BCE promises to narrow divide between old and new media with benefits package

BCE Inc is offering to spend $61 million on new media content, training and research as part of its $2.3-billion bid to buy CTV Inc. Canada’s broadcast regulator requires a so-called "benefits package" whenever a broadcast licensee changes owners. On July 17, Canada’s largest corporation filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Tele-communications Commission (CRTC) seeking approval of the takeover. Included in its $230-million benefits package is a commitment to spend $61 million over seven years on seven initiatives designed primarily to narrow the divide between traditional broadcasting and digital media. It’s likely the single-largest gift to Canada’s new media industry, and one which could curry favour with regulators looking for evidence of BCE’s commitment to interactive television. The largest expenditure included in the basket is $23 million to produce an interactive television series, called Groundbreaker, in regional locations across Canada. Funding for the first year will go towards proposals, development and start-up costs. A further $11 million would be used to create an interactive current affairs show produced by teenagers and young adults. BCE has also committed to provide the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund with a one-time $10 million top-up, which would be in addition to the annual contributions it receives from its satellite TV subsidiary, Bell ExpressVu. If the CRTC approves both the acquisition and the benefits package, another big winner will be a new $5-million BCE Content Innovation Network which will be pieced together from three of the four facilities recognized by the federal government as institutes for advanced education in film and television: The Canadian Film Centre, the Banff New Media Institute, and l’Institut national de l’image et du son. The network will "allow for the continued development of innovative digital content and prototypes, such as interactive sitcoms, e-commerce edutainment portals, etc." The network will create a virtual training environment to act as an incubator. Another funding recipient, Ryerson Polytechnic University, would receive $2.5 million to create a BCE Chair in Convergence & Creative Use of Advanced Technology. The school will assign a senior professor to research, develop and teach in the area of "Convergence and Creative Use of Advanced Technology". To help independent television producers better understand interactive production, BCE says it will spend $3 million to place ITV specialists in CTV’s development offices in Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver. "Most independent producers simply do not have the technical skills or resources to enter new media production without some form of nurturing," BCE states in its application to the CRTC. A further $1.5 million has been committed to fund training in new media and interactive TV at a new BCE New Media Centre of Excellence, to be located at the BC Institute of Technology. Industry leaders are still digesting BCE’s application. The board of the Interactive Multimedia Producers Association of Canada (IMPAC) will hold a July 26 conference call to discuss the document. Acquiring CTV is viewed as critical in transforming BCE from a company focused on telecommunications, to one known for its content production and web portals. CTV’s strengths in news and sports are particularly important to BCE’s Internet subsidiary, Sympatico. The two companies have already signed a confidential content agreement under which programming from the CTV group will be made available and promoted on the Sympatico-Lycos portal. BCE’s full application and background material can be found on a web site specially posted to address the takeover – www.bce-ctv.com.

BCE promises to narrow divide between old and new media with benefits package

News | 07/26/2000 4:00 am EDT

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