OTTAWA – Citing BCE’s monopoly over the distribution of Montreal Canadiens content in the Quebec market, if its acquisition of CTVglobemedia is approved, Quebecor Media Inc. (QMI) is asking the CRTC to adopt a new regulatory framework for sports programming.
In the comparable Toronto market, there are four entities that hold the rights to distribute Toronto Maple Leafs games: Sportsnet, TSN, CBC and team-owned Leafs TV. QMI wants the Commission to ensure that Quebec viewers have a similar choice by implementing a system where the Canadiens broadcast rights would be divvied up by a number of distributors.
QMI argues that sporting events are unique and that their value is tied directly to their live broadcast. The company says viewers aren’t interested in watching a hockey game on video on demand, particularly since the scores will be available and the “highlights” will be described in various media outlets.
(Ed note: The CRTC seemed to lean toward QMI’s sentiment here in telling the big media and cableco to start making its TVA-owned VOD content available to competing distributors, Bell and Telus. Of course, that’s not quite an apt parallel as Bell does not own the Canadiens as QMI owns the TVA content in question.)
This isn’t the first time that Quebecor has sought changes to the way the Commission governs sports programming, and in previous attempts, the CRTC denied QMI’s requests. Last February, the Regulator ruled that it preferred to rely on market forces and refused to intervene in the exclusive broadcast rights of the Montreal Canadiens.
In its written response, Bell tells the Commission that it should ignore QMI’s request for a new framework for sports programming regulation, adding that it “should again be rejected by the Commission as a self-serving attempt to obtain a competitive advantage for itself through regulation.”
BCE says QMI’s request has nothing to do with providing hockey programming to Canadian viewers “but rather to the availability of hockey programming to Quebecor. Indeed, the sporting events in question are available to all distributors, including QMI’s Videotron division, on television. Therefore, all Canadians with access to television can view the programming.”
In addition to other arguments Bell uses to counter QMI’s request, it says Quebecor’s proposal would prevent the Montreal Canadiens and other sports leagues from selling their services in a manner they desire. “For valid business reasons, these organizations may wish to distribute their services on a specific delivery platform on a preferred or exclusive basis. Government intervention should not obstruct or minimize this right,” BCE writes.
