Canadian Heritage committee  You're putting me on sketchy ground, because that's exactly the issue that is before us. The broadcasters have certainly said that transitioning to digital and transitioning to HD is very expensive; therefore, we should allow them fees or regulatory bargains to be able to achieve

Canadian Heritage committee  No, we haven't looked at that aspect of it yet. As I indicated earlier, part of our policy, not only with mobile broadcasting but with all of the Internet and Internet broadcasting, is it's an exemption situation that we've chosen not to regulate. We have not monitored it closely

Canadian Heritage committee  I'd have to agree with you. Spoken-word content is one, and the CBC is quite well placed in that domain, with the changing world. As recently as last December, we published our revised regulatory framework for private conventional radio. We found that the key to private radio is

Canadian Heritage committee  The commission is currently in its deliberations on that very issue, in respect primarily to the over-the-air television framework for commercial or private stations. That is a key concern, how one can ensure that Canada remains modern and moves to the digital world without leavi

Canadian Heritage committee  To date, our policy with respect to mobile services offered by cell phone companies is based on exemptions. We have given these new technologies some leeway so as not to impose regulations, which involve costs. These are new platforms. We've decided to give them the freedom to ch

Canadian Heritage committee  It's consistent with the spirit of our regulations, yes.

Canadian Heritage committee  I will reserve my comments on the Canadian Television Fund, because, as you know, we have a team which is currently meeting with the various parties involved in order to try to find the right path with respect to the fund. So, I will try to avoid discussing the matter. The Socié

Canadian Heritage committee  When we renew their licence, we also make this value judgment. At the last renewal, we consulted with Canadians, and in the case of the CBC/Radio-Canada there were some shortcomings; some services and some types of programming that Canadians wanted, like music services and that t

Canadian Heritage committee  We have not done any studies as yet on that domain. I will indicate that the business models for how to monetize rights and how to monetize product are certainly evolving right now and are in a state of flux. A lot of the changes and a lot of the issues, as our chair mentioned

Canadian Heritage committee  Definitely, younger Canadians are the early adopters in this case. Traditionally, the broadcasting system has catered more toward those who have higher incomes, more disposable incomes, families. The younger Canadians aren't finding what they want on the current broadcasting syst

Canadian Heritage committee  All broadcasters in this country, including the CBC, have started to explore new platforms. Based on our report, we believe it is their obligation to do so, because Canadians have more choices. They want to exercise this choice and have access to the same programming through vari

Canadian Heritage committee  In terms of financial impact, the impact of new media--although new media has grown tremendously--has created a space for itself out of nowhere in the last decade. It has not had a significant impact on our broadcasters. We are beginning to see maybe slower revenue growth, maybe

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you and good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Scott Hutton. I'm the associate executive director of broadcasting at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. With me today are Peter Foster, manager of conventional televi

Canadian Heritage committee  Essentially, the CTF has grown through the years from various sources of funding and has reinvented itself many times. Often enough there have been changes to its structure, changes to its board. There was a recent change dating back to about 1995, the first full year of which, I

Canadian Heritage committee  We did not receive an official request for changes. However, at one or another of our hearings or meetings, among others during the television review that took place last November and December, certain comments were made. In his presentation on matters pertaining to television r