As the mother of a pre-teen daughter, I've got a bone to pick with the Canadian television industry: How is it possible for an entire sector to display more turbulent, over-wrought, emotional behavior than a 12-year old girl?
The only things they're missing are the up-talk, the Jonas Brothers t-shirts and a Hello Kitty tote bag. Mood swing, much?
Maybe it's their addiction to broadcasting reality shows, maybe it's just that technology has suddenly enabled a long-buried desire to be centre stage. But the drama they're indulging in — at their peril — is everywhere but on the tv screen these days.
So here's the 411: The broadcasters, who used to fight all the time, have now become frenemies. They've formed an awesome clique that's, like, totally ragging the cable companies that carry and distribute their programming. They say the cable companies like Rogers and Shaw and Videotron should pay them something for the programs they've been getting for free. The cable companies are LOLing that and have become BFFs to push back. They say they'll pass that new cost on to consumers directly. OMG!
* Tell us: Who do you think is looking out for your best TV interests?
The official name for this whole issue is fee-for-carriage, although the two sides have tried to put Lip Smacker on it and put it into a more consumer-friendly package. The broadcasters call it a "Save Local Television" campaign (because they can't afford to support local tv stations unless they get more cash). The cable folks say it's a "TV tax." And they're throwing down on each other all over Twitter and Facebook.
They've been fighting about it for years: This fall, the federal regulator, the CRTC, is going to hear them squabble over who started the fight for the third time. Every single time this happens, it costs the broadcasters (who say they're pretty much broke) and the cable companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and lobbying bills. This time around, that tab includes the price of aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns as well. And it costs taxpayers in terms of the time and effort of the CRTC staff.
So what does all the drama mean for Canadian television viewers? If the broadcasters win and get paid by the cable companies for their programming, the cost would be about $10 a month on your cable bill.
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The cable companies are ticked because that extra charge could end up alienating their customers — who've made them one of the most consistently profitable industries in Canada. In 2008, cable companies earned revenues of more than $10 billion and a profit margin (before interest and taxes) of 25.3 per cent. Broadcasters claim that Alberta-based cable giant, Shaw, made more money last year than the oil and gas business in that province.
Broadcasters, on the other hand, not so much.
They're victims of a familiar corporate eating disorder: bingeing. They filled up on acquisitions and debt when credit was easy and private equity was plentiful — especially Canwest — and now they are being forced to purge. Slumping advertising revenues haven't hurt and neither has the fragmentation that they themselves have introduced to the market.
So what's likely to happen at the end of all this diss and counter-diss? Chances are excellent that both sides are going to lose and, believe it or not, consumers may actually win as a result. That's because politicians understand one fundamental thing in all this: You don't mess with a Canadian's cable television service.
Especially in an economic downturn, you don't add to the cost of an essential service and you don't jeopardize a source of relatively inexpensive, relatively universal diversion. People may not be able to afford sports tickets or even movies, but television service is pretty close to an entitlement for a lot of voters.
The cable companies may well regret that they've opened the consumer front in this cat fight. Given their revenues and their profit margins, they are exceptionally vulnerable to losing while winning — especially given the political overcast to the issue.
The CRTC may put the smack down on the broadcasters, but they may also decide that the time has come to regulate cable fees. That might be popular with consumers and, therefore, with politicians. Furthermore, deregulation doesn't have quite the same cachet as before now that the chips are down and government has waded into the national economy in a big way. So it's not the biggie it might have been several years ago.
And it's not like Canadians aren't ready to change the channel. Word.
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My Shaw bill has increased 12% in the past year, it is time that we stand up to them and say enough of this rip-off.
Shaw cable has been consistently raising their rates ever since I became a subscriber about ten years ago and not once have they given a reason for the raise in price.They just tell me that it's going up the next month and that's that.
If yet another $10.00 a month is added on I'll be getting some of the channels I currently pay for cut off.Enough is enough with the gouging.
how can they justify the cable increases when what they offer is less and less except for the commercials of course. We need stricter regulation cause right now they have us by the gonads and they know it. They should leave the consumers alone and fight it out between themselves. There is enough money being shelled out by the consumer for so little.
I would like to know if you pay both p.s.t. and g.s.t. on your bills as I don't have any of these cost at the present time. I think people should go back and think when you had to pay for each phone you had in your home. Well did you think about sharing your cost of sat. with your family and friends This does break down very nicely when all the channels you know pay for go to say a four way split if you get the drift.