The CRTC yesterday "unveiled new rules to bar exclusive TV content deals by major cable and phone giants," according to Etan Vlessing of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The goal is to "stop vertically-integrated Canadian players from harming their competitors or curtailing consumer choice." Major carriers including Bell Canada, Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications that "own and operate broadcast groups will not be allowed to offer TV programs on an exclusive basis to their mobile or Internet subscribers." The ban on "deals that carve out exclusivity for mobile video in particular has much to do with making premium TV sport properties like the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NHL available to all Canadian wireless phone and Internet customers." The new rules also "will stop major carriers from forcing a subscriber to buy a specific mobile device or subscribe to its Internet service to access their favorite TV shows or live sporting events." Unlike the U.S. and U.K. markets, Canadian content carriers "are barred from clinching exclusive rights for top-flight TV sport properties" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 9/21).
SCOREBOARD WATCHING: The GLOBE & MAIL's Boyd Erman reports investors are "piling into Score Media on news that the company is looking at selling its 24-hour sports information channel." Score SCR-T stock "is up more than 10 percent Thursday, on about 10 times its normal trading volume." Sources said that the price "is as high as [C]$200-million." Erman notes that is "almost three times the company's market capitalization before news of the sale leaked" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/22).
