The powers that be at the CRTC decided a few months ago that the big media monoliths, Bell,Rogers and Shaw didn't have to pay local stations a fee to carry the feed on cable or satellite programming. Dire warnings were issued at the time by "networks" such as Canwest and CTVGLOBEMEDIA that this ruling would change the face of local Canadian programming.
Who is to blame ?
The CRTC allowed CTV to acquire the A Channels formerly owned by CHUM and this move unilaterly created a monopoly of media , particularly in Sw Ontario.
Don't think that a recession was the final death knell for A Channel. I'm certain that this was in the works as plan B for a very long time. CTVGLOBEMEDIA have had over two years to reorganize their network to ensure it remains profitable and fulfils the mandate of public broadcasting.
If you read the myriad history of CTVGLOBEMEDIA at wikipedia you will realize that Bell and Rogers have all had stakeholder status in the history of this media.
If local news disappears from the landscape ,will Rogers Community Channel now be the only purveyor of news. Are we going to allow interns and volunteers without education and experience be the gatekeepers to decide what stories to run or not run ?
Isn't it the mandate of the CRTC to regulate media and protect the public interest ?
Or are the mandarins at the top too immersed in the corporate media culture to carry out their mandate ?
Why do we need the CRTC if it's essentially a toothless bureaucratic monolith ?
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/about/commissioners.htm
Showing posts with label ctvglobemedia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ctvglobemedia. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The day the local news died ...
Since moving into Reno House , we gave up cable.
When the weather turned brisk in November, the man hooked up one television and using some superman type tech superpower hooked up our HD big screen so we get six channels.... all Canadian. Nonetheless we were all thrilled , after going without ANY television ,watching the local news on A Channel was ENTERTAINMENT !
I live in a midsize city that has only one television station. A Channel ( now CTVGLOBEMEDIA) provides all local news , school cancellations, local weather etc. The station has changed hands several times in my lifetime, but the characters remain the same.
I'm afraid that the new downsizing , scrapping the morning show is just the start to erasing local television coverage in London and region. The regular programming has shrunk into substandard crap and I fear that it's the beginning of the end.
I'm also rather miffed that the CTV station in Kitchener will remain unscathed. CKCO has a smaller coverage area , smaller population and is simply a bedroom community of Toronto which has a CTV channel.
This bonehead move will only drive more viewers away from traditional media to the internet for local content.
When the weather turned brisk in November, the man hooked up one television and using some superman type tech superpower hooked up our HD big screen so we get six channels.... all Canadian. Nonetheless we were all thrilled , after going without ANY television ,watching the local news on A Channel was ENTERTAINMENT !
I live in a midsize city that has only one television station. A Channel ( now CTVGLOBEMEDIA) provides all local news , school cancellations, local weather etc. The station has changed hands several times in my lifetime, but the characters remain the same.
I'm afraid that the new downsizing , scrapping the morning show is just the start to erasing local television coverage in London and region. The regular programming has shrunk into substandard crap and I fear that it's the beginning of the end.
I'm also rather miffed that the CTV station in Kitchener will remain unscathed. CKCO has a smaller coverage area , smaller population and is simply a bedroom community of Toronto which has a CTV channel.
This bonehead move will only drive more viewers away from traditional media to the internet for local content.
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