CRARR SUPPORTS TV BROADCASTERS' REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO CABLE DISTRIBUTION FEES

Montreal, November 23, 2009 --- CRARR has joined thousands of Canadians in calling upon the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to develop a regime to allow television broadcasters to negotiate with cable and satellite companies for a greater share of the latter's fees.

In a submission to the CRTC, CRARR stressed the needs and the special situation of local English-language television broadcasters such as CTV and Global TV, due to the context of the English-language community of Quebec.

“Local broadcasters are indispensable to Montreal's social, cultural, economic and technological development...CRARR is very concerned that local broadcasters have to face growing hardship while local cable companies, whose corporate social responsibility is often not as evident, enjoy greater financial health,“ it stated in its letter.

The CRTC hearings will begin on December 7, 2009, in Gatineau. CRARR has been scheduled to appear.