OTTAWA – CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein is pushing CTVglobemedia and the CBC to reach an agreement allowing the CBC to broadcast the 2010 Olympics on its French-language television service.
During an address to the Standing Committee on Official Languages in Ottawa on Tuesday, von Finckenstein said that while the CTV/Rogers Olympic broadcast media consortium intends to make French broadcasters TQS, RDS and RIS available free of charge to cable companies offering digital TV in markets with an English-speaking majority, this will still leave some francophones who rely on over-the-air television signals, or who subscribe to analog cable, without access to French coverage of the Games.
Their options, he continued, will be limited to watching English broadcasts or, for those who have access, relying on the Internet or mobile devices.
“In our view, CTVglobemedia has a responsibility, as a private broadcaster using the public spectrum, to make sure that Canadians see national events like the Olympic Games in the official language of their choice,” he said.
Despite the Commission’s public hearing on the matter in January, the broadcasters have yet to reach an agreement.
“On April 17, I wrote to CTVglobemedia and the CBC asking for an update” von Finckenstein continued. “Attached herewith are copies of my letters and the two responses I received. You will no doubt see that the responses speak for themselves.”
Saying the CRTC has “encouraged” the two networks to “work through the current impasse”, von Finckenstein said that he can “see no reason why they would be unable to reach a compromise.”
“We feel that we have gone as far as we can. An agreement can only be reached through commercial negotiations – if it’s not already too late – and it’s not the Commission’s place to impose itself in these types of negotiations. You may want to ask the broadcasters to explain why they have been unable to come to an understanding.
– Lesley Hunter
