Who's the Jerk? TV Tax, Local TV and You

If you watch TV in Canada, by now you've seen the warring ad campaigns. One claims a TV tax is coming your way, and the other says we should save local television.

Neither of these is exactly true. The real issue here is something called 'fee for carriage' - a debate that's come up several times before now. To put it simply, TV networks (nets) want the CRTC to make the cable and satellite companies (cablesats) pay them a little something for the privilege of airing their shows.

I haven't broached the topic before now because - let's be honest - the only thing more boring than Canadian television is a political argument about Canadian television. I'm kidding! (Sort of). But at this point, I've seen these commercials a lot more often than I have 'Being Erica' or 'Flashpoint' and I'm guessing the same goes for the rest of Canada. So who are the jerks? Is it the nets, asking for cash without saying how they'll spend it? Is it the cablesats, squeezing the customer for higher bills when they already make a fortune? Or is it us, the Canadian people, who always say we want more and better Canadian television, and then never watch it? As is frequently the case in arguments like these, we're all jerks.

If you watch TV in Canada, by now you've seen the warring ad campaigns. One claims a TV tax is coming your way, and the other says we should save local television.

Neither of these is exactly true. The real issue here is something called 'fee for carriage' - a debate that's come up several times before now. To put it simply, TV networks (nets) want the CRTC to make the cable and satellite companies (cablesats) pay them a little something for the privilege of airing their shows.

I haven't broached the topic before now because - let's be honest - the only thing more boring than Canadian television is a political argument about Canadian television. I'm kidding! (Sort of). But at this point, I've seen these commercials a lot more often than I have 'Being Erica' or 'Flashpoint' and I'm guessing the same goes for the rest of Canada. So who are the jerks? Is it the nets, asking for cash without saying how they'll spend it? Is it the cablesats, squeezing the customer for higher bills when they already make a fortune? Or is it us, the Canadian people, who always say we want more and better Canadian television, and then never watch it? As is frequently the case in arguments like these, we're all jerks.

Allow me to illustrate.

Is it a tax?

The cablesats came up with the sexy tax lingo. I get it - nothing pisses people off more than new taxes. But according to my dictionary, a tax is a "contribution for the support of government." When Rogers runs the country (and I, for one, welcome our future overlords), they can call it a tax - until then it's a fee. If the CRTC, which is a government agency, decides to impose the fee on the cable and satellite providers, I suppose you could say they will pay a tax - a corporate tax. But the decision to pass that expense on to customers is theirs, not the government's. Jerks.

Will it save local television?

Rather than go with the campaign slogan 'Give Us Some Money', the TV nets wisely decided on something catchier. They decided to make this about local television stations, stations they claim they can't afford to run without a major cash injection. But the nets have refused to guarantee that every dollar from the proposed fee would go to local TV. It could be used to buy more American programming, pay staffers, or buy lunch. Jerks.

Is this a corporate bailout?

The CBC is a crown corporation, but CTV and Global are clearly private companies, so it could be argued that having the CRTC demand another private company give them money that will ultimately come out of consumer pockets is a bailout. But Canadian media of all kinds get help. For example, did you know Canadian magazines get a massive discount on postage? That comes from another crown corporation, Canada Post. Without that discount, Canadian magazines would be so obscenely expensive the entire industry would fail. Do consumers pay for that discount directly? No - but mail a package to Florida and then tell me we don't foot the bill. Because of our huge size, small population and proximity to a massive competitor, many Canadian industries are subsidized. Americans - what a bunch of jerks.

Who's forcing who to do what?

Cable and satellite companies are obliged by the CRTC to carry the signals of the TV nets. Get it? They have to. But they don't - currently - pay for them. Meanwhile, TV nets can charge more for advertising because their local stations are being seen across the country. Plus, cable companies even substitute Canadian signals when the nets are simulcasting with an American network. This is why we Canucks never get to see the US Super Bowl commercials. We're totally being jerked around.

Are you paying for it already?

Do me a favour. Dig out your cable or satellite bill and have a look at the basic fee you pay every month - the one that comes before all your add-on packages and extra channels. That amount - that's what you pay the cablesats for the free television signals they are 'obliged' to carry. Sure it also covers infrastructure, those bozos at the call centre, and much more, but let me put it to you this way - if the cablesats didn't give you CTV, CBC and Global stations as part of that basic fee, would you pay it? What kind of jerk would pay that much money just to have a wire hooked up to his house? (Well, actually, that costs extra too. It's called an installation fee.)

What are you supposed to do about it?

Guess what? There's nothing you can do. The CRTC started hearing arguments on November 16th, so the continued ad campaign is really just the two sides thumbing their noses at each other. And if your bill does go up by $10 a month, you could pay it. Or you could do some quick math like I did and realize if you spent your cable money in the iTunes store you could do some serious damage. Of course those jerks at the cablesats provide your internet too, so they'll do just fine.