Canadians shouldn't be denied Fox News (A pro-Fox Canadian!)

The Globe and Mail ^ | Wednesday, April 28 2004 | Rod Love

[July 4th]

Most of the world gets FOX News now. It's available all over Europe on satellite systems; you can get it in Asia. I think it's idiotic that a government agency would block the broadcasting of a network that is the most watched cable news network of their main trading partner and closest neighbor - in an open Western nation, no less.

[rwfromkansas]

Get off of FR you moron.

[HitmanLV]

Sorry CV I didn't mean to suggest that all Canadians were like her (though I suspect many in the Canadian media are like her). I don't recall her name, sorry.

[Canadian Volunteer]

Maybe you don't understand the U.S./Canada dynamic when it comes to television. The trouble is that, being kissing cousins such as we are, it's fantastically easy and economical for the U.S. just to export your culture up north, completely undercutting its Canadian counterparts. Thing is, we're not talking widgets here.

As much as you'd like to believe and as you must be aware, Canadians are not just Americans who live in the north. We share some values and not others. How do you think Americans would feel if your culture was threatened with being steamrollered by another country's cultural exports?

[Canadian Volunteer]

Nice attitude, rw.

[July 4th]

I understand your concerns - I used to have a grey market satellite dish for ExpressVU, and found some of the Canadian content particularly excellent. (Although the best stuff usually makes it to US TV soon enough, mostly comedy shows).

But I guess I just can't get past the fact that the government is, in essence, censoring a news source. A system like ExpressVU could carry FOX News, but perhaps not put it in the basic package, or perhaps sell a separate "Canadian" package for customers who want to limit themselves to Canadian content. That would be a reasonable market-based solution, rather than an agency making the choice for everyone.

And as for a news channel, I would think that sort of programmer would be the least offensive to the CRTC. Aren't they mostly worried about the continued production of Canadian TV shows and movies?

[an amused spectator]

Heather "Malicious" Mallick

Here's blogger "Trevalyan":

"This serving of unmitigated tripe by the Arch-Bitch of the Canadian Media, the Damned Sow-Mother of the twins Ignorance and Malice, Heather Mallick, has perfected her foul arts to their apex with her vicious attacks on Canadian and American soldiers. The fact I've had to retype this FOUR TIMES hardly helps my mood for discussing this patronizing, arrogant socialist bitch."

http://trevalyan.blogspot.com/2003_01_05_trevalyan_archive.html

Last blog on page bottom - quite a long one, but if you're in the mood to put the boots to a Lefty, you'll love it.

The Leftist harpy is also responsible for this piece of vomit:

"I pledge allegiance to my paycheque" (Globe and Mail Vomit Alert)

If you just Google her name, you'll find that she has crowds of fans. The wrong kind of fans.

[Canadian Volunteer]

A Yank with an ExpressVu grey market dish? My God man! Let me shake your hand! I'd never have thought there was such a beast! :)

Seriously though, 4 years ago, Global Television got a license to re-broadcast Fox News as part of Fox News Canada, the proviso being that there would have to be some Canadian content, something that doesn't seem out of line.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Decisions/2000/DB2000-565.htm

Now, if you're not familiar with Global, they're a third national network that has made its money by buying American programming and then simulcasting that programming with the orginating network from the States, counting on the CRTC mandate that when an American and Canadian network are broadcasting the same program at the same time, cable companies are required to switch the Canadian broadcaster's signal over the American, thus giving Global 2 channels at the same time. This they've done while producing almost nothing of their own (with one exception) aside from news.

So, it's not really like Fox News can't be had up here; it's just that those who have the license to bring it don't think they can make any money off it.

[Canadian Volunteer]

As a follow-up, really the CRTC has more to do with ensuring a Canadian voice on Canadian airwaves, be it news, sports (Go Leafs :)[ah, what the heck; 36 years without a Stanley Cup, might as well be 37]), drama, etc..

Don't you think that packaging Canadian programming in some specialized tier is a bit insulting? I doubt the same would be tolerated south of the border. When you consider that by virtue of the economies of scale presented by having a population 10 times ours, your programming is paid off in your home market and can be sold here for well below what it would cost to produce the same. And it's not like everything eminating from New York and L.A. is gold either. It's just that your industry can afford to screw-up 10 times more often and get away with it, a luxury the Canadian industry doesn't have. If you're honest about it, try to explain how it is that so many 2-star movies pull in $100 million+. Most of it is because of the hype, the constant advertising. And with exceptions, where are those films a month down the road? Gone because the box-office dropped like a stone in the 3rd weekend, upstaged by the newest 2-star gotta-see. Which is not to say that good film and television doesn't come from the States. The trouble for us up here is getting screen time.

[July 4th]

A Yank with an ExpressVu grey market dish? My God man! Let me shake your hand! I'd never have thought there was such a beast! :)

Haha...yeah. Three reasons: 1) at the time, it was the only way for me to get any of the BBC, 2) I like Canadian comedy, and 3) I was studying French at the time, and it was the only way to get current programming and news in that language. (I've since forgotten most, if not all of it.)

As to whether current guidelines are acceptable, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that. I would say your opinion carries more weight, since you have to live with the policy, but you won't find many in agreement with you around here.

[nutmeg]

FoxFan ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.

[-YYZ-]

If the new application to allow the broadcast of FOX News, by itself and not including the other cable entertainment channels, is denied I will agree with you that this is censorship of a news source, since CNN is already available here. We'll see what happens to the new application, which was only submitted 2 or 3 weeks ago.

[-YYZ-]

"Seriously though, 4 years ago, Global Television got a license to re-broadcast Fox News as part of Fox News Canada, the proviso being that there would have to be some Canadian content, something that doesn't seem out of line.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Decisions/2000/DB2000-565.htm"

Thanks for the link. While I don't agree that the CRTC's attempts to protect and promote Canadian content are productive or useful, this does show that this is not about keeping certain viewpoints out of the Canadian market.

[Canadian Volunteer]

Said YYZ,

"While I don't agree that the CRTC's attempts to protect and promote Canadian content are productive or useful, this does show that this is not about keeping certain viewpoints out of the Canadian market."

What makes you say that? What would you suggest as an alternative? Or do you really have any interest in hearing a Canadian voice on Canadian airwaves? Do you ever think of how different the broadcast spectrum would be if Canadian broadcasters didn't get all this subsidized product from the States?

And for the Americans here, how do you think you would react if 90% of the film and television that you see was from, say, England because the American networks found it much cheaper to acquire, even though the situations and characters didn't particularly reflect American values or situations? Wouldn't your nose be just a little out of joint and do you really think that Americans wouldn't go down a similar path as we have with the CRTC?

[-YYZ-]

What makes me say that is that despite the endless meddling of the CRTC over several decades, the private broadcasters in this country have never produced a significant amount of programming by, for and about Canadians. And what they have produced has been mosty execrable. Let's see, Canadian produced programs that I currently bother to watch: a grand total of one, the "Trailer Park Boys".

While limiting Canadians' freedom of choice greatly, the CRTC has never had any real success in promoting high quality Canadian programming that anyone would actually want to watch. Now, the CBC has done some good work over the years, and I actually support the CBC.

[Canadian Volunteer]

I'll take a bit of issue as you may recall a little thing called CanCon. Without it, do you think Shania Twain, the BareNaked Ladies, Celine Dion (okay let's not go there on that one) would have hit the American radar? As far as Canadian programming being mostly excrable, that has more to do with Global and, to a lesser extent, CTV, trying to throttle the baby in the crib. But, as you point out, there's TPB, "This is Wonderland", "Red Green" and some other shows that more than hold their own. But, the problem is that incoming American shows are functionally subsidized, making it almost impossible to compete on a lvel playing field. The thing is, that the ball is slowly beginning to gather some momentum here and now isn't the time to be trying to turn the clock back 30 years. Everything American isn't gold and everything Canadian isn't crap. There are a lot of quality American shows simply because the industry down there has more money to throw at the wall to see what sticks. Nobody remembers the failures and the successes are trumpeted hither and yon as proof of the superiority of Hollywood. Bit disingenuous, wouldn't you say?

[-YYZ-]

You make some valid points - I'll have to think about it a bit.

Now, back to the original topic, how do you feel about FOX News being kept out of Canada. It may not provide a balanced point of view, but it would help the balance the left-leaning CBC Newsworld and CNN

[Canadian Volunteer]

Getting back on-topic, there's already a license extant with Global Television. Virtually every other licensee in the country has to give something back in terms of representing Canadian views on Canadian airwaves; why should Fox Canada be different?

Calling the established players in the industry left-wing is a non-starter, fanned by the constant Big Lie that CBC main net and NewsWorld harbours a buncha screamin' commies. T'ain't so. If anything, the CBC gets accussed of riding the fence too much, trying not to be insulting to anyone. Not something I worry about with Fox.

[NZerFromHK]

That's why I thank God every day that I can watch Fox News Channel rebroadcasted on a free-on-air channel here in New Zealand every night.