CCR Short Takes
Broadcast | January 16, 2003
Shaw confirms it pulled Scream from its digital lineup
In response to inquiries by the CRTC, Shaw Communications Inc. has confirmed that it has pulled the digital specialty TV channel Scream from its digital channel lineup to put it in compliance with commission rules (CCR Update, Jan. 8/03; CCR, Dec. 13/02). By adding Scream to its lineup without adding two additional non-affiliated channels, Shaw had breached the CRTC’s five-to-one rule for the carriage of digital channels (CCR, Nov. 22/02). In a January 13 letter to the CRTC, Shaw notes, "All existing and new digital customers who had placed orders for this service during its free viewing preview period are being informed that the service is no longer available at this time." Ken Stein, Shaw senior VP of corporate and regulatory affairs, further notes, "Removing Scream TV at this time is unfortunate given the suitability of the service to our line-up and its popularity to our customers during the free trial period. We believe that the addition of Scream TV, along with Fine Living and DIY, would have been an attractive and popular programming service to help drive digital household penetration and grow revenues, particularly given the generally slow rate adoption of the new digital programming services." Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. chair and CEO Michael MacMillan told Canadian Communications Reports that the two services weren’t close to launching (CCR, Dec. 5/02).
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