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SIRIUS AND CANCON

B

Bob E. Nelson

My naivete on this subject is exceed only by my boundless ignorance, so please forgive me if these queries are FAQs:

1). Is the US-based Sirius satellite service available throughout all of Canada, in particular the cities toward the far north?

2). If Sirius does service all of Canada, are there any implications due to Cancon requirements?

3). Turning to television briefly, does the CRTC allow carriage of nearby US-based broadcast stations (such as WKBW-TV) on Canadian cable systems...and what about cable-only channels such as A&E, MSNBC and Showtime?
 
Bob E. Nelson said:
My naivete on this subject is exceed only by my boundless ignorance, so please forgive me if these queries are FAQs:

1). Is the US-based Sirius satellite service available throughout all of Canada, in particular the cities toward the far north?

2). If Sirius does service all of Canada, are there any implications due to Cancon requirements?

3). Turning to television briefly, does the CRTC allow carriage of nearby US-based broadcast stations (such as WKBW-TV) on Canadian cable systems...and what about cable-only channels such as A&E, MSNBC and Showtime?
Click to expand...

For question 1, I refer you to the site itself.
I believe the answer is yes...but with some channels either added, or substituted for Canadian content.

(Also, have a look at XM Canada, and note that the Canadian content of the XM and Sirius services have *NOT* merged.)

Sirius Canada Link: http://www.siriuscanada.ca/en/

XM Canada link: http://www.xmradio.ca/

2) See answer for #1

3) Showtime did not make it to Canadian homes because the Canadian version of that channel (Showcase: http://www.showcase.ca/)

However, keep on mind, this goes back to when Showcase first launched.
They (Showcase) also had a lot of the HBO programming, but now there is an HBO Canada (just launched recently: http://www.hbocanada.com/ ) and the original Showcase owners sold to Global Television, so Showcase is undergoing various changes that may or may not reflect identical programming to that of Showtime today. (not sure-see for yourself)

As for the other stations, yes we have A&E, and various American specialty channels, as well as all or most major networks like NBC, CBS, ABC and others, but the CRTC has a strict rule that as long as the programming is 95% identical, a SIM SUB of the Canadian channel MUST override it.

(In simple english, if Global tv is airing NCIS at the same time as CBS, we get stuck with Global on the CBS channel durring that time.)

***Added note: If the American program airs in HD, but the Canadian station carrying the program airs on a station that is not HD, a sim sub does not apply, as HD must be sim subbed with HD.
(most Canadian stations are now available in HD anyway though.)

To make an example of the 5% that may be absent:

Info for what's coming up on Global news at 11PM instead of seeing any news updates for what's coming up at 11pm on CBS news.

I really hate that because I sometimes like to visit Western New York, but the Sim Sub means I miss out on their "More at 11" weather updates that suggest to me what I should pack when traveling.
Oh well.

Hope this info helped!
 
Yeziknoradio said:
3) Showtime did not make it to Canadian homes because the Canadian version of that channel (Showcase: http://www.showcase.ca/)

However, keep on mind, this goes back to when Showcase first launched.
Click to expand...

??? ??? ??? I'm sorry, I believe the above should read:

"Showtime did not make it to Canadian homes because of the Canadian version of that channel. (Showcase: http://www.showcase.ca/)

But if any other detail seems to be missing, please kindly let me know. Thanks.
 
Yeziknoradio said:
Bob E. Nelson said:
My naivete on this subject is exceed only by my boundless ignorance, so please forgive me if these queries are FAQs:

1). Is the US-based Sirius satellite service available throughout all of Canada, in particular the cities toward the far north?

2). If Sirius does service all of Canada, are there any implications due to Cancon requirements?

3). Turning to television briefly, does the CRTC allow carriage of nearby US-based broadcast stations (such as WKBW-TV) on Canadian cable systems...and what about cable-only channels such as A&E, MSNBC and Showtime?
Click to expand...

For question 1, I refer you to the site itself.
I believe the answer is yes...but with some channels either added, or substituted for Canadian content.

(Also, have a look at XM Canada, and note that the Canadian content of the XM and Sirius services have *NOT* merged.)

Sirius Canada Link: http://www.siriuscanada.ca/en/

XM Canada link: http://www.xmradio.ca/

2) See answer for #1

3) Showtime did not make it to Canadian homes because the Canadian version of that channel (Showcase: http://www.showcase.ca/)

However, keep on mind, this goes back to when Showcase first launched.
They (Showcase) also had a lot of the HBO programming, but now there is an HBO Canada (just launched recently: http://www.hbocanada.com/ ) and the original Showcase owners sold to Global Television, so Showcase is undergoing various changes that may or may not reflect identical programming to that of Showtime today. (not sure-see for yourself)

As for the other stations, yes we have A&E, and various American specialty channels, as well as all or most major networks like NBC, CBS, ABC and others, but the CRTC has a strict rule that as long as the programming is 95% identical, a SIM SUB of the Canadian channel MUST override it.

(In simple english, if Global tv is airing NCIS at the same time as CBS, we get stuck with Global on the CBS channel durring that time.)

***Added note: If the American program airs in HD, but the Canadian station carrying the program airs on a station that is not HD, a sim sub does not apply, as HD must be sim subbed with HD.
(most Canadian stations are now available in HD anyway though.)

To make an example of the 5% that may be absent:

Info for what's coming up on Global news at 11PM instead of seeing any news updates for what's coming up at 11pm on CBS news.

I really hate that because I sometimes like to visit Western New York, but the Sim Sub means I miss out on their "More at 11" weather updates that suggest to me what I should pack when traveling.
Oh well.

Hope this info helped!
Click to expand...

I always wondered if XM & sirius made it into Canada. Thanks.
 
No problem.
I forgot to mention one other possible fact:

Showcase Canada is owned by Global, while Fight Network Canada (a fairly new channel-Launched in 2005) is independently owned and operated.

As a result, if it's Showtime boxing you are looking for, that too might be absent from Showcase Canada.

Fight Network Canada: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fight_Network

(The above link mentions this:

"ShoBox: The New Generation - All the great bouts from Showtime" )
 
Turning to television briefly, does the CRTC allow carriage of nearby US-based broadcast stations (such as WKBW-TV) on Canadian cable systems...and what about cable-only channels such as A&E, MSNBC and Showtime?
Click to expand...

.....yes we have A&E, and various American specialty channels, as well as all or most major networks like NBC, CBS, ABC and others, but the CRTC has a strict rule that as long as the programming is 95% identical, a SIM SUB of the Canadian channel MUST override it.
Click to expand...

It seems like one-way traffic. Is there any reason why Canadian TV is almost totally absent from US cable systems, even near the Canadian border? It's almost as if there is a "Berlin Wall" mentality that wants to keep out stuff from next door. The only examples of US a cable system carrying Canadian station that I know of for sure are Comcast and WOW carrying CBC Windsor in southeast Michigan.
 
listener-in said:
It seems like one-way traffic. Is there any reason why Canadian TV is almost totally absent from US cable systems, even near the Canadian border? It's almost as if there is a "Berlin Wall" mentality that wants to keep out stuff from next door. The only examples of US a cable system carrying Canadian station that I know of for sure are Comcast and WOW carrying CBC Windsor in southeast Michigan.
Click to expand...

There was CBC Newsworld, but then AL Gore deciced to take over the source that was allowing it into the States and change the channel into somehthing else.
 
But is there any formal reason why there's next to no Canadian TV on US cable systems? I'm talking about some kind of legislation, or TV- or advertising-industry standards that are written to minimize competition? Might it be something to do with sporting broadcast rights?
 
listener-in said:
But is there any formal reason why there's next to no Canadian TV on US cable systems? I'm talking about some kind of legislation, or TV- or advertising-industry standards that are written to minimize competition? Might it be something to do with sporting broadcast rights?
Click to expand...

I don't believe there is any legislation preventing it and there have been a few examples in the past. CBC Newsworld and MuchMusic USA used to be carried on Directv many years ago. I think the issue is rights agreements for US created shows that air on most Canadian broadcast and cable channels. The Canadian channels only buy the rights to air the shows in Canada and usually another channel has the US rights.
We actually get fewer American cable channels in Canada than it appears. We have a lot off "Canada versions" of US channels where a Canadian broadcaster licenses the name and some of the programming of a US channel and creates a Canadian version. HGTV, CMT, Discovery, History, Biography, and several others have Canadian versions.
 
The interesting thing about XM and Sirius when it comes to Cancon is that it's all based on how the radio is authorized. So, if someone subscribes to Sirius Canada, they are only going to get the Canadian lineup, even if they're in Florida on vacation. But, if someone subscribes to Sirius USA, they'll get the USA lineup even if they're on vacation in Montreal, Vancouver, etc.
And, the USA packages for both providers include all the Cancon channels. The only difference in the Canadian packages is that they usually exclude certain channels that would only be of USA interest, and by doing so, this helps them to meet the satellite radio Cancon rule, that you must bundle at least 1 Canadian channel for every 9 USA channels in a package. Both providers' Canadian operations now offer just enough Canadian programming, that in most cases, there are only a handful of channels unavailable in Canada as compared to the USA.

BTW - I sure wish they would merge the Canadian Sirius & XM. Then Sirius CA subs could get NHL, and XM CA subs could get CBC. Best of both worlds.
 
quote:

"BTW - I sure wish they would merge the Canadian Sirius & XM. Then Sirius CA subs could get NHL, and XM CA subs could get CBC. Best of both worlds."

Best of both worlds is an exact bottom line that suggests your wish may not be all that far off.

I could be wrong though...
 
I'm hoping, because the CBC, IMO, is the only thing on Sirius right now worth having that I'm not already getting on XM. And CBC podcasts are great but it'd be nice to have the actual Radio 1 & 3 live feeds.
And, I bet that Sirius CA subs would love to have NHL.
From what little I've seen, XM CA subs aren't thrilled with the CBC, but would prefer literally anything over the current low-bitrate automated system that spews out Canadian news, weather, and traffic on XM 96.
 
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