The CRTC is seeking the public's input into how it should deal with the escalating war between television broadcasters and cable companies.

Ahead of a set of hearings that could change the landscape of the media industry, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has set up a website and is asking Canadians to share their opinions on the controversial fee-for-carriage issue.

Starting Dec. 7, CRTC head Konrad von Finckenstein will chair a set of hearings on the fee-for-carriage issue. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

The CRTC is in the midst of looking at a hornet's nest of options to determine the value of TV signals. Behind the scenes, that question has divided conventional television broadcasters and the cable and satellite companies that distribute them for years.

Starting Dec. 7, in Gatineau, Que., the regulator will hold the latest series of hearings on the matter. The website is part of that process and Canadians have until Dec. 21 to comment online at television.askingcanadians.com.

Among other issues, the agency wants to hear the public's opinion on local television content, consumers' ability to choose different types of channels and packages, and the affordability of cable and satellite television services, the CRTC said in a release.

For several weeks, the two sides of the argument have waged a high-profile advertising campaign on television and at the websites LocalTVMatters.ca and StoptheTVTax.ca, trying to paint the other as the bad guy.

"I think you … are destroying each other and chasing the viewers off television," CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said of the issue earlier this month.

Contentious issue

Broadcasters say local television programming in Canada will die if they don't find a new source of revenue. The cable companies counter that the plea for cash would simply mean consumers would end up paying higher monthly cable or satellite bills. Each side claims they have Canadians' best interests at heart, and accuses the other of trying for a cash grab.

"The TV industry is being transformed like never before," Scott Hutton, the regulator's executive director of broadcasting, said in a video on the special CRTC website asking for consumer comments.

"The government of Canada has asked the CRTC to prepare a report on the impact this might have on consumers and the broadcasting industry," Hutton said.

'You are destroying each other and chasing the viewers off television—CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein

The federal government has ordered the federal broadcast regulator to hold new hearings and file a formal report on the request by TV networks to charge cable and satellite companies for using their local signals.

The networks, hard hit by falling ad revenues, want to collect millions of dollars from companies that deliver their signals to subscribers by cable or satellite.

The cable and satellite firms don't want to eat the fees themselves, but are loath to pass them on to subscribers.

They say customers don't want to pay for signals that can be pulled in free over the airwaves. The networks say people will pay because they appreciate local TV.

With files from The Canadian Press