Years after it has been available to Americans, Canada’s official state censors, the CRTC division of the Liberal Party, finally gave official government authorization to listen to radio broadcast through satellites.
Of course, the state has to impose restrictions and rules and policies and regulations and….. enforced Canadian content! That’s how secure the liberal-left is in our ability to compete on a world scale.
The CRTC opened Canadian skies to a potential revolution in broadcasting Thursday, with its approval of three licences for digital radio services. The services won’t fly, however, unless they meet strict Canadian content standards.
You don’t say. The state-run censors telling us what must be made available whether we want it or not. Free markets? Bye bye! This is Canada!
For those who don’t know, Canadian culture is decided by elite liberal bureaucrats and politicians in Ottawa. It’s “Canadian culture” by government decree. That’s liberal! That’s “progressive”!
The conditions placed on the two newly-licensed satellite radio services include:
At least eight original channels produced in Canada, 25 per cent of which must be in the French language
A maximum ratio of nine foreign channels to each Canadian one,
At least 85 per cent of the musical selections and spoken word programming broadcast on the Canadian channels must be Canadian
At least 25 per cent of the musical selections on the Canadian channels must be new Canadian musical selections
A further 25 per cent of the selections must be by emerging Canadian artists
At least 5 per cent of their gross annual revenues to initiatives for the development of Canadian talent
I bet the restrictions are similar to those in China and Iran and North Korea. So, sorry Mr. Martin, we don’t “we lead the world” in this area either!
But what in tarnation is the state-run CBC division of the Liberal Party doing bidding against its own citizens in order to compete and rob them of profits using taxpayer money? Why is the CBC risking taxpayer cash to compete in the private marketplace?
Is this a communist country?
Of the two satellite services, one was proposed by Sirius Canada Inc., a consortium involving the CBC, Standard Radio, and U.S.-based Sirius Satellite Radio.
The other bid is backed by Canadian Satellite Radio, owned by Toronto entrepreneur John Bitove Jr., in a partnership with Washington-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings.
So clearly, we go with the Canadian Satellite Radio option when it finally becomes available. And I can’t wait, so that I can hear all those fantastic American conservative talk shows.
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