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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.

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