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Cable and satellite TV services must offer more consumer choice, says Moore

Minister of Heritage James Moore responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 11, 2013.
Image Credit: Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - The federal government will unveil plans this week to force cable and satellite TV providers to offer consumers so-called pick-and-pay services, says a prominent cabinet minister.

The move will be part of a consumer-first agenda to be included by the Conservatives in this week's speech from the throne.

Consumers are frustrated over being forced to buy large bundles of channels they don't want when they sign up for satellite and cable TV services, says Industry Minister James Moore.

Companies such as Videotron in Quebec are already moving in the pick-and-pay direction, largely because consumers are shying away from traditional TV and are instead watching programming over the Internet.

And as viewer habits evolve, there's no reason why television service providers can't offer consumers the ability to pick and choose the channels they want, says Moore.

 

"We don't think people should be forced to buy bundled television channels when they're not interested in watching those channels and those shows," Moore said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"We should have a pick-and-pay model when it comes to television channels."

The two largest cable and satellite TV service providers — Bell and Rogers — offer subscribers basic packages that include the main television networks and selected other channels. But upgraded packages, at a higher cost, have channels bundled together by category.

Quebec's Videotron has recently offered subscribers the ability to choose five individual channels at a time from a list of choices, on top of their basic service.

COMMENTARY - Scott Stinson: How Stephen Harper can embrace a genuine consumer-friendly agenda

Canada's broadcast regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, urged cable and satellite companies in 2011 to adopt a pick-and-pay pricing model when it unveiled new regulations aimed at preventing television broadcasters from restricting consumer choice.

But the pricing model wasn't made mandatory, and Moore said it's about time for that to happen.

"It's not a command economy, we're not going to put in place onerous regulations. We're a government of deregulation," Moore insisted.

"But from time to time, we think that the best interest of consumers need to be enforced in the marketplace."

The throne speech will also lay out the government's plans for ensuring air travellers are somehow compensated when they are inconvenienced by airline overbooking.

Whether that includes enforced, specific compensation amounts remains to be seen, said Moore.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013
The Canadian Press

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