NEXT WEEK AT THIS TIME, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ 2006 convention in Vancouver will be working through its final day’s agenda.
It’s a packed schedule with many, many sessions to enlighten and inform. If you are going, register right away as it’s approaching a sellout. If you haven’t made up your mind, read through the conversation below with CAB senior vice-president, marketing and member services, Sean Kiely and convention co-chair Sarah Crawford, vice-president, public affairs at CHUM Limited.
What follows is an edited transcript.
Greg O’Brien: The theme of the conference is New Realities, New Rules. How are you defining those as a conference organizer, a conference co-chair, Sarah?
Sarah Crawford: The CAB staff, led by Sean and others, have done a great job in breaking out some very significant issues in our business right now. We all know that we’re in a big transition period for the media sector overall, but certainly in broadcasting.
Sunday focuses on some hands-on sessions, which is a bit of a new thing for the conference – calling it the business of broadcasting, and Some of the feedback (from years past) said people wanted some practical hands-on sessions, so that’s what you’re seeing on Sunday.
Monday, the theme is the New Realities, which encompass everything from technology in the digital revolution, revenue streams and different kinds of multi platform realities in our business and also as it affects production and content. And… it’s not even listed on the agenda yet, but I happen to know the CAB will be launching a new public service announcement that will be aired by all private broadcasting members, promoting abilities with people with disabilities.
I’m liking the fact that’s happening on Monday because it actually reflects a new reality of the demographics of Canada, and we’re used to talking about broadcaster commitments reflecting the diversity of the nation, but I think we need to include in diversity people with disabilities, so that’s the exciting, new initiative that’ll be launched on that Monday as well.
Tuesday is the day that we’ll be dealing with New Rules, and, of course, there’s no shortage of rule themed discussions to be had, so there’s the regulatory equation, there’s the view from the street, from some of the media analysts, and then there’s a discussion about the upcoming policy review for conventional TV. I imagine that people will be talking about the specialty review as well (which will come in 2007).
GOB: Just switching gears a little bit, when it comes to some of these new realities and new rules, how do you deal with those at CHUM in your daily working life?
SC: Every broadcaster, and certainly CHUM, is about being nimble. Nobody has got that crystal ball to look into the future and know exactly how some of these issues and realities are going to ultimately change our business, but the question of reframing, of trying to be nimble and seize the opportunities in the short term, but also plan accordingly for what could be, in some cases, more significant long-term changes that affect our business.
CHUM is doing a number of things on the technology fronts, on the multi platform front, the content delivery front, on the revenue model. In some cases, we’re leading the industry and some cases we’re joining, but I think all of us broadcasters are simply trying to make sure that we are as relevant to our audiences going forward as we can be because at the end of the day, that’s the name of the game.
In this world of increasingly fragmented media, those who are not relevant and don’t have some kind of meaningful connection to an audience won’t survive, and I think we’ve all realized that, and we’re all adjusting our businesses accordingly.
GOB: Now, with conferences like this, there are several messages you’re hoping to send out to different constituencies. What’s the message you’re hoping to send to the industry itself through the three days of the conference?
SC: I think the industry is going to be inspired by the opportunities that are presenting themselves, so even though we maybe sometimes are people who are very afraid of the changing realities and the potentially changing rules, the main message is there are opportunities here. We’ve seen times of great change in the broadcasting and media sectors before, and the successful people will be the ones who can see within that change, new opportunities to not only build on the businesses they have, but, in some cases, creating new businesses and new revenue streams.
I see real learning opportunities, connecting opportunities, and the takeaway’s have to be "what are the opportunities?" Sure, there are challenges, but what, day to day, are the opportunities for our businesses?
GOB: In terms of the message that you’d like to send to the government and the regulator, considering that they’ll be a ton of them there; what are you hoping to tell them?
SC: We’re looking at, in this world of new realities, that there are some realities that have changed, and certainly the broadcast regulator realizes that. I think that’s why we’re seeing a timing of the conventional television policy review, that’s why we have the radio review, and certainly, there’s going to be an upcoming specialty review.
I think you can get really concerned and start talking about things like the breakdown of the traditional value chain within our industry and within our businesses. But I think, as business models change, that the relationships the broadcaster has with the consumer change will because of technology and platforms and so on.
I think our regulatory framework and our public policy instruments have to change, and the main message is that we’re in this together. It’s a delicate balance, and we need to, together, work to find systems that ultimately enhance our broadcasting system and best serve the audiences of Canada.
GOB: Okay. And then speaking of those audiences, what’s the message you’re hoping comes out of the conference to regular Canadians?
SC: Well, it’s a business convention. The message that we hope all our members pick up are that we are relevant. We are in the business of serving in a variety of ways, the Canadian audiences. First and foremost, we’re Canadian, and Canada has a very distinct and vibrant culture that we want to continue to be the vibrant exhibitors and premieres of that culture and creative of that culture.
I think the other thing is that we’re relevant. We’re not going away. It’s easy, again, to read some of the headlines in the business and consumer press and think" ‘oh, boy, the traditional media is really in trouble,’ but that’s really not the case. We’ve seen, again, times of serious change and transition in the media sector and in the broadcasting sector, and it’s adapted and survived. People will adapt and will go on to be even stronger and, ultimately, we have a job to do. We have a responsibility to Canadian audiences.
Broadcasters are very proud of that role. They take it very seriously, and they want to continue doing it even better than they have before.
GOB: I think you really see it now during the upcoming elections in Ontario and the recent elections in Saskatchewan; how important local broadcasters are in terms of debates and ideas and presenting things like that.
SC: Absolutely, and when you talk about local broadcasters, without question, both radio and television are valued and important and necessary partners right in the fabric of the local communities, everything from when there’s an emergency message to get out to the municipals or provincial or federal election issue that’s happening; people really want to know what relates to them and what shapes their world.
Of course, we want to see things on the national stage, the international stage, but broadcasters are infinitely connected to their communities, and we want to continue to be that way.
GOB: As show organizers, did you think a lot about how the TV Policy Review Hearings will be the dominant thing everyone talks about?
SC: So many of the issues that will come up at the policy hearing are issues we’ve already been talking about. And they’re issues, frankly, that need to be talked about, not only by broadcasters, but by regulators and policymakers. To a degree, they’re things that the public needs to think about. What is the value of local broadcasting in Canada on the TV side and what mechanisms do we need? What leverage do we need as policy instruments to make sure that local broadcasting can remain viable and strong, not just as a business, of course, but as a broadcaster that provides a real necessary and vital service to local communities?
GOB: Okay. Is it harder for the CAB to put on a show like this? Given all of the new realities and the new rules and the way the large corporations are going in certain directions, separate from each other and the small corporations have different ideas altogether, is it more difficult for the CAB to put together a conference like this nowadays?
Sean Kiely: No. if you actually stop and look at the program this year, we have 23 sessions, up from an average of about 17 sessions; if anything, I think what it’s becoming difficult to do is to actually pack in everything that we need to pack in, in two or three days. As a result, the program has grown.
I conducted pretty extensive industry interviews last spring with a number of players in the industry to sort of look at where they wanted the program to go at the convention, and the message that we got was keep on doing what you’re doing and do more of it. Issues are getting more complex. Just on the new platform side alone, if you look, we have sessions this year on HDTV, on VOD, on mobile phones, on new platforms for conventional radio.
The truth of the matter is the difficulty that we have each year as we put the program together is deciding what we’re going to include and what we’re not going to have room to do. If anything, it’s – "I wish we could actually be doing more." We just are limited by the constraint of the three days of the convention.
GOB: And with the quickness and the way certain things in the market have developed; for example, Google’s purchase of YouTube. Are you wishing you had a chance to put additional things in the program that address other things?
SK: We are in constant contact with our panels as we lead right up to the convention, and if you look at the breadth and quality of the speakers that we’ve got there this year (117) and many of them are from many industries, but many of them are also from outside the industries, industry partners.
Our panels are – they’re on their toes. We’re having briefing calls; we’re talking to our moderators on a regular basis, and as issues arise, the session managers make sure that they modify the thrust of the session so that we sort of capture the very latest information. With the quality of the speakers that we’ve got, I think we have no concerns that these people aren’t going to be able to kind of rise to the new issues as they come up.
