TV tax bashers fight for their right to watch poker, and ‘Fraggle Rock’

“The news is too depressing,” Marjorie Lemieux told the commissioners responsible for regulating Canadian television today. “I watch poker and other game shows.” Reruns of Fraggle Rock, too — which is why Marjorie and five other concerned citizens turned up in Gatineau to back the cable industry’s effort to Stop the TV Tax. “This is not an epic battle,” mused CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein on Monday, “this is not something will turn the world upside down.” But after the executives driving the Local TV Matters campaign got their hearing last month, threatening to pull the plug on regional newscasts, this was the turn for everyday people to speak their mind. “I don’t have any trust in local news broadcasters anymore,” said TV tax opponent Ruben Boiardi. “They’re no longer relevant on my dial.” So, does this whole thing go down in history as a colossal joke? At least, as tweeted by CARTT.ca editor Greg O’Brien, the commissioners were enjoying the dialogue more than listening to the lawyers. Are the people still willing to pay for more channels than they watch? “I don’t mind,” said Lydia Luckevich. “It’s the Canadian way!” Yet executives arguing that Chris Anderson’s premise of The Long Tail is realized by making customers pay for television they don’t watch seems like a stretch — a decade of digital cable, and no low-budget show gained an audience by accident. Then there’s Ms. Lemieux, who just wants to watch game shows, while admitting her fiancé can’t stand them. “Sorry Marjorie,” tweeted Alan Sawyer, “it will never last.”