Streamers should be obliged to sell cable integration apps to small BDUs: CCSA

The organization representing independent companies providing cable TV and IPTV services is arguing that the Online Streaming Act has ignored the needs of small broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) and needs amendments to level the playing field between those BDUs and its larger counterparts regarding bare access to streaming services. “I am a cable guy, perhaps the only one you’re going to hear from,” Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA) CEO Jay Thomson said. Wednesday evening Thomson appeared before the Senate’s Transport and Communications committee which is currently studying the Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11. “To date, in the debates over this bill and its predecessor, there's been much talk about the impact of streamers on creators and broadcasters. But there's been scant attention paid to the impact of streamers on BDUs and their customers, particularly those located outside Canada's urban center,” Thomson said. Thomson said drafters of Bill C-11, and its predecessor C-10 from the previous parliament, bought into the notion of cable TVs impending demise, and therefore ignored BDUs in the bill. Thomson refuted the idea of cable’s decline, citing data that found that two-thirds of Canadians still subscribe to cable services and spend more hours watching programs via cable TV over streaming. He also noted that his organization is “experiencing unprecedented membership growth” due to internet service providers ”seeing a future for cable TV like video services.” Thomson said, for example, it is easy for individuals to find Netflix Inc. available through a hotel’s cable TV service in downtown Toronto in a user-friendly way just like any other linear service, yet these services are not made available in smaller cities such as Regina. “Someone in Toronto could get easy, one-click access to Netflix through their cable subscription because Netflix makes its app available for integration to cable companies serving big markets but Netflix refuses to make its app available to smaller cable companies because, well, they're small,” he said. Thomson argued this discriminates against Canadians on the basis of where they live. “Such big-city, small-community, discrimination in the provision of broadcasting services is contrary to long standing Canadian Broadcasting policy. Thus, as Bil-11 is intended to bring the streamers into the Canadian Broadcasting System, it needs to preclude Netflix and other streamers from engaging in this kind of discriminatory behavior.” Thomson said accessing streamers through cable subscriptions offers more potential benefits than accessing streaming through the internet, SmartTV, or devices like the Amazon Fire TV Stick. “Benefits which small town Canadians deserve to have as much as their big-city counterparts,” he said. Those added benefits, according to Thomson, include the ability to switch between streaming or cable service through one universal interface, having those services under one bill, and the ability to bundle services at a discounted rate. In CCSA’s written submission accompanying Thomson’s remarks, the organization recommended the committee amend the bill by adding that “online undertakings that supply their services to another broadcasting undertaking for distribution under contractual arrangements shall supply their services on reasonable terms to other broadcasting undertakings that wish to distribute their services.” Senator Paula Simons pushed back against Thomson’s arguments by questioning what a consumer really stands to lose if they have streaming services bundled in with their cable services or if they access them through smart TV technology. “I have a Samsung Smart TV and on my remote control it lets me go instantly to Netflix, Prime but not to Apple or Disney+. I mean every technology is going to have a preference and I'm just not sure where you think legally a company like Netflix should be required to let you have it as part of your bundle,” she said. Thomson said it is “a long standing part of Canadian broadcasting policy” that Canadians should have equal access to broadcasting services so if apps are being offered to incumbents like Rogers Communications Inc. they should be obliged to sell their apps to smaller companies like Quebec's Coopérative de câblodistribution de l'Arrière-Pays. “We want fair treatment,’ he said. “It’s simply a matter of equity, and equity not just for our members. Our members serve Canadians who are cable subscribers and they are cable subscribers because they value that service.” He added that the purpose of the obligation is to level the playing field between small and large BDUs, not with streaming services. “We are not looking for cash from the streamers, we are looking for the streamers – we will pay the bill to them and then we can pass the service onto our customers.” The bill also passed second reading earlier in the day. To date, the committee’s study of the bill has been deemed a pre-study. The committee opted to conduct a pre-study before second reading so it could thoroughly examine the bill before it reaches its Nov. 18 deadline for a third-reading vote. The deadline was struck in a deal with Senate leadership. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca. Correction: A previous version of this story said the deadline for third reading was imposed by the House of Commons. The story has been updated to correct the error.

Streamers should be obliged to sell cable integration apps to small BDUs: CCSA

Broadcast | October 27, 2022

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Streamers should be obliged to sell cable integration apps to small BDUs: CCSA

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