Will Canada's vertical integration limit our voices and choices?

Vertical integration is a prevalent issue in Canada. Just this year, Shaw bought Canwest’s Global TV network for $2 billion and Bell currently has a $1.3 billion deal set out to buy the rest of the CTV assets they didn’t already own.

Several days ago, the CRTC held a public consultation to review our vertically integrated communications industry with the goal of preventing anti-competitive behavior. CRTC head Konrad Von Finckenstein isn’t entirely convinced that vertical integration has in fact limited the variety and voices of Canadians, but he’s not convinced that it won’t either.

Von Finckenstein recently expressed some distress over vertical integration in Canada’s media landscape and plans to launch public hearings next spring.

"I am concerned. We don't want a situation that, just because we have the same carriers, we have the same voices," said von Finckenstein.

Interestingly, his words resonate with OpenMedia.ca’s underlying principle of Diversity which states that “diverse Canadian ownership models, including independent, non-profit, campus, community and public media, help to ensure more diverse content and voices."

The CRTC insisted that they will not “intrude into the commercial environment unless absolutely necessary to achieve the purposes of the Broadcasting Act”. However, under the law, the CRTC already holds the power to intervene and Ontario regional commissioner Rita Cugini wants them to exercise this power.

Cugini wants the CRTC to fine broadcasters who break the terms of their licenses. Currently, the CRTC only punish violators by shortening or denying a license when it comes up for renewal after seven years.

Proving the inadequacy and inefficiency of this law, Cugini explains that “if they violate one of these codes in the first year, it would take another six years for us to do anything.”

Read more about Canada’s vertically integrated media landscape at CanadianBusiness.com.