Tories Move to Block Network TV Charges or Interfere in Their Prized “Free Market”.

Globe and Mail: Isn’t it strange how quickly the Tories jump in to ensure the consumer doesn’t associate their party with any sort of new television fees with a potential fall election loaming yet seem to cling to their ridiculous belief in their version of a “free market” system.

Why is the CRTC even involved. Let the free market work it out. That seems to be the Tory mantra when corporations have the upper hand. Turn the tables in favour of the consumer and all of a sudden their needs to be hearings and legislative measures to address the problem.

Since the CRTC relaxed Canadian spending and content requirements in 1999, Canadian drama has all but disappeared as private broadcasters steadily increased their consumption of U.S. series. In 2000, English-language private conventional broadcasters spent $422.3 million on foreign/U.S. programming. By 2008 they were spending 61% more on foreign programming than on Canadian – a record $739.7 million on American shows. – ACTRA

Canadian RE-broadcasting system is a joke. The networks spend nearly a BILLION dollars on US programming yet they can’t seem to find the “cents” they cry they need to save their failing business models.

I wonder what the Tories are attempting to morph into these days?

Mr. “No Coalition” Harper sure changes his tune about coalitions when he needs those Separatists to survive. I guess coalitions are only bad for Canada when they involve Liberals and New Democrats.

What an unbelievable, interventionist, HYPOCRITE! Free markets my ass!

UPDATE: Canada’s own Post Turtle survives a Confidence Vote with the support of the socialists and separatists! What’s a Post Turtle you ask?

From Globe and Mail comment:

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old rancher, who’s hand was caught in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually, the topic got around to Ignatieff and his bid to be the PM of Canada.

The old rancher said, ‘Well, ya know, he’s a ‘Post Turtle”. Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a ‘post turtle’ was.
The old rancher said, ‘When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a ‘post turtle’.

The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor’s face so he continued to explain.
. . . ‘You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, and he doesn’t know what to do while he’s up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put him up there to begin with’.

Let Canadian Broadcasting Evolve Without Legislative Support.

Globe and Mail: Here we go again. Another business model that has failed to adapt to the rapidly changing times has stumbled before the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) to “plead” it’s case for additional fees.

What CTV, Global and Rogers are essentially asking is for the CRTC to allow them to convert conventional television supported by advertising into speciality channels that are supported by mandated fees. Only they’ll still be overflowing with ads and the same bullshit time shifting and US broadcasting restrictions will be in place. Doesn’t sound so special to me!

Economic Weapons of Mass Destruction

Since the great economic crisis of 2008, governments around the world have seemed all too willing to step in to prop up private sector businesses for a variety of oddly similar reasons. Like “too big to fail”, “vital to our economic future”, you know, you’ve heard too many of them.

In fact they all seem to ring of the special note of dread. Almost the same kind of dread most North Americans felt when “W” and company were trompin’ around the globe screaming about weapons of mass destruction. Only this time the weapons are economic weapons of mass destruction not nuclear.

The Canadian television networks have used a similar tactic the last round of CRTC hearings. First closing a few marginal local television stations with as much fanfare as they can must. Then claiming extraordinary loses will continue to force them to “reevaluate” their local operations. Another claim of economic weapons of mass destruction? Allow us to charge fees or we’ll keep closing local stations.

This is an all but too familiar tactic by Canadian broadcasters, who like Canadian movies makers have spent too much time of the tit of Canadian tax payers under the false premise of cultivating and protecting Canadian culture. A quick spin through the dial clearly shows the true level of commitment to culture they are referring to. Trust me, if you think Kenny and Spenny and Tom Green are worth the millions of tax dollars these production companies get then I’ve got some wonderful vacation property in Florida to show you.

An End to FREE Markets

Now we have arrived the special time when their much vaulted FREE markets are not operating entirely in the favour of those who normally dominate them. Namely, Canadian broadcasters are suffering from innovation. User innovation, market innovation both here in Canada and south of the 49th. And their first and foremost response is to threaten the livelihoods of Canadians then to claim they can not survive without more government funding in the form of legislated user fees.

Canadian broadcasters like many telecommunication businesses have become very adept at getting legislative relief for their FREE market problems. You see, when their FREE market is working almost entirely in their favour they go almost batshit insane when consumer groups or politic ans so much as hint at the suggestion of ground-leveling regulations. But when they can no longer maintain their privileged position in their carefully constructed FREE Market they turn and run to government regulators for legislative relief. Quickly abandoning their FREE market principles for more government sanctioned user fees rather then attempt to innovate or change their business models beyond juggling a few lines on the Excel spreadsheets.

Enough With The Legislative Bailouts!

If Canadian broadcasters can no longer compete in the current market then they should sell their operations to someone who is willing to innovate and evolve with changing market and business model or they themselves should get their collective thumbs out of their asses and start responding to the rapidly changing marketplace with innovation and evolution and NOT with government sanctioned user fees that amount to a legislative bailout.

What happened to that time honoured FREE Market principals of sink or swim, competition and innovation? Seems to me that if Canadian regulators were to allow more competition in Canada’s telecommunications market we would surely see A LOT MORE rapid and innovative responses to marketplace changes. As it is now, there is absolutely no requirement for fat and lazy broadcasters to compete with one another when they know thay can show up at the next round of CRTC hearings waving their economic weapons of mass destruction and flags of culture to again fill their corporate cups on the backs of Canadian taxpayers.

Perhaps Canadian broadcasters might be wise to shed some of their other money losing media holdings before they plead poverty to the Canadian taxpayer? (:

The Pirate Bay Fight IS NOT About Movies, Music and TV Shows or Even Money. It’s About CONTROL!

• You can LEGALLY record songs on the radio and Internet for free.
• You can LEGALLY record and watch television shows in the CANADA and US for FREE.
• Movies are popular for about 60 days then they spend the next 10 months collecting dust on the selves at WalMart until they end up in the 2/$10 or less bin.

The recording companies and networks’ arguments for copyright do not ring true. Their fight is NOT about protecting the quality and integrity of the original works nor is it to ensure the ORIGINAL CREATOR is properly compensated because neither is the case.

It IS about control of virtually every single bit of information and entertainment. Their current argument could easily be made for news and information shows, educational shows and documentaries.

So some day down the road a big news company, oh I don’t know say Fox or CTVglobemedia decide that their news and information is SOOOO valuable that they are going to pursue every single users who “shares” snippets or links to their content. Using this ruling as a precedent they could win their argument. It would also put them out of business.

This is probably the first time in human history that the large corporations and monopolies do not have ultimate control of what is is available and when or where and to whom it’s available. Without the monopoly of distribution their business model falls to pieces .

So instead of changing their business models and competing with the marketplace they continually seek legislative means to take back control of the marketplace with things like the DMCA and the ACTA.

The bigger fight IS NOT about movies, music and television shows. It’s SIMPLY about control of THE MARKETS. ANY MARKETS. HOWEVER THOSE MARKETS MAY EVOLVE without having to COMPETE.

I have NO problem compensating the ORIGINAL creators for the works. However compensating the like of SONY and Paramount to fund their extortion racks is something entirely different.

Let’s hope the boys in Sweden finally get this discussion going in the right direction with EVERYONE involved. NOT just the privileged few.

CTV Blames CRTC For THEIR Failures

Canada Press/Google: Canadian broadcaster CTV Television Inc. says it’s shutting down two small Ontario television stations hurt by the struggling economy and a squeeze on advertising.

The broadcaster says it will not seek to renew the licences for stations CKNX-TV in Wingham and CHWI-TV in Wheatley and Windsor when they expire at the end of August.

The stations operate under the A-Channel brand and are in a part of southwestern Ontario hurt by auto layoffs, plant closures and streamlining of the manufacturing sector.

CTV said in a release Wednesday that the decision to close the stations reflects financial pressures at the company’s conventional TV operations in the wake of the CRTC’s decision last fall to deny fee-for-carriage charges that would have pumped more money into the industry.

Please! i am so tired of hearing these blithering, whiny idiots complain about how difficult it is to make money in Canadian television.

CTV has had a clear and very traceable record of ignoring regional responsibilities for the sake of making easier profits. CTV has over the past two decades gutted local programming and thinned their newsrooms to the point of making them little more than token initiatives rather than professional, news gathering operations.

CTV has also tried on several occasions to get Canadian programming requirements loosened if not out right dropped to allow them to bring in more U.S. programming. U.S. programming that does nothing for Canadians but fills CTV’s pockets with advertising dollars at a very low cost.

The fact that most if not all of the U.S. programming CTV makes money on is available FREE in high definition to any U.S. citizen with a high speed Internet connection has nothing to do with the facrt that CTV can’t seem to make a go of this whole television broadcasting thing is absolute BULLSHIT.

Sure CTV makes a very small portion of these shows availalbe online but they are presented in painfull small windows at very low resolution and in 8 minutes segments! Wow, doesn’t that sound like an enjoyable viewing experience. Imagine if libraries made sections of books available on business cards or radio played portions of songs between advertisements. Exactly!

Notice to Canadian broadcasters, entertainers and producers. Stop running to the government for legislative redress everytime your market or business models change.

Adapt, innovate or DIE!

Canadian Entertainment Ninnies Want CRTC to Regulate Canadian Content Online.

Toronto Star: Canadian actors made a case for new media funding at a hearing today before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

The performers helped kick off the first day of hearings on regulating online content by urging the CRTC to make Internet service providers follow the same rules as television and radio broadcasters and protect Canadian content online.

“This is a battle for the future. What we want is a place for Canadian storytellers and our stories,” said Richard Hardacre national president of ACTRA, the union representing 21,000 English-speaking artists across all media platforms. “We want to share our talents with Canadians and with global audiences. We need to get it right now. Tomorrow is too late.”

Canada’s entertainment ninnies continue to demonstrate a complete lack of even a basic understanding of the Internet. The Internet is a READ/WRITE medium that CAN NOT be handicapped by protectionist legislation requiring some sort of Canadian content regime on Canadian ISPs. Truth is that the vast majority of content being generated by Canadian online users is by the ninnies own definition – Canadian content. So problem solved. Now go waste some more taxpayers money on such fine Canadian content like Kenny vs Spenny! Please.

CRTC Considers Capping U.S. Program Spending. Finally!

Globe and Mail: In a move that would reshape prime time television, the federal broadcast regulator is considering placing a cap on how much the country’s biggest TV networks can spend to acquire hit U.S. shows, such as Grey’s Anatomy, The Office and House.

The proposal, which came as a shock to network executives yesterday, would require CTV, Global, CITY-TV and others to spend the same amount on Canadian programming as they do on U.S. shows. For every $1 spent on programs from outside the country, a dollar would have to be spent at home creating a domestic show.

The announcement by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission comes just days after new federal data showed the networks spent a record $775-million on foreign programming last year, with most of that content coming from major Hollywood studios.

Finally the CRTC is waking up to the fact that Canadian networks only pay lip service to their Canadian content requirements. Not that there aren’t some good Canadian shows. It’s just that shitty Canadian programming is the core programming that Canadian broadcasters use to try and convince the CRTC that they are living up to their licencing obligations.