Okay... Let's figure this out here.
You've seen the TV ads, and the website: http://savelocal.ctv.ca/
So CTV - owner of (with Bell-Globe Media) one of the largest satellite networks in Canada, would like to "stop the evil cable and satellite providers"? Hmmm...
Just WHAT would CTV gain? They already charge for commercial airtime. Maybe advertisers are not "biting"? While I do agree that cable providers should pay to use CTV, CBC, Global, etc., signals, the public should realize that this crusade against "cable/satellite tyranny" is contrived. Bell/CTV-Globe Media is part of the same conglomerate that owns the biggest "cable/sat" provider in Canada.
There must be some magic in the numbers. Maybe this is a ploy by the cable/sat providers to earn more? Looking closely, you'll note that CTV gets paid for commercial airtime. If they charge Bell more, then they make the extra that Bell pays them, BUT they also gain the extra mark-up that Bell will invariably charge it's customers for the "extra costs".
Don't you just love these huge, heartless media conglomerates? Time we legistlate the break-up of all these companies, and the selling off of the assets - piecemeal. THAT will bring REAL local focus back to media: Imagine the local papers, local TV and radio stations, that would be "freed" from their corporate overlords!
Breaking up the big media conglomerates would help local economies and local upstarts (and smaller businesses), but it would also help the big media moguls. Right now they are dying. No-one wants to buy advertising in the slow economy - particularly print ads. Once the print, radio and TV get separated, they will flourish alone. Strict laws to prevent ANY monopoly situation (like the CanWest Papers), and prevention of media cross-ownership. In the interest of progress, leave the internet wide open, so there is a guarantee that multiple sources will provide it in markets.
It's funny what you find, when you look at any situation with a bit of a magnifying glass...
