Source : Toronto Star

Two carriers flout CRTC ruling

Call me out-raged.

Outraged that, when the overwhelming majority of Canadians believe that gays and lesbians should have equal rights, the country's biggest communications behemoths want to keep them out ... of sight.

That's how it's playing out for OUTtv, the new gay and lesbian digital lifestyle channel that debuted last week, replacing Pridevision on the Rogers dial.

But this is most definitely not a knock against Rogers, which has been enlightened about distributing both channels fairly.

In fact, in its digital channel shuffle this month — which still has me furiously flipping in search of Fox News and MSNBC — Rogers bumped OUTtv to the not inappropriately numbered channel 269.

That's straight in the middle of its "Lifestyle" tier of services, including Fine Living and FashionTelevision, which both have a high diva-quotient too.

Pridevision, meanwhile, after some regulatory rearranging, is a stand-alone pay channel, an adult channel with adult content, further up the dial.

But OUTtv, which inherited the old Pridevision licence, is no racier than anything you find on most other channels. It boasts comedies, dramas, travel and talk shows, many of which have already aired elsewhere.

The difference is, when the "You may kiss the bride" part comes on the wedding show, the bride may have a beard.

Compare how Rogers has treated OUTtv with what Shaw Communications has done.

Shaw, which not only owns the country's second biggest digital cable system but also has the Star Choice satellite distribution outfit, has placed OUTtv in its "adult" fare package, along with Playboy and Hustler, where it charges extra for it.

What's more, it has dropped Pridevision completely.

Star Choice, meanwhile, doesn't carry OUTtv at all.

These moves are not only discriminatory, they violate regulations set by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

They are also devastating financially. That's because Shaw controls 33 per cent of the digital TV distribution business.

To add to OUTtv's woes, Bell ExpressVu, Canada's biggest satellite outfit with a 35 per cent share, has packaged OUTtv with its Playboy and Venus adult channels. It's asking $2.50 for the service, way more than it charges for other "category one'' digital channels.

"Category One" are the Canadian digital channels licensed in 2000, all of which were must-carry services for the cable and satellite companies.

But, back in 2001, when all those channels launched with a free preview period, Shaw refused to give Pridevision the same access to potential subscribers. Afraid of a backlash, it would not unscramble the channel the way it did other offerings, including SexTV.

That's despite the fact digital boxes include parental controls to prevent unwanted content from coming into the home.

Still, although it had a distribution handicap during the preview, Pridevision was one of the most popular of the new channels.

Trouble was, at least according to Pridevision's filings with the CRTC, Shaw continued to push the channel back into the closet, with discriminatory treatment that resulted in it becoming a stand-alone pay channel. That decision, Pridevision's management would complain, forced them to program more and more adult content, in order to sell more subscriptions.

Fast forward to last year when a money-losing Pridevision was sold to entrepreneur Bill Craig.

As a gay man himself, with children, he didn't feel that Pridevision was representative of the gay lifestyle, and so he decided to launch OUTtv, flip its licence with Pridevision's and make the latter strictly adult.

He did that all with the CRTC's approval. But Shaw and ExpressVu refuse to go along — and there will be a special hearing on the matter next week.

In his temporary Church St. digs, where he's camping with his staff among cardboard boxes in the offices of Xtra! magazine, Craig argues that all he wants is equal treatment and fair packaging for OUTtv.

"It's very frustrating," he says, that "these two distribution behemoths continue to constrain our little operation and may indeed snuff us out with their tactics and practices."

Calls to Shaw executives were not returned.

A Bell ExpressVu spokeswoman said this "is a business discussion between two partners."

That may be.

But it smells awful queer to me.

© The Toronto Star