Montreal: Allowing u.s. direct-broadcast-satellite services into Canada would ring the death knell for the Canadian broadcasting industry, says Harold Greenberg, chairman and ceo of Astral Communications.

In a 64-page submission to a government committee reviewing a crtc policy decision made in late August prohibiting the use of u.s. satellites in the delivery of Canadian dth services, Greenberg says:

‘If the Canadian government authorizes the operation of u.s. direct-broadcast-satellite services in Canada this would lead to the gradual, if not immediate, creation of a North American market for the program rights purchased by broadcasters. This fully services u.s. interests, and would only be to the detriment of Canadians.

‘Any North American broadcasting market would obviously be dominated and controlled by u.s. interests. With no chance for Canadian broadcasters to compete successfully to purchase the program rights for American programming, Canadian broadcasters would be deprived of their traditional source of foreign programming.’

Greenberg paints a dramatic scenario, which, if allowed to unfold, would lead in time to the disappearance of Canada’s broadcasting system, he says.

In its submission to a joint Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada committee called ‘The Canadian Broadcasting System has Successfully Adapted Before: Now is Not the Time to Surrender,’ Astral outlines its front-line opposition to distribution of two u.s. dbs services in Canada, DirecTv and United States Satellite Broadcasting.

A letter to Heritage Minister Michel Dupuy and Industry Minister John Manley, dated Jan. 10 and signed by Greenberg, Astral vice-chair Andre Bureau and Astral president Ian Greenberg, adds: ‘We wish to express our deep concern that a u.s. dbs service – DirecTv – through its Canadian marketing agent – Power Broadcasting – has been successful in convincing the Government to undertake this review.’

Unlicensed U.S. offering

The letter goes on to say DirecTv’s dth proposal to enter the Canadian marketplace ‘is contingent on their not offering any licensed Canadian pay-per-view services. Rather, they will provide their own unlicensed and unauthorized u.s. offering. A second u.s. dbs service that also uses Hughes dbs satellites, ussb, is waiting in the wings for the outcome of this review. ussb intends to offer American pay-tv movie services in Canada.’

In contrast to the historical policy framework which has created a viable Canadian broadcasting system, Astral says the authorization of DirecTv and ussb in Canada will bring about a situation similar to the ‘disaster’ in the Canadian feature film industry, where ‘Parliament has not required Canadian ownership of distribution and exhibition companies, nor imposed minimum Canadian content percentages or obligations to invest in the financing of Canadian movies.’

Astral’s top brass says the concept of a North American market is a profit-motivated strategy which the u.s. entertainment industry has ‘relentlessly pursued’ over decades.

Astral says its fears are not an exaggeration because DirecTv and ussb have already obtained exclusive agreements with programming services – to each other’s mutual exclusion.

The competition between the two u.s. dbs services has led to DirecTv shutting out usb in the ppv arena, while the same is true for pay-tv movie services where ussb’s deals with hbo, Showtime and others specifically exclude DirecTv.

‘We must not delude anyone: nothing could prevent the u.s. dbs services from extending this exclusivity to Canada,’ says the Astral letter.

Astral holdings

Astral Communications, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Astral Broadcasting Group, is the majority partner and operator of two pay-tv movie services – TMN: The Movie Network and Moviepix – and the Eastern Canadian pay-per-view network, Viewer’s Choice Canada/Canal Premiere. It also owns an equal share with WIC Western International Communications in the Family Channel.

In the French-language market, Astral is the majority owner of pay-tv movie service Super Ecran, Canal Famille and the newly launched Canal D.

Combined annual revenues for the holdings are close to $100 million while total expenditures on Canadian programming are projected to exceed $250 million over the licence terms.

Astral is a minority shareholder and program supplier to Expressvu, a Canadian dth consortium set for a fall 1995 launch. The consortium includes Labatt Communications and three majority shareholders, BCE Inc., Tee-Comm Electronics, wic and Cancom.

Earlier this month, Expressvu chairman Alain Gourd, also Cancom president and ceo, sent a ‘polite’ letter to DirecTv and Power DirecTv asking the u.s. dbs service to cease its unauthorized marketing and distribution activities in Canada.