Bell holds out on distributing Bloomberg TV

When Channel Zero Inc. announced the launch of its Bloomberg TV Canada channel this week, it listed every TV-service provider that was carrying it and absent from that list was Canada's biggest provider of TV service. Channel Zero said in a press release that the new business-news channel is being carried by Rogers Communications Inc., Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Inc., Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., Eastlink, Telus Corp., Shaw Communications Inc.'s cable and satellite systems and Cogeco Cable Inc. in Ontario. It added that Cogeco and Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron would begin carrying Bloomberg TV Canada in Quebec "soon." BCE Inc.'s TV services — including Bell Fibe TV, Bell Satellite TV and Bell Alliant's FibreOp TV — were missing from the list of distributors carrying Bloomberg TV's new Canadian feed. Channel Zero said Bloomberg TV Canada is now available to six million households. Not being carried by Bell means it is not available to TV customers of the company that announced this month it is now the biggest TV-service provider in the country with 2.7 million subscribers, surpassing Shaw. Northwestel Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell, is also not listed among the broadcast distributors carrying Bloomberg TV Canada. BCE's Bell Media owns Business News Network (BNN), a channel that will compete for viewers with Bloomberg TV. When asked about not being carried by Bell, Channel Zero spokeswoman Rhonda Messieh said in an email: "We have presented Bloomberg TV Canada to Bell on a number of occasions this year. To date, they have declined carrying the channel. We would rather that Bell carry Bloomberg for the right reasons than not carry us for the wrong reasons." Bloomberg TV Canada's status is that of an exempt Category B service. It is exempt from needing a licence because it does not yet have 200,000 or more paying subscribers. As well, TV-service providers have no obligation to make Category B channels — whether exempt or not — available to their customers. However, CRTC spokesman Eric Rancourt said broadcast distributors are still breaking undue-preference rules if they refuse to carry a channel for the purpose of giving one of their own channels an advantage. "Assuming there is no existing distribution agreement between the BDU and the channel, the channel in question could argue that it has been subject to an undue preference or disadvantage," Rancourt said in an email. "The CRTC would look at the facts of the case and the arguments put forward by each party." He cited a section of federal broadcast regulations that indicates that if an undue-preference case comes before the CRTC, the onus is on the operator accused of acting inappropriately to prove the complaint is without merit. Bell officials had not responded to requests for comment on this issue at the time of publication. Bloomberg TV Canada is currently available on a free-preview basis for customers of the service providers carrying the channel, Messieh said. She said after the free-preview phase ends in the spring and the channel "settles into its long-term packaging" with service providers, the company will be able to figure out how many subscribers it has. She said it's expected that the subscriber numbers will be "comparable to or greater than BNN's," which Channel Zero president Cal Millar estimated earlier this year had between six and seven million subscribers. BNN has the designation of a Category A specialty channel, meaning broadcast distributors must offer it. — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Shruti Shekar at sshekar@thewirereport.ca

Bell holds out on distributing Bloomberg TV

News | November 19, 2015

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Bell holds out on distributing Bloomberg TV

News | November 19, 2015

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