[Swprograms] More on Sirius in Canada

["Sandy Finlayson" <sfinlayson@xxxxxxx>]

Satellite radio players defensive
Sirius to add more French-language satellite radio service to appease cabinet
By John Ward
Canadian Press

http://www.cbcwatch.ca/?q=node/view/1301

OTTAWA - Satellite radio provider Sirius Canada Inc., is scrambling to increase its French-language programming in the hope of staving off a cabinet-ordered review of its license approval.

Heritage Minister Liza Frulla is working on a proposal that will ask her cabinet colleagues to order a review of a CRTC decision that awarded three licences for satellite radio service.

Some Liberal MPs complained that the June decision short-changed francophones.

The cabinet has until Sept. 14 to approve, reject or send the licence decision back to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for a review.

Kevin Shea, CEO of Sirius, said he hopes his company can address the complaints and avoid a review.

"We're well aware of the fact that Mme. Frulla does have some concerns with respect to the equality of French service, meaning the number of francophone Canadian services," he said Monday.

"What we are busy working at now . . . is to try and see if we can address some of those issues and quickly."

The preferred solution is to beef up French-language offerings, he said.

Other concerns, such as Canadian content and financial commitment were addressed over a lengthy series of CRTC hearings, he added.

The subscription radio licences issued to Sirius Canada Inc., and Canadian Satellite Radio Inc., require the satellite providers to produce eight original channels in Canada and one francophone channel for every three English-language stations. Most channels will be American.

A third licence was issued to a consortium of CHUM Ltd. and Astral Media Inc. They complain that their business model will not work against the Sirius-CSR plan to beam hundreds of channels of radio content from U.S.-owned satellites to Canadian subscribers.

CHUM-Astral launched their own appeal against their competitors.

There was no word if CSR will try to expand its French-language offerings to help appease the cabinet. Company president John Bitove has said a review would delay the introduction of satellite radio for years.

That would hurt automakers General Motors and Daimler-Chrysler, which want to factory-install digital receivers in some 2006 models.

The digital radio decision sparked controversy from the moment the CRTC gave its approval.

The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting enlisted a number of cultural and labour groups, ranging from the Canadian Conference of the Arts to the Canadian Auto Workers, to send a petition to cabinet to set aside the decision. The petition said the Canadian-content rules for the subscription services were well below levels required for conventional broadcasters. The concern was that these broadcasters would demand similar treatment at licence renewal time, watering down Canadian content overall.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seven out of ten Canadians support CRTC in granting licenses to Canadian satellite radio providers 

http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/August2005/29/c3898.html

    -- Satisfied with Canadian content requirements --

    TORONTO, Aug. 29 /CNW/ - A recent study commissioned by Sirius Canada
revealed 76% of Canadians support the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications
Commission's (CRTC) decision to grant satellite radio licenses to Canadian
providers.
    Furthermore, only 21% of Quebecers think the federal cabinet should
overturn the CRTC decision and not allow the current satellite radio options
while 69% of Quebecers support the CRTC ruling. In Quebec, there has been some
recent opposition and a coalition of arts groups has appealed the CRTC
decision. These appeals are to be reviewed by federal cabinet officials in the
coming weeks.
    "One rarely sees this kind of consensus in the country on any topic, said
Kevin Shea, President and CEO, Sirius Canada. "We were delighted to see that
Quebecers support satellite radio just as the rest of Canada," he added. "With
satellite radio, Quebecers will get the opportunity to listen to French radio
wherever they are in North America."
    Awareness of satellite radio appears to be increasing among Canadians.
While a survey last fall reported that 44% of Canadians were aware of the
service, this survey finds 63% indicating some level of awareness and 36% say
they have a reasonably high level of awareness of the service.

    Exposure for Canadian Artists

    One of the most compelling factors about the current satellite radio
proposals that excites most Canadians, including Quebecers, is the exposure
Canadian artists will get throughout North America. More than 71% of Canadians
surveyed responded positively to the fact that Canadian artists will now be
featured on satellite radio throughout Canada and the U.S. to more than     
6.2 million current subscribers.
    Furthermore, 69% of Quebecers agree (31% strongly agree) that having four
commercial-free 100% French radio stations broadcast throughout North America
will provide Quebec artists with great exposure.
    In fact, Quebec respondents are more interested in the prospect of having
Quebec artists heard all over North America than they are about the prospect
of American English channels threatening Quebec culture (27% strongly agree.)
    "At a time when Quebec artists such as Gregory Charles or Jonas are
beginning to receive worldwide attention, but still finding current radio
formats somewhat restrictive, satellite radio will open the door to a huge
North American listening audience," said Shea.

    Canadian Content

    Compared to other major policy issues facing the country, the issue of
Canadian content, even with Quebecers, was not deemed to be a high priority to
most Canadians. While most Canadians were quite satisfied with the level of
Canadian content required by the CRTC and do not see satellite radio as any
threat to Canadian culture, not surprisingly Quebecers would prefer more
French stations.

    Market Potential

    In terms of market potential, 22% of Canadians said that they would be
interested in subscribing to a satellite radio service with 21% interest in
Quebec. But by far the strongest interest comes from younger Canadians, with
one third of Canadians under the age of 35 interested in becoming subscribers
to satellite radio.

    Grey Market

    The study also looked at the current "grey market", that is existing
subscribers and potential of Canadian subscribers to a U.S. offering. While
only 2% of respondents currently were subscribers, more than 9% knew someone
who already has a subscription. Furthermore, 12% of Canadians say they would
be interested in subscribing to the service in the U.S. if satellite radio was
not licensed in Canada.
    "We believe that there are currently over 100,000 Canadians already
subscribing to satellite radio in the U.S.," said Shea. "If 12% of Canadians
would be interested in joining the grey market through the U.S., that's close
to three million Canadians."

    The national study, conducted by Veraxis Research and Communications in
August of this year, consisted of a sample of 1,200 Canadians, including 500
in Quebec.



For further information: Nolan Reeds/Jeff Roman, Edelman Public 
Relations, (416) 979-1120; Kevin Shea, Sirius Canada, (416) 323-5414


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