‘Widespread theft’ of TV signals across Canada costs the cable industry more than $400 million in lost revenue every year, according to a new study from satellite operator Bell ExpressVu.

The study, conducted by Pathlink Engineering for Bell, found that of the 8.1 million households with cable service, 4% of single-family homes and 10% of multiple family homes watch pirated signals, cutting revenue by some $290 million. A further $128 million is chalked up to the theft of scrambled premium channels. According to Statistics Canada, total cable industry revenue for 1999, the most recent year for which figures are available, was $3.5 billion.

‘This study directly contradicts the assertion by cable companies…that signal theft is only a satellite problem,’ said Bell ExpressVu president Timothy McGee in a statement.

A recent anti-piracy campaign in the media, he says, puts undue blame on direct-to-home providers.

But Janet Yale, president and CEO of the Canadian Cable Television Association, says Bell has it backwards. She claims it is the satellite biz that loses $400 million a year, while cable losses amount to just $40 million.

‘The main problem is U.S. satellite signal theft and the black-market satellite systems that are coming into this country from the U.S.,’ she says. ‘That’s the main event.’

Yale says Bell ExpressVu is trying to cloud the piracy issue and calls the study a ‘sideshow,’ adding, ‘Let’s not study it to death. Let’s solve the problem. What are we doing to stop dealers?’