A message from Jim Shaw

[SaggyBalls]

Broadcasters Begging for Bailouts - Again.

After being turned down twice, Global TV, CTV and CBC are back demanding a bailout of hundreds of millions of dollars. Without mincing words, this is a tax. It is a direct tax on you and 10 million Canadian families who are cable or satellite TV subscribers.

These broadcasters are threatening to cut local newscasts, cut jobs and close television stations. They are holding you hostage demanding a tax on subscribers as the ransom. This TV tax will result in a $6 a month increase in your cable or satellite bill. That’s $72 more per year – for no new programming and no new jobs.

Because Canadian consumers would get nothing in return and the broadcasters would make no commitments to sustain local programming, the CRTC has twice denied the broadcasters’ demand for the TV tax. But that hasn’t stopped them.

Don’t put another tax on Canadians.

Canadians are already overtaxed and facing tough times as the global recession deepens. They deserve better from the broadcasting business – more innovation, better Canadian programming, more local information, more competition and better service. They don’t need to pay another tax rewarding broadcasters’ poor performance.

How can you believe what they say?

They are asking you to save local TV when in fact they have been starving local programming across Canada for years. Look no further than your own local station or Sault Ste. Marie, Barrie, Timmins, North Bay, Windsor, Brandon and Wingham. More hypocrisy.

At Shaw, we believe television has a bright future; that’s why we took CTV up on its offer to purchase a number of local stations. We are already producing over 9000 hours of local programming on our community cable channels.

Broadcasters need to be held accountable.

Canadians should not have to pay to fix broadcasters’ problems. They’ve spent billions of dollars acquiring foreign programs, TV stations and newspapers and now they say they’re broke? Can CTV explain why they spent millions last year to purchase U.S. programming that will sit on the shelf just to keep it out of the hands of their competitors? These private companies need to be held accountable for their decisions. They should spend less time misleading Canadians and more time managing their businesses and producing local programming.

The sky is not falling.

Canadian broadcasting faces an exciting future. The government has done a remarkable job kick-starting the economy, creating jobs, eliminating unnecessary taxes and assisting Canadian television production. A new tax would drag this progress down.

If the broadcasters get this bailout, you can be sure they will be back for more.

We think it is time to speak out, we should say no to this tax.

Jim Shaw

CEO & Vice Chair

Shaw Communications Inc.