CRTC chairman knocks Rogers, Shaw for axing video-streaming service.

Rogers, Shaw bailed on ‘future of content’

OTTAWA • Jean-Pierre Blais, the head of Canada’s telecom regulator, took a swipe at two telecommunications giants for killing their nascent video streaming service in an age in which the Internet has disrupted traditional platforms and the “viewer is emperor.”

In a speech in Ottawa Wednesday, Blais revealed he was shocked at the September news that and

planned to shutter Shomi, a joint venture in which the cable companies had sunk hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Far be it for me to criticize the decisions taken by seasoned business people, but I can’t help but be surprised when major players throw in the towel on a platform that is the future of content — just two years after it launched,” Blais said, according to an advance copy of a keynote speech he was set to deliver at the International Institute of Communications conference.

“I have to wonder if they are too used to receiving rents from subscribers every month in a protected ecosystem, rather than rolling up their sleeves in order to build a business without regulatory intervention and protection.”

Blais’ speech comes as his time as CRTC chairman — a five-year period largely characterized by a focus on consumers and smaller competitors rather than incumbent providers — winds down, with his term set to expire in June. Speculation is rampant over whether his term will be extended.

But he’s not holding back critiques of industry players in his final months, if Wednesday’s speech is any indication.