OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Broadcast distributors took a bashing as Canada’s main independent broadcasters complained Tuesday that difficulties gaining access to viewers was hindering the diversity of media voices in the country.
Pelmorex (The Weather Network/Meteomedia), Evanov Communications (five radio stations), Stornoway Communications (three digi-nets), XM Canada owner John Bitove and the Independent Programming Services (made up of Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Channel Zero, Ethnic Channels Group, Fairchild Television/Talentvision, S-Vox Trust, Stornoway and TV5 Quebec Canada) all said distributor gatekeeping powers could result in a decline in the number of broadcast voices if the CRTC didn’t adopt appropriate safeguards.
Stornoway president and CEO Martha Fusca referred to “a shopping list” of distributor practices that go against promoting diversity and Canadian content. She noted, for example, that not all broadcast distributors would carry her bpm:tv dance channel even though data shows subscriber numbers for the Category 2 service would be just as good as MTV.
Also, when one distributor whom she didn’t name repackaged i-channel Stornoway “lost 70,000 subscribers in one swoop – a move that screwed up my business plans for a year and a half,” Fusca said.
She also complained that her three channels (i-channel, bpm:tv and The Pet Network) don’t have access to local avails to promote programming. “One BDU has made it so expensive it appears that the only ones that can afford to advertise on the ad avails on their system are – surprise – them,” she said in her opening comments. She did not name the BDU.
“So, I think the question at this point is, how does complete carriage authority in the hands of the BDUs advance diversity?” she asked, after noting the distributors prefer to promote American movie and sports channels instead of Canadian services.
The CRTC panel overseeing the hearing asked Fusca to provide more details about these practices – something she told Cartt.ca in an interview she was prepared to do at the upcoming public hearings into broadcast distribution regulations in January.
“One issue I don’t think the commission anticipated is the concentration of the BDUs. I think they were looking more at the programming side and that’s not the biggest issue for the small independent players,” Pelmorex senior vice-president of regulatory and strategic affairs Paul Temple said in an interview with Cartt.ca.
Pelmorex CEO Pierre Morrissette called on the Commission to adopt safeguards and policies that will ensure broad distribution and promotion of Canadian TV channels.
Ensuring fair and predictable access “requires regulatory intervention to balance against the negotiating strength and leverage of programming conglomerates and the gatekeeping of distribution conglomerates,” said Channel Zero’s Cal Millar, who appeared as a member of the Independent Programming Services group.
Proposed safeguards ranged from increasing the five-to-one carriage rule to ten-to-one, as advocated by Fusca, making ad avails widely available and affordable, and setting minimum subscriber rates for small independent broadcasters.
Other suggestions included a re-examination of a BDU’s ability to offer preferred carriage terms to their affiliated program services along with the number of Canadian services included in the basic package; a requirement that distributors have affiliation agreements with all of the specialty TV services they carry; and the establishment of regulated wholesale rates for both analog and digital must-carry specialty TV services.
Temple also stated that some kind of ownership limit should be extended to specialty TV. Pelmorex’s submission notes the United States has a 39% cap.
Whether it’s 33%, 35% or 39%, the point is there should be some limit. A lot of jurisdictions have a cap in terms of specialties and there should be one [in Canada]. But we haven’t done a detailed economic study to show what the number should be,” said Temple.
Evanov Communications president Bill Evanov told the CRTC the “key is to strengthen independents.” He urged the Commission to take into consideration the totality of a broadcaster’s media holdings when considering new licences, and that benefits packages be eliminated for new unaffiliated owners buying existing stations.
He also suggested that current radio ownership rules that apply to frequency could be applied to all media holdings. He said in markets with eight or fewer stations, no single broadcasting entity can own more than three local media (any combination of radio and TV stations), and in competitive markets, no more than four.
Also appearing Tuesday were Quebecor Media and Astral Media who, like the broadcast giants who appeared on Monday, argued there wasn’t a problem with the level of diversity of voices in Canada, and thus no new regulatory measures needed to be implemented.
Bell Canada also called on the CRTC to consider media consolidation on a case-by-case basis based on merger enforcement guidelines derived from an analytical framework, rather than on formulaic ex ante regulation. They could be based on merger enforcement guidelines developed by the Competition Bureau.
Bell’s Video Group also called for a layered approach to addressing diversity issues when identified. The first consideration would be market forces. Second, if market forces were deemed insufficient to resolve the problem, then the parties involved would develop a voluntary code of conduct. If this didn’t work, there would be mediated negotiations, followed by the CRTC issuing a formal order or imposing a condition of licence addressing the concerns.
The hearings continue Wednesday, with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Canadian Media Guild, Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and the Canadian Film and Television Production Association among the scheduled interveners.
Norma Reveler is an Ottawa-based freelance writer and is covering the diversity of voices hearing all week for Cartt.ca.
