Broadcasters launch campaign for carriage fees

Canadian broadcasters are banding together to campaign for the right to negotiate with cable companies over fees to carry local programming, three networks announced Thursday.

The campaign, called "Local TV Matters" was unveiled by executives from Canada's major broadcasters — CBC, CTV and Global — at a news conference in Toronto on Thursday.

The futures of 30 small and medium-sized local TV stations in Canada could be at risk, the networks said.

Broadcasters and cable carriers have been locked in the fee-for-carriage debate for the past few years.

Broadcasters say they need the money to produce local programming, which has been hard hit by competition from the internet and declining advertising revenues during the economic downturn.

Carriers say they would pass fees on

Cable and satellite TV providers — who pick up the broadcasters' signals for free now — say they should not be charged for bringing those broadcasters more viewers. Cable companies have also said they would just pass along the fees to subscribers, who would pay an estimated $10 more a month.

Bill Chambers, the CBC's vice-president of communications, said consumers shouldn't have to pay anything if fees are imposed. The money should come from the pockets of the cable and satellite companies, he said.

Bell, Bell Aliant, Cogeco, EastLink, Rogers and Telus already have launched their own campaign against the fees, called "Stop the TV Tax."

CRTC to review issue

Last month, Heritage Minister James Moore waded in, directing Canada's broadcast regulator — the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission — to hold a hearing and report back to the government.

The commission, which has twice rejected the fee-for-carriage idea, had already announced in August that it would review the issue again at a hearing beginning Nov. 16.