|
9924 THE CHAIRPERSON: Commissioner Cram has a further question. 9925 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Thank you, Madam Chair. 9926 Mr. Pachul, I'm thinking about my question to you before about the necessity for you to get a cable channel. Is it necessary to have to tell advertisers -- because your reason for doing that is you need to tell an advertiser that you are on cable, so would you only need to be on one cable licence, not the mandatory ones that are covered -- 9927 MR. PACHUL: I think they are just searching for straws, the cable companies, and they are trying to use this concept that we are going to get into Peel and all these outlying areas as some kind of reasoning that they can't seem to come up with. 9928 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Mr. Pachul, my question was, based on your basis that you say you need to have cable so you can tell advertisers that you are on cable, if I follow that through, you only need to tell them you are on one cable system and that's all you need. 9929 MR. PACHUL: Pretty much, yes. Sure. Sure. Absolutely. 9930 COMMISSIONER CRAM: So do I understand it right that, if that is your reasoning, you only then need to be on one cable system and you are fine and you are covered with your advertisers? 9931 MR. PACHUL: Sure. Sure. As long as -- we don't even need 15 kilometres. As long as we could do the 12 kilometres that is specified by Industry Canada, that would be fine by -- 9932 MR. PACHUL: No, Mr. Pachul. I'm saying if the reason you say you need to be on cable is to say to an advertiser, "I'm on cable", and if your coverage covers five or six licences, you only need coverage -- you only need cable carriage on one licence to be able to say to an advertiser, "I'm on cable"? 9933 MR. PACHUL: Well, yes. Technically, yes. 9934 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Isn't that correct? 9935 MR. PACHUL: Yes. Yes. 9936 COMMISSIONER CRAM: And you think that your attractiveness is in fact on -- really to the off-air industry -- 9937 MR. PACHUL: Actually, I have an interesting point to make there. 9938 I don't(sic) really see why Rogers and the cable people are so objecting to this, the coverage of our channel, because what happens if a bunch of people start wanting to watch Star Ray TV off-the-air and they start becoming educated to the fact that there is off-the-air TV. It would be to their detriment because people would all of a sudden start watching off-the-air. 9939 COMMISSIONER CRAM: Then they will come and pay you money to carry Star Ray TV. 9940 Thank you very much. 9941 THE CHAIRPERSON: Mr. Pachul, just so that we have you on the record in that regard, is the desire to be carried on basic service, I understand not on the basic band, integral to your application and not severable from it? In other words, you wouldn't want to proceed without some assurance that there is cable carriage? 9942 MR. PACHUL: I would accept the licence on-air only, but I don't think I could meet the various targets that I have because I think my targets were based on a high channel of some sort. 9943 THE CHAIRPERSON: So would affect your business plan -- 9944 MR. PACHUL: Oh, sure. Sure. 9945 THE CHAIRPERSON: -- to the point where the programming plan that you posited would no longer be possible? 9946 MR. PACHUL: Well, just like they were saying, you know, we would be a marginal channel, which I agree with. 9947 THE CHAIRPERSON: I'm not sure I understand your answer to Commissioner Cram, because what if theoretically the only cable operator that carried you was a Class 3 with very few subscribers? Surely that wouldn't impress an advertiser. 9948 MR. PACHUL: Well, that is what I was trying to get at. 9949 THE CHAIRPERSON: The advertisers would ask you how many homes -- 9950 MR. PACHUL: Yes, yes. Sure, sure. 9951 Yes, that's what I was trying to get at. I was trying to be more specific as to what Ms Cram was referring to. 9952 Basically my concept is, if we got on within those 12 kilometres I would be happy, but the regulations state 15, which I'm happy with too, but I don't really see any need to get into Mississauga. 9953 THE CHAIRPERSON: But that would be, as was discussed with Ms Watson, whether it's 12 kilometres or 15, if the Grade B contour reached the head end then you would want the entire territory concerned to carry you? 9954 MR. PACHUL: Yes. Well, I just wonder why there is so much controversy because Citytv claims they are a local TV station in Toronto and I was in my hotel room today and I saw Citytv on and it seems to me I am in Hull, Quebec, aren't I? 9955 THE CHAIRPERSON: Because they have a retransmitting tower. They have a rebroadcasting transmitter here so their own basic -- in fact, my understanding is they also have lower band priority, don't they? You know, that doesn't mean the very basic band, but they have priority as well, and so does CHCH Hamilton. 9956 Thank you very much. 9957 MR. PACHUL: Thank you. 9958 THE CHAIRPERSON: I believe those are all our questions. 9959 We appreciate your patience. We are very late for a Friday night, but we have to sit tomorrow as well. 9960 So have a good trip back to Toronto and thank you. 9961 MR. PACHUL: Thank you. 9962 THE CHAIRPERSON: So we will adjourn for today. 9963 We will start at nine o'clock tomorrow morning to hear Mr. Rajda's application as well as the Belleville application. 9964 Thank you. --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 1837 |