{"id":5042,"date":"2011-09-21T16:12:12","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T20:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=5042"},"modified":"2011-09-21T16:12:12","modified_gmt":"2011-09-21T20:12:12","slug":"integrated-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=5042","title":{"rendered":"Integrated Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Any of you remember the promise of ISDN? Integrated Services Digital Networks were the rage in telecom design in the late 1980s, promising to make our phone lines run faster and jump higher, integrating voice data and image.<\/p>\n

That is a 25 year old technology story, and it is a tale that may have given birth to media convergence a generation ago. That “C”-word led to the premature demise of a number of corporate titans, so we now tend to speak in terms of vertical integration. In its consultation document<\/a>, the CRTC defined the term as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cvertical integration\u201d refers to the ownership, by one entity, of both programming and distribution undertakings, or, both programming undertakings and production companies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words: cable or satellite companies that own TV stations; or TV stations that produce programming; or presumably all three together. Five years ago, I wrote about what I saw then as the ultimate in convergence in the opening episode of 30 Rock<\/a>, a show that later enjoyed a full year of story lines parodying the approval of NBC’s acquisition by Comcast. I wrote about this again in June<\/a>, just before the oral hearings [includes link to interview with CRTC Chair<\/a> at this year’s Canadian Telecom Summit].<\/p>\n

In any case, the CRTC has decided [from its press release<\/a>]:<\/p>\n

Following its examination of consolidation in the broadcasting industry, the CRTC has decided to:<\/p>\n