Andrew Coyne: CRTC regulators seem to be confused what century it is

Andrew Coyne writes:

"The most talked about show on American television this year isn’t on television. House of Cards, a $100-million political thriller (based on the British show of the same name) does not appear in any network’s schedule, has never been broadcast, yet has been seen by millions of people — streamed over the Internet to Netflix’s 30 million U.S. subscribers, at any time and in any configuration (one, some, or all 13 episodes at once) that suits them.
"Netflix is hardly alone in this space. Hulu, Amazon, AOL, Crackle, plus dozens of smaller startups are all busily ramping up the range and quality of online content they provide, hoping to emulate Netflix’s success. There is, indeed, something of a gold rush on for content online. Yahoo has just bought Saturday Night Live’s entire back catalogue. YouTube now offers full-length feature films alongside its traditional repertoire of skateboarding dogs. . . .

" . . .now I want to take you to a committee room in Gatineau, Que., where the CRTC is holding hearings — in 2013, not 1968 — on whether to require cable companies to carry, and their subscribers to pay for, a raft of new and existing channels that have been unable to persuade subscribers to part with their money on their own. That is, the applicants are asking to be added to the bundle of channels known as “basic cable,” which every cable subscriber in the country is obliged to take. Never mind channels — bundles! It’s almost charming, it’s so anachronistic."
The full column