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Canadian Broadcasters Say C-32 Needed to Save Local Radio

By Michael Geist

Last year, Canadian broadcasters launched a major public campaign to "Save Local TV", which was their effort to rally support for new fees for retransmission of local television signals. The Federal Court of Appeal ruled this week that the CRTC has the legal power to authorize networks to negotiate to be paid for carrying stations, though the recent convergence in the marketplace may render the entire issue moot.

Interestingly, Canadian radio broadcasters are now using the same strategy as part of their support for Bill C-32. A new campaign - isupportmylocalradio.ca - has been launched complete with radio ads and a webpage. The goal of the campaign is to express support for Bill C-32, particularly the reforms that will save radio broadcasters tens of millions of dollars. The claims mirror those in the fee-for-carriage campaign - "Local radio in Canada may be threatened if Bill C-32 is not passed as introduced by the Government. This much needed Bill may fail because the Liberal Party wants an amendment that would have local radio stations send money to big recording companies outside Canada." The broadcasters appear before the C-32 committee on Thursday.

Full post as published by Michael Geist on March 02, 2011 (boomark / email).