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.

Tom Rogers, who has served as Vice Chairman of the Board at Tivo for two years, will take over as President and CEO in July to replace co-founder Mike Ramsey. Rogers has a slew of media experience under his belt, including time spent at NBC. The new president plans not to attend board meetings, but instead he'll Tivo them so he can skip over the boring parts. Thank you, I'll be here all week.

[via Lost Remote]