GIVEN WHAT HAS now happened since the value-for-signal/fee-for-carriage hearing, an alert reader reminded us of something CRTC commissioner Timothy Denton pondered as the folks from Shaw Communications appeared in front of the Commission panel.
Back on November 20th, the now infamous hearing visit by CEO Jim Shaw featured a lot of, well, interesting exchanges. In the official transcript the word “Laughter” appears 23 times, more than on any other day.
It also featured the word “woosa”, which we thought was something misheard by the official transcribers – until we looked it up. It means, according to urbandictionary.com, “to calm down and relax, to chill,” which is exactly how Mr. Shaw used the word. Who knew he was that hip…?
You can still watch the whole appearance here, or read it all here. Industry folks still talk about the day of CRTC v. Shaw at 2009-411.
Anyhoo, about halfway through the company’s time answering questions, commissioner Denton wanted to know if the loud, messy battle over paying new fees for local TV or not was just part of some extended public negotiation tactics that could serve to drive down the potential acquisition price of Canadian broadcasters so that a distributor might pick one up for a song.
Not a chance, said Bissonnette. “We’re not that Machiavellian enough to think that way.”
“Are you trying to squeeze their price down until you can buy them out?” asked Denton.
“Let’s assume everything you are saying is true,” he continued, “(That) the basic problem is the big guys in downtown Toronto who make a lot of money and (what) is really what is going on before us is some kind of discussion… well publicized, that you, the distribution arm, are just going to squeeze their price down and buy them out because they have property and legal rights that you need?”
“Not true. Not a chance,” added Jim Shaw.
Officially, we don’t think they are that Machiavellian either, but after being reminded of this CRTC-Shaw exchange… well, it’s at least mischievously fun to highlight it now, given that Shaw is currently the preferred bidder to purchase CanWest Global (an offer that was made public 84 days after the company’s CRTC appearance).
– Greg O’Brien
