Canadian Heritage committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, and committee staff. My name is André Bureau. I am chairman of the board of Astral Media, and I'm joined today by John Riley, president of Astral Television Networks, and by Pierre Roy, president of les Chaînes Télé Astral.

Canadian Heritage committee  Specialty channels were created because, at one point, people realized that there was growing interest for focused programming, whether for children's shows, documentaries, music programs, etc. Some players then took the risk of entering that field, but not conventional broadcast

Canadian Heritage committee  I will start with the last part of your question. The opting-out provision already exists. The digital system allows people to purchase the services they want, and that could eventually extend to conventional channels. I think it is a philosophical question. The Canadian broadcas

Canadian Heritage committee  I would never say a thing like that. I would not be able to make it back to Montreal, because Videotron people would have my hide at the provincial lines! It is important to understand that specialty services, in the beginning... It is true that at the time, the idea was to help

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely not. The carriage fees amount to 60% of our revenues, and 100% in the case of pay television.

Canadian Heritage committee  We don't think there is a need for additional rules at the present time. We negotiate with them. We know very well that they are, by their nature, our competitors in some instances, but we find solutions. If we don't, then there is the mechanism of the CRTC, where we can go and

Industry committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair, committee members and staff. First of all, I want to thank the committee for inviting Astral Media Inc. to share its views on foreign ownership rules and regulations in the telecommunications sector. As some of you may already know, Astral is a Canadian

Industry committee  Proposals for ownership liberalization over carriage, i.e., telecom and BDUs, must absolutely take into account the key role that BDUs have traditionally played in meeting the social and cultural objectives under the Broadcasting Act. Unlike a pure common carrier, a BDU does pl

Industry committee  Had that scenario been possible, we would have been concerned. Imagine an American company becoming the owner of Telesat Canada and imagine a strong demand in the United States for additional satellite space as a result of HD or 3D. Had we wanted to occupy all of Telesat Canada's

Industry committee  First, a little correction. We don't produce. Our philosophy is to work with independent producers, so we buy programming. The fundamental issue is the second part of your question. Suppose that tomorrow morning Verizon is authorized to come into Canada and it buys Rogers. All

Industry committee  If I may, Mr. Chair, I have two answers to your question. One has to do with the content itself, or the access to a larger variety or diversified service. I'll take the service of pay TV, for example. In Canada, there are three operators of pay television. They offer everything t

Industry committee  Mr. Bouchard, the assurances given by Telesat Canada stem from section 28(2) of the Telecommunications Act. According to this provision, should a dispute arise at some point in time between the distribution undertaking, Bell ExpressVu for example, and Telesat Canada, and should B

Industry committee  I don't know, quite frankly. The family--

Industry committee  In cable, Rogers, Vidéotron, Shaw, and Cogeco, who are the bigger players in the field, are all regulated under the Broadcasting Act because they play a role in our activities. We like to call them a partner--sometimes we have to remind them they are--but they really are very fun

Industry committee  They have to be owned and controlled by Canadians, under the Broadcasting Act. They have to prove that they are Canadian-owned and have effective control of the operation in Canada.