Editor:
On Saturday, March 19, I made the predictable post-CRTC-ruling call to my TV provider to see about dropping the 40 or so channels I unwillingly receive, as a way of bringing the monthly bill down.
Most of your readers will anticipate the patronizing response I got: “No, sir (sigh), the media have misrepresented the CRTC ruling, and the bundling ‘trap’ (my word) remains the same.” In other words, if you or I want a particular channel, we must buy six others to get at it. (The analogy that occurs to me is a clothing store stipulating that you can buy the pair of pants you want, but only if you buy two shirts and three pairs of socks as well.)
On Sunday, March 20, I viewed one of the channels I am at ease with paying for and watched on CNN a show called Wonder List, featuring a report from Cuba by one Bill Weir timed to coincide with President Obama’s historic visit to Havana. One of Mr. Weir’s interviewees is a Cuban returned to his country after seven years residence in Miami. When asked what aspects of American capitalist culture most repulse him, he cited only one specific: the practice of bundling TV cable channels with promulgation of unwanted junk, with its unwanted advertising, on one’s TV set.
(1) I am not making that up.
(2) The CRTC ruling could hardly be more innocuous.
David Evans, Sechelt
