Back in January the CRTC announced it would ban ‘simsubs’ during the Super Bowl, which meant starting in 2017, Canadians would be able to watch U.S. ads during the NFL finale, instead of inserted local and national advertisements.
Of course this means it would cause Bell Media to lose millions in advertising dollars, and according to The Globe and Mail, the company has filed a motion in court today to appeal the CRTC’s ruling:
On Monday, Bell filed a motion for leave to appeal with the Federal Court of Appeal, claiming a Jan. 29 decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications (CRTC) to ban broadcasters from swapping their own signals and ads in place of American feeds when carrying the Super Bowl “impairs Bell Media’s rights and interests.”
Bell Media spokesman Scott Henderson told the Globe “the CRTC erred in law, exceeded its jurisdiction, and demonstrated a lack of awareness of Canadian attitudes, opinions, and values.”
The company today also released a poll conducted by Nanos Research on its behalf, asking 1,000 Canadians what was more important: “to watch U.S. commercials during the Super Bowl, or to support the Canadian broadcasters that have paid for the broadcasting rights.” The conclusion was close to 69 per cent supported broadcasters, nearly 20 per cent said they would rather watch U.S. ads, while 11 per cent said they were undecided.
Last month, the CRTC denied Bell closed door meetings to discuss simsubs, as the Commission noted the decision was based on public proceedings.
Bell is also currently embroiled in a battle with the CRTC over its Mobile TV app and how it subsidized data streams compared to those available to other apps.
Do you want to see U.S. or Canadian ads during the Super Bowl?
