No business case, no set-top box measurement system: Cablecos

GATINEAU, QUE. — Some companies in a working group crafted to measure how audiences consume content on set-top boxes (STB) told a panel of CRTC commissioners Monday that if there isn't a business case for the system, it may fail. “Whether or not, at the end of the day, there is actually a set-top box measurement system in this country is going to be a function of whether or not there is a business case,” Pamela Dinsmore, Rogers Communications Inc.’s vice-president of regulatory for cable, told the five-member panel presiding over licence renewals for broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs). Monday was the first day of the four-day hearing. That involves determining whether “the gains that can be made for advertisers for the benefit of having that additional set-top-box information can be offset by the cost of providing that information,” Dinsmore said. She added that the company is “giving it our best shot” and is “confident” about meeting the dates in the timetable set out by the CRTC, and will have regular reports and check-ins with the privacy commissioner to ensure there are no privacy concerns with the data. If the system falls through, it would be a major blow to one of the recommendations ordered by the CRTC in the wake of its Let’s Talk TV proceeding. In the policy released in 2015, the CRTC required a working group to be formed to develop the measurement system. It noted in that decision that the “future success of the broadcasting industry will depend on the industry’s ability to tailor the contents of programming packages as well as the programming itself to the needs and interest of Canadians,” with viewer information being “essential in this emerging viewer-centric environment,” pointing to new tools like an audience measurement system as being key to that. Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, which appeared before Rogers Monday, echoed those sentiments, both of which doubled-down on remarks previously made in interventions in June to the CRTC — to be considered in this hearing — that the system was a “complex task,” despite slow and steady progress. If implemented, Canada would be the first country to have such a system. “Before we are able to implement this system completely, we need to have a realistic business plan, a good calendar and reasonable estimation of the cost, and this is something that Numeris will be doing over the next few months and will be a prerequisite for the implementation of the system,” a representative of Videotron noted in the company’s appearance. “We’re doing the best that we can as a working group to get there,” the representative noted, according to simultaneous translation. “There’s a lot of steps to be taken carefully. The return on investment is a major issue that we have to accomplish and to get to before we do this system. What’s in it for them ? What’s in it for us? We don’t have these answers yet, but we’re hopeful in the next months or so we’re going to get to these answers.” Dinsmore added that the company doesn’t think the system will be useful to it in terms of their channel packaging structure, but it will help broadcasters in the advertising realm. Jon Medline, Rogers’ senior vice-president of content, added Rogers has provided STB data on an ad-hoc basis to Canadian broadcasters to help them with their programming and strategies on acquisition and production. He suggested if “we go down that path of making something mandatory like that, that it would be for Canadian services, it would be on an ad-hoc basis, not on a regular basis, which would require tremendous resources, and it would be on a cost-recovery basis.” All three companies were also against the idea of the commission imposing a condition of licence to implement such a system. They said the working group was a multi-party effort and one company did not have sole control over its success, which would make it unfair to hold their licences hostage over its implementation. This was also the first hearing for new CRTC chairman Ian Scott. Scott said very little on the first day, only putting forward a couple of questions. Over the next three days, the commissioners will also look at how the companies have been implementing the industry-mandated skinny basic and pick-and-pay regimes. “The price of content production continues to increase in the industry,” Sanae Takahashi, Shaw Communications Inc.’s senior vice-president of product and analytics, told the panel, replying to a question about how the new choices impact negotiations and how discretionary services are priced. “It does put pressure, depending on the price and selection that we provide to our customers, but we are still saying that it’s pretty much early days. We do continue to see a very shifting dynamic in terms of not just segments of our customers that are making these selections, but also the types of selections that they are making.” — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

No business case, no set-top box measurement system: Cablecos

News | October 16, 2017

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

No business case, no set-top box measurement system: Cablecos

News | October 16, 2017

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Related Stories

Rogers, Cogeco, Quebecor challenge ILECs at CRTC hearings

Cogeco defends infrastructure upgrade amid TekSavvy dispute

Cogeco MVNO operations still a ways away

Corus wants in on local news fund post Rogers-Shaw

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us