Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

Telecom giant says U.S. channels need to be included in smaller basic cable

Darpan News Desk Canadian Press, 11 Sep, 2014 12:54 PM

    One of Canada's biggest cable service providers is rejecting the idea of allowing Canadians to pick TV channels one at a time.

    Rogers Communications has told the country's broadcast regulator it agrees with a proposal to offer its customers a smaller basic service.

    But it says the price for that service should not be capped, and it should include channels from the major American TV networks.

    The company has also strongly rejected a proposal to ban the simultaneous substitution of Canadian advertising over American ads.

    The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is holding two weeks of public hearings on how Canadians receive TV programming and how they pay for it.

    One proposal on the table, which is being promoted by the federal government, would see a so-called pick-and-pay system established.

    The proposal, if enacted, would allow Canadians the ability of picking individual channels, on top of a smaller basic service made up of Canadian channels.

    The CRTC is also debating the notion of capping the cost of basic service at between $20 and $30 per month.

    Rogers also slammed a proposal to include the online revenues of broadcasters in the definition of broadcasting revenue.

    Rogers executive Keith Pelley said that would put Canadian online services at a competitive disadvantage to non-tradition online broadcasters, such as Netflix.

    The Ontario and Quebec governments, along with the CBC and cultural organizations, have suggested that the CRTC regulate Netflix and other online video services to force them to contribute to Canada's television content production system.

    But the Harper government has warned the CRTC that it will reject any attempt to created what it has dubbed a "Netflix tax."

    Rogers executive Phil Lind, who has been with the company for decades, told the commission that the current set of hearings are the most important for Canada's television industry that he's seen in his career.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Canada Pension Plan’s Hidden Costs Make It Three Times More Expensive Than Reported

    Canada Pension Plan’s Hidden Costs Make It Three Times More Expensive Than Reported
    TORONTO - The Canada Pension Plan is hiding the fact that its administrative costs have more than tripled since 2006 because of transaction and external management fees, according to a new report from a conservative think-thank.

    Canada Pension Plan’s Hidden Costs Make It Three Times More Expensive Than Reported

    Mounties Consider Charges As ATV Crashes Into Okanagan Public Library

    Mounties Consider Charges As ATV Crashes Into Okanagan Public Library
    VERNON, B.C. - Two women may be facing charges after crashing an ATV into the front window of a public library in the North Okanagan.

    Mounties Consider Charges As ATV Crashes Into Okanagan Public Library

    Virgin Atlantic Drops Vancouver

    Virgin Atlantic Drops Vancouver
    VANCOUVER - Virgin Atlantic is dropping its only Canadian destination, Vancouver, when summer seasonal service ends Oct. 11. The service operated five flights per week.

    Virgin Atlantic Drops Vancouver

    PM Stephen Harper says divided UK not in global interest

    PM Stephen Harper says divided UK not in global interest
    LONDON, England - Stephen Harper says breaking up the United Kingdom would not serve the greater global interest, nor the interest of ordinary people throughout the country.

    PM Stephen Harper says divided UK not in global interest

    Few Jobless In Toronto Are Collecting Employment Insurance Benefits

    Few Jobless In Toronto Are Collecting Employment Insurance Benefits
    OTTAWA - Just 17 per cent of unemployed Torontonians are collecting employment insurance benefits, one of the city's lowest rates ever as it confronts a higher jobless rate than the provincial and national average.

    Few Jobless In Toronto Are Collecting Employment Insurance Benefits

    Belly-dancing Tv Show Shakes Egyptian Religious Body

    Belly-dancing Tv Show Shakes Egyptian Religious Body
    CAIRO - Egypt's top religious body demanded Wednesday that a new belly-dancing TV show be suspended for "corrupting morals" and serving "extremists" who could use it as a pretext to depict Egyptian society as anti-Islamic.

    Belly-dancing Tv Show Shakes Egyptian Religious Body