GATINEAU – The CRTC will put off a review of its benefits policy until after the federal government renders its views on the Canadian Television Fund.
The Commission issued a public notice in July, asking for comments on altering its benefits policy so that some money could be directed to new media initiatives. Currently, when one broadcast company buys another, a certain percentage of the transaction (10% in the case of television companies) must be set aside for public benefits, which are mostly for the production of Canadian content.
However, a number of recent transactions (such as Goldman Sachs’ and CanWest’s purchase of Alliance Atlantis) saw the Commission wrestle with whether or not to let acquirers set certain funds aside for new media projects.
As reported by Cartt.ca in August, the CBC and Canadian Film and Television Producers Association petitioned the Commission to defer the PN on the benefits policy until after the federal Heritage Ministry issues its final decision on what is to be done with the Canadian Television Fund, and after the CRTC is done with its review of new media, a public process it began with a PN in May, which some have said is unnecessary to begin with.
The CTF has been under review by the CRTC for some time, driven by Shaw Communications and Quebecor Media, each of whom stopped their contributions to the fund for a short while in late 2006 and early 2007, citing a lack of accountability.
The CRTC came up with its own internally-produced report in ‘07, held its own hearing earlier this year and then was told by the Department of Canadian Heritage rather than rendering a decision on the Fund, to instead submit a new public report (which it did in June). Now the industry is waiting for word from Heritage Minister Josee Verner. (Click here for additional background on all that.)
(Ed Note: One wonders now if a decision will come at all, given the impending federal election call.)
Bev Kirshenblatt, senior director of regulatory affairs for CBC/Radio-Canada asked in her August letter to the CRTC that “until after the Department of Canadian Heritage has determined the future structure of the Canadian Television Fund and the Commission has carried out its review of new media and rendered its decision on the proper regulatory treatment for new media,” the benefits policy PN should be shelved.
Without knowing what the future funding for the CTF will be and without a completed review of new media, Kirshenblatt contends that “interested parties would be required to comment on a wide range of hypothetical scenarios involving possible CTF structures and possible regulatory approaches to new media – each of which would raise its own unique policy concerns.”
While the CRTC said today it will wait on the folks at Heritage, and set a new deadline for comments on the benefits policy of two weeks after the Feds speak on the CTF issue, it won’t wait for the 2009 new media review to analyze the benefits policy.
– Greg O’Brien
