CANADIAN CABLERS WANT AL-JAZEERA
Canadian cable distributor Vidéotron is asking the country’s broadcast regulator to approve carriage of Arab news channel Al-Jazeera, due to a marked increase in the number of customer requests for Al-Jazeera in recent weeks. On February 12, Vidéotron petitioned Canada’s broadcaster watchdog, the CRTC to receive approval to carry Al-Jazeera along with a slate of international channels, including two other Arab services: Art Movies and LBC America. If the approval goes through, Vidéotron would initially be the only Canadian distributor to carry Al-Jazeera. Currently, the only way to get the Arab news channel in Canada is via the grey market, or illegally accessing DirecTV, an American satellite service. Vidéotron, which serves about 1.45 million cable customers, primarily in Quebec is also seeking to distribute
Spanish and Portuguese channels including Sur, GOL, TUE, Grandes Documentales, Cine Latino, TV Azteca 13, TV Chile, Eurochannel, and Utilisma Satelital.