WINNIPEG – Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) CEO Jean LaRose praises the CRTC for seeking to “strike a fair middle ground” in its recommendations on how to fix the Canadian Television Fund (CTF).
He added that he’s pleased that the regulator recognized the “special place” that APTN has in meeting the goal of the Broadcasting Act of reflecting the country’s Aboriginal people.
The CRTC recommended that APTN be permitted to tap into both the public sector and private sector streams it is suggesting be created. The CRTC’s suggests APTN get one-third of its funding from the public sector side for programming in Aboriginal languages, and two-thirds (about $2.4 million) from the private side for its English and French-language shows.
The split in the CTF would consist of a market-oriented stream to support programming of broader appeal for private broadcasters, and a public stream for cultural programming for the CBC, educational broadcasters and other not-for-profit broadcasters.
The market-oriented stream is expected to increase over time as its contributions are calculated on a percentage of revenue basis, while Canadian Heritage’s financing could remain relatively flat.
“Giving access to both funds recognizes that APTN must be the voice of Aboriginal peoples, irrespective of what others may view their extended mandate to be. APTN has a public mandate by the very nature of its licence and the CRTC has the vision and foresight to recognize this and support it,” said LaRose in a written statement to cartt.ca.
He added, “At the same time, by virtue of its conditions of licence, the CRTC has also placed expectations on APTN to act as a private broadcaster, to build audiences and develop programming that is no different, and even more demanding, than other private broadcasters.”
LaRose praises the CRTC for recognizing the “dual mandate” APTN must fulfill.
