The pool standings have not altered much since Dix finally got around to updating them yesterday. Three days late, but then he is a busy development exec with Super Channel -- the network which hasn't actually created any programming since its launch last fall.
But I'm sure things are looking up over there since my good friend Jim Shaw stopped dicking around with their "must carry" status and finally made them available to Western Canada.
Although the story I hear -- not from Will, he's much too discreet, something the blog world would benefit from him addressing -- anyway, the story I hear is Lucky Jim parked Super Channel on a part of the dial inaccessible to anybody without a new HD dish and/or receiver.
Available from your friends at Shaw for the low, low introductory price of $66.95!
Much as I pled Jim's case over at Blogtalkradio last week, he really is a Dick.
I wonder how this is playing up in Gatineau? Or are all the CRTC Commissioners now taking lessons in working with Netscape and Eudora so they can get a handle on this Interwebs thing they now want to regulate?
I mean, how do you think things might work in the Canadian television industry if it actually were either regulated or un-regulated?
If it were truly REGULATED then Shaw couldn't pull this shit.
But what passes for regulation also includes "Tier 1" and "Tier 2" and "Category A" and "Category B", plus "must carry" and "carry if you sorta feel like it" clauses all with their own sliding content percentages and who knows what the fuck else that nobody (including the CRTC) can follow.
So Shaw and Rogers and Bell can all stall a newcomer, move channels at a whim and delete access or limit it until whoever they own or have a side deal with gains some advantage.
I also hear "NCIS" is now coming to History Television -- and that show is totally made up! But still nobody is allowed to compete with their well protected genre.
Maybe I'm naive, stupid and just plain wrong, but I can't see any of this happening with DE-regulation.
In that world, nobody gets a BDU monopoly either and it's subscribers who finally get to drive the bus. If the audience wants Bollywood movies or a Gay channel or nothing but UFC on a Friday night, that'll be what gets on the dial.
Sure, maybe Shaw will only offer their own shopping channel and Rogers may only offer theirs. But as the consumer figures that out (the old fashioned way through word of mouth or seeing what their neighbors are getting) that'll get settled too. If the Rogers channel is selling Cubic Zirconium and Shaw isn't then they'll get the product from the manufacturers and eventually most of the shopper subscribers.
And if somebody programs real history instead of the fake stuff, it might be what sells best to that suddenly free to make a choice demographic.
Sorry, but this system deserves to be blown up. If it isn't, new players like "HD" or "Out" will never get a shot at an audience and guys like Shaw and Ted and whoever runs the Borg at Bell will continue to throw their weight around with impunity.
Distribution has always been the choke hold and somebody has to break that grip.
And speaking of breaking a chokehold -- I'm making some upgrades to the Pool.
The current contest and rules will remain in effect, but we're adding something else to rekindle the fire. It'll be open to current players and anybody else who wants in on the amazing thrill ride that has been this year's pool.
Uh...anyway...
The current standings as Detroit and Pittsburgh apply their own version of the Jim Shaw chokehold:
1 John Callaghan 159
2 Scotty William 158
3 Will Pascoe 156
3 Jeff Martel 156
5 Laurie Nyveen 151
6 Brian Stockton 142
7 Michael Foster 140
8 Denis McGrath 138
9 Juniper 136
10 Peter Allen Rowley 135
11 Mark Askwith 134
12 Wil Zmak 133
13 Will Dixon 130
14 Larry Raskin 119
15 Mark Farrell 117
16 Robert de Lint 98
17 Jim Henshaw 69
Pool 2.0 debuts for the final round of the Stanley Cup.
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