sun channel out of the corner of my eye. They're kind of half celebrating, and thanking the thousands of viewers who wrote the CRTC on their behalf, making this victory possible.
CKA Uber 
CKA Moderator 
