GATINEAU – Canada’s public and private broadcasters are urging the CRTC to implement a local-into-local signal carriage regime for the country’s direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast distributors, saying the time has come to force them to comply with the provisions in the Broadcasting Act.
Private broadcasters Canwest and CTVglobemedia acknowledge in their submissions to the Regulator for 2010-488, the review of the direct-to-home satellite distribution policy, that Shaw Direct and Bell TV have capacity constraints, but this doesn’t take away from the fact the TV stations are harmed financially when they aren’t carried.
“Unfortunately, where a local television is not carried on one or both DTH providers, it can have a detrimental impact on that station’s revenues, especially in markets where DTH penetration is high,” CTVglobemedia tells the Commission.
Canwest and CTV are also aware of new rules coming into effect next September requiring DTH BDUs to distribute at least one station per province from each major broadcasting group is a step in the right direction. But it’s still not enough, they say.
“They are not substitutes for mandatory carriage within local markets and will not result in universal reach of local stations that carry local content,” Canwest says.
Both broadcasters tell the Commission that the ultimate goal should be to have every local signal carried.
“Given that the Act assigns priority carriage to local television stations and the long-term impact of non-carriage, CTVgm respectfully submits that Canada’s DTH providers should be required to use new capacity to gradually increase over time the number of local television stations they carry,” reads the company’s submission.
CBC/Radio-Canada says Bell and Shaw are no longer new entrants in the TV distribution business and the CRTC should “take firm regulatory measures” to force the DTH companies to comply with the Broadcasting Act when it comes to the carriage of local signals.
Just as the private broadcasters acknowledge DTH capacity related issues, so too does the national public broadcaster. It notes that moving to a local-into-local regime may take time, but adds the Regulator should take steps to ensure all DTH providers meet provisions in the Act.
“The corporation believes it would be appropriate for the Commission to set a minimum carriage requirement as a starting point and also establish regulatory conditions which would provide strong incentives to the DTH distributors to take steps to enhance their distribution capacity and thereby enable them to carry all required local television stations,” CBC says.
The public broadcaster provided the Commission with a set of incentives to accomplish a local-into-local regime:
• New HD services would be prohibited until all conventional channels are carried;
• If a new SD service is added, then an SD or HD conventional must be added to the channel lineup at the same time;
• Once all OTA signals are carried, the DTH company must add an HD version of the OTA channel if it adds an HD version of another service; and
• Once an HD version of a conventional local signal is distributed, the DTH distributor may drop the SD version of that channel if all of the DTH distributor’s in that area can receive HD.
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Inc. (APTN) doesn’t share the view of the conventional OTA broadcasters. It says that requiring DTH companies to comply with a local-into-local regime could force them to pull specialty and pay services such as APTN from the dial.
The company says the satellite distribution platform is ideal suited to its programming, noting there is no other practical and economical way to distribute its feeds to audiences spread out in smaller communities and urban centres. APTN therefore questions the need for DTH companies to carry all local TV stations.
“It is not, for that matter, apparent to APTN why DTH carriage of additional local television signals – that may have fairly minimal local programming requirements – should take priority over the carriage of APTN’s distinctive regional feeds that may well offer more distinctive programming than what is available on local television stations,” the company tells the Commission.
Partial or omnibus distribution not an option
Bell TV has previously suggested partial distribution as a solution to the local-into-local dilemma. The company says this will allow all the unique and local aspects of a particular station to be seen by its viewers, but also give the DTH operators the flexibility to carry national signals.
While Canwest’s submission says it understands why such a solution may be appealing to DTH companies, it’s not for broadcasters. The firm pointed to comments it made a number of years ago regarding this same issue, noting that station managers do not run local programming, they run a local station and as such the station should be treated accordingly.
“To be clear, Canwest recognizes that DTH companies have to offer a competitive product within available capacity – and further that distributors have, to varying degrees, capacity limitations. Nevertheless, Canwest submits that the commission should consider in this process any and all possible and reasonable avenues to increase the number of local television stations offered by the DTH providers in line with…the Broadcasting Act.”
The DTH framework oral hearing begins on November 16.
