ONE OF THE FORMER rules of thumb when it comes to opinionating was: Never Use “I”.
Saying “I think” or “I believe” in a column is redundant and lazy. To paraphrase what more than one editor has said in my presence over the years: “Readers already know it’s what you think, your name’s at the top of the piece. Be more creative in how you write.”
So, with apologies to all of my former bosses, I must say: I have a headache. I’ve grown just a little weary of thinking about the so-called crisis in conventional television. And judging from the phone calls of late and the e-mail in-box – not to mention a number of tweets, I’m not alone.
However, while we may exhausted by the whole battle over conventional TV right now, the ideas and comments continue to flow in.
So, I’m taking myself out of this particular column (mostly) and telling you what others have told me, or asked me, over the past two weeks or so. And yes, since these conversations were just off-the-record chats, or e-chats, those folks will remain anonymous.
So, here goes:
• Instead of clamouring for a fee-for-carriage of the same old signal everyone has been able to get for free for decades and still can now, if they really want it, why not try to convince the CRTC and consumers that fee-for-HDTV is a good idea? Canadians might be able to understand that and with most carriers charging extra for HD anyway, viewers are accustomed to paying for it already.
• CTV’s Save Local campaign is being resoundingly criticized by most I’ve talked to in the industry. “It’s sort of embarrassing what they’re making their reporters do,” a TV journo said to me after viewing the various interviews and friendly testimonials being shown on www.savelocal.ctv.ca. Interviews with their CTV bosses or getting small-town mayors to tell them how important they are is leaving a bad taste in many mouths (although the BNN piece with CTV CEO Ivan Fecan, I thought, was surprisingly tough). A comment I’ve heard more than once likened the whole thing to a PBS fundraising weekend.
• Plus, launching a “Save Local” campaign in the markets where you’ve just slashed local TV seems a little too late, doesn’t it, asked several readers.
• Maybe it’s just time to lock Fecan, Nadir Mohamed, Jim Shaw, Pierre Karl Péladeau and Leonard Asper in a room with Konrad von Finckenstein – without their communications staffers or regulatory lawyers (OK, I’ll volunteer to take notes) – to hammer out how the hell they want the industry to work – in a way that’s fair to consumers, broadcasters and distributors. Consumers especially.
• The CBC should have its own set of rules. They are a national public broadcaster with an entirely different mandate.
• The Quebec market needs its own set of rules, too. Broadcasting there is a different animal than compared to the rest of Canada. That’s not to say people want a Quebec Commission, just a distinct set of conditions that reflect the marketplace in that province.
• One of the more prevailing opinions is that it doesn’t matter what we do here anyway. The global media world is transforming in a way no one can predict and there isn’t a single thing we here in Canada can do about it other than to try to seize opportunities as they arise.
• Anyone who says they want a U.S.-style retransmission consent regime already knows it can’t happen. To make it work, there can only be one channel for people to get the latest CSI on, for example, not three (or more). In American local markets, if the CBS affiliate goes dark, people can’t see their favourite shows unless they still have rabbit ears. Or maybe those asking for the American format in Canada are thinking about the full U.S. hardball model where if a company can’t come to an agreement with one channel, all channels are in jeopardy with that particular distributor. That would mean CTV could yank TSN while fighting Rogers for new OTA carriage fees for CFTO. Maybe that’s the deregulatory road we need to drive down.
• Carriers who say that people will disconnect their cable or satellite subscriptions en masse if faced with another $3-$5 a month on their bill know that just isn’t true. I believe that one, actually.
• If people aren’t watching the six o’clock news as much anymore, why isn’t it available on demand at around 9:30, when I have some time to watch it? OK, that one’s mine. But seriously, at 6 p.m., I’m at swimming, coaching soccer, working or my kids are watching something that sure isn’t the news. I’d like to watch my home town news show after the kids are in bed… on my TV.
• Many are wagering the Commission – or the feds – will boost the LPIF and loosen its restrictions rather than risk the firestorm a new fee-for-carriage would bring in this economic climate.
• People genuinely have sympathy for the Regulator. None know what’s going to happen next month, let alone next year or five years from now. How can anyone or anything set policy (especially based on a decades-old Act) in such an environment?
Got any ideas or comments of your own to add? Drop us a line at editorial@cartt.ca.
