Re: [Swprograms] CBC on XM Satellite Radio

[Joe Buch <joseph.buch@xxxxxxx>]

At 02:41 PM 12/9/04 -0500, John Figliozzi wrote:

>There'll be Canadian content on XM; but no CBC Radio.  The CBC is partnered with Sirius and Standard Radio in the Sirius Canada venture.  I doubt they would make their product available to a direct competitor.  But, today?  Who knows for sure?  :-))
>
>But there has been NO announcement from XM or CBC regarding CBC Radio carriage on XM.  And I don't expect to see one.
>

Here are two paragraphs from the NYT article that caused me to believe that CBC would be carried by XM:

" 'This is the first time we will be exporting channels into the U.S.,' said Kevin Shea, the president of Sirius Canada, a consortium made up of Sirius Radio, Standard Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's national public broadcaster. The company has promised to offer four CBC stations and one station produced by Standard Radio, a large privately owned Canadian broadcast company."

"Canadian Satellite Radio, in partnership with XM Satellite Radio, plans to offer a similar mix of news and music stations, as well as a Canadian comedy channel."

John, I do not know where XM would get a "similar mix of news and music." from Canadian sources unless they also relayed the English and French 1st and 2nd networks. For XM to develop their own programming with equivalent quality would be prohibitively expensive.  The crappy look angles to the XM satellites will be enough of a handicap for XM without introducing significant "similar" programming costs.  I have seen nothing in the press releases to indicate that the Sirius/CBC deal is exclusive.  I think a public broadcaster like CBC would almost have to share its content with all commercial comers in order to avoid charges of Canadian tax dollars favoring one commercial entity over another.  From the CRTC viewpoint it would seem in the Canadian national interest to have both services extending the coverage of CBC Radio.  The competition would also help to keep Canadian subscriber fees under control.

I know that in the past you have made negative comments regarding humor programs (sorry, programmes) on CBC radio.  I got the impression that you think topical humor does not travel well across the border because of the general lack of awareness of Canadian politics and culture here in the USA.  Having lived three years in Canada during my 20's, I am not a good judge.  

Consider however, that with 80% of the young USA population getting their news from Jay Leno and David Letterman, I think Canadian comedy might have the very positive effect of painlessly introducing US audiences to our Northern Neighbor.  Maybe Canada will finally be able to dispel the myth in American minds that Canadians put their elderly grandparents on ice flows with a case of Moosehead when it is time for the old folks to pass on.


~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,
Joe Buch
-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^


_______________________________________________
Swprograms mailing list
Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://dallas.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms

To unsubscribe:  Send an E-mail to  swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.