Video Age International January 2016

4 World January 2016 V I D E O A G E R ecent industry moves in Canada could influence the country’s future media landscape and set the stage for other countries to follow suit. As of this month, the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has introduced á-la-carte, or pick-and-pay, to appease Canadian cable and satellite TV subscribers who complained about paying for packages of channels that include those they do not want. As a result, some of the smaller and less-watched specialty services may have reduced subscriber and advertising revenues. If no longer economically viable, those channels might not be able to survive the change. However, some big channels, like sports channels, might be affected as well, since not all subscribers want to pay for them. Canadian cable and satellite operators will start to introduce the á-la-carte packaging inMarch and by December 2016 all operators will have to finalize it. The CRTC has vowed to monitor á-la-carte pricing to make sure consumers don’t end up paying more to receive fewer channels. Negotiations are also heating up between channels and operators for the sub fees. In Canada there are no retrans fees and therefore FTA TV channels are not affected, as they are not the U.S. TV networks reaching into Canada (the so-called four-plus-one). Looking ahead, this potential loss in outlets for programming, whether acquired or produced, could also affect the local marketplace reflected here at NATPE-Miami. LATAM’sAd SpendHas Mood Swings S tatistics about advertising spending in LATAM are all over the place. Indications of total ad spend in 2015 vary from U.S.$39 billion to $49 billion. Growth, compared to the previous year, varies from 10 percent to 12 percent. However, two figures which seem to be fairly constant are that LATAM still accounts for little more than seven percent of total worldwide ad spending, and that free-to-air television’s share averages 62 percent with peaks of 66 percent in Brazil and just 49 percent in Peru (in Mexico is 53 percent). In terms of actual ad spending, estimates for Brazil range from U.S.$20.45 billion to $22.58 billion; for Mexico they vary from U.S.$5.32 billion to $5.54 billion and in Argentina from U.S.$4.89 billion to $5.07 billion. In Colombia, total ad spent is set at U.S.$1.46 billion, in Chile at U.S.$1.22 billion and in Peru at U.S.$800 million. Letter to the Editor I just received the November issue of VideoAge . Reading it was like I was back in old times again. Very happy to see Herb Lazarus named to the International TV Distribution Hall of Fame. Great guy, richly deserved recognition. Archie C. Purvis Los Angeles Canada Orders Á-La-Carte Menus From Cable, Satellite TV