TORONTO – A joint submission to the CRTC’s BDU and specialty policy review from seven independent broadcasters recommends putting those channels in all BDUs’ digital "basic" packages.
Saying the diversity of the Canadian television system depends on preserving a place for small, independent specialty services, the channel owners say they should all be in digital basic in order to offset impact of media concentration and integration (See: Rogers buying Citytv, CTV buying CHUM, CanWest buying Alliance Atlantis…).
Such a move would grant the independent Canadian channels "must-carry" status.
The members of the independent specialty services group are: Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Channel Zero (Movieola, Silver Screen Classics), Ethnic Channels Group (many third-language digi-nets), Fairchild Television/Talentvision, Stornoway Communications (ichannel, bpm:tv, Pet Network), S-VOX Trust (VisionTV, One: Body, Mind & Spirit, Christian Channel), and TV5 Québec Canada.
As the result of a CRTC ruling in July 2007, several channels operated by members of this group will lose their basic status in the digital universe – an outcome that will significantly reduce revenues and may put their survival at risk, say the ‘casters.
In their submission, the broadcasters note that “the CRTC has licenced independent channels to meet the needs of under-served audiences and address the Broadcasting Act’s goal of diversity in Canadian television programming,” it reads.
In a television system increasingly dominated by "a few large, horizontally integrated broadcasting companies" and "even fewer vertically integrated large BDUs," the submission says, the presence of independent services is more essential than ever to ensure the continued provision of diversity.
"There is a link between the diversity or plurality of ownership and the diversity or plurality of voices.”
"The vast majority of Canadians receive their television services through a small number of very large BDUs, some of which also have channels of their own that they are committed to protecting. The playing field is tilted against independent niche channels, which lack the resources and negotiating clout of large broadcasting conglomerates,” said Bill Roberts, president and CEO of S-VOX.
And if independents cease to be viable, the breadth and variety of programming available to Canadians could be greatly diminished, added Roberts, who also penned a letter to the editor to Cartt.ca on the issue. In the digital universe, he cautioned, consumers may find themselves paying higher prices for a less diverse offering.
The CRTC is slated to commence its public hearing on specialty services and BDUs in February 2008.
