Please Oh Please Let CTV Pull The Plug
In a show of cry-baby negotiation style exhibited only by school yard giants like our Prime Minister, CTV has announced that they will pull the plug on their broadcasts if they don’t get their way.
Please, oh please, say this is true. Please, oh please, push them to pull the plug!
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the clean airwaves available for other services that actually act in the best interest of the TV watching public or Canadians at large?
Wouldn’t it be nice to finally end all of this bitching about who should stick it to consumers?
Wouldn’t it be nice to see an end to partisan Con ads washing up on ‘So You Think You Can Dance Canada, v58’, resulting in a constant indirect subsidy to these industry laggards?
Yes! Please pull the plug. To paraphrase Neil Armstrong, it would be a small step for a Canadian broadcaster, but a giant leap for Canadian democracy.
Yes, I agree. No more Bob Fife and Craig Oliver. Too bad it did not happen when Duffy was there. I no longer watch CTV because of the partisan slants so i will not miss it at all.
I’ve been wondering why Canadian networks are even allowed to still purchase and air US programs. Sure, it made sense before there was cable, but now we get the US networks directly with cable, and/or can access those shows online, so why the need for a Canadian network to also broadcast things like House, CSI, Desperate Housewives, etc.? I did a totally unscientific study looking at one 24 hour period of CTV’s programming. Of those 24 hours, 4 hours were “paid programming” – infomercials. Of the remaining 20 hours, 11.5 hours were US shows, and 8.5 hours were “Canadian” programs. Of those, 6 hours were news programs (including 3 hours of Canada AM). The other 2 hours? 2 half-hour episodes of Fashion Television and 3 half hour episodes of eTalk. I’m sure the picture isn’t any better for Global.
Thanks for the feedback Siobhan! Great details and I really appreciate the context you’ve provided.
Realistically, we would actually get all of these shows through Hulu.com or other networks that are not blocked to Canadians.
Honestly, this whole mess has called the broadcast system, ISP content blocking practices and even the CRTC into question.
For those who think you live in a ‘free’ country, think again. I think the better term might be ‘kleptocratic corporatocracy’.