CRTC website invites feedback on the TV Tax
The CRTC today announced a new website where Canadians can comment on how the agency regulates the Canadian broadcasting system.
The federal regulator says it is seeking the views of consumers on whether it should impose additional taxes in order to subsidize the cost of local television stations.
In addition to seeking feedback over the Local Improvement Programming Fund, which was recently raised to 1.5% of your cable or satellite bill, and the Fee-For-Carriage (estimated at $10 per month), the CRTC is also asking for consumers feedback concerning the: availability of local television services; ability to choose different types of channels and packages; affordability of cable and satellite television services;
To date, consumer feedback on the CRTC site about the proposed new taxes has been negative with consumers telling the CRTC that private broadcasters should not be subsidized and that consumers should not be forced to have to pay for Canadian channels they don’t want to watch.
Chip Hicks wrote “Like any other business, local TV should sink or swim on their own merits” while Donald Brewer wrote “If local TV stations were able to charge cable and satellite companies for distributing there service the most likely outcome is that the cable and satellite companies will choose not to carry the channel.”
Provide your feedback at http://television.askingcanadians.com until December 21, 2009.
I find it incredible that most people on satellite (probably cable too) are already paying the damned “levy/tax” monthly and don’t even know it! Look for the item listing that says LPIF tax! In my case its about $3.00 a month!
Thats the “Local Program Improvement Fund” folks! It was there to supposedly help improve and keep Canadian content and presumably local broadcasting station alive. Well, if 3:00 bucks isn’t enough and the networks are claiming poor, then I say to hell with them let them either get out of the business altogether or learn to be come more efficient with what they have.
I’m retired and to have to pay 70.00 a month for esssentially a basic package plus HD is far too much to money for what I receive.
I am equally pissed that the networks threaten us will blackouts of “their” so-called programs from NBC, CBS, FOX and ABC if they don’t get their own way.
I would gladly go back to off air if we just had the HD signal ghere in the north. This greed demonstrated by every corporation that can’t manage itself nowadays is just disgusting. They all want higher and higher profit ratios instead of a fair return on their investments! I say shame on you for even allowuing them to be heard!
What a precedent you are setting for the next round of whining from them!
Regarding Canadian content, I say to hell with it. There is very little of interest that we watch anyway. Even the local CTV new now covers all of Sault ste marie, Sudbury and North bay from one center.
Do you, are you really suggesting that giving them more money a month in the form of an additional Levy/taxes is going to change that? Do really think so? Not bloody likely!
Start protecting the consumer, not all of our pockets are bottomless!
I am like the other guy, I am tired of all this extra tax and hst , now more tax. gov are like pigs in a troughs and so are the companies. When are they going to help the little guy, instead of the big companies??
This new TV tax is a joke. If CTV and others cannot afford to keep these local stations on the air, then get rid of them. The problem is that they want to charge the cable/satellite companies but in the end it will just come out of our pockets. I have no love for Bell or Rogers, but do you really think that if they are getting charged X amount per year, they will just absorb it themselves? Anyone who believes that is really delusional.
If these local stations really do need the money, then why not let people donate money if they want? This works for PBS just fine. Peronally, I have no use for these local stations, so why should I have to pay for it?
The other thing that bothers me is that these channels are Free to Air!!! If I have an antenna I can watch them for free, but if I have cable then I have to pay for them??? What is that all about? The realitiy is that it is beneficial for these local channels to be carried by cable/satellite because it gives them a larger audience and this allows them to charge more for commercial time.
To me I find all this to be confusing,but I am sick up and fed with my satellite bill constantly going up and no real improvement in my programing.I have considered going back to rabbit ears and saving myself a 1000 bucks a year.I will definetly do it if there will be a subsantial increase on my bill.I always thought that the CRTC was there to protect the average homeowner,but if this goes through I’ll look at it as just another tax grab on top of all the others that are happening to us.
I hope that they will do the right thing and prevent yet another increase to the average consumer.
Thank you. Drew Bell