GRANT ROBERTSON | October 20, 2007

Cable and satellite carriers are mounting a push to import foreign channels such as the USA Network, which are now blocked from coming into Canada because they would compete too closely with domestic broadcasters.

In a submission to federal broadcast regulators yesterday, Rogers Communications Inc. called on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to change how it determines which channels can be imported.

"Any non-Canadian service that would not threaten the viability of a launched Canadian programming service" should be allowed in, Rogers said. At present, the CRTC compares programming of foreign channels with Canadian broadcasters to determine whether there is too much overlap.

Rogers said Canadian broadcasters should have to prove they would be financially harmed by the imported channel, instead of just comparing similarities in programming.

Original article here