Chum filing sparks battle over whether more Category 2s should be licensed

The first round of Category 2 digital channels haven’t even launched and already the CRTC is embroiled in a bitter battle over whether it’s time to license more. The commission has received 16 applications for new digital specialty services, with Chum Ltd leading the pack with 13 bids, including channels devoted to soaps, world cinema, regional news, and relationships (PN 2001-3-1). A public hearing to review the bids will be held April 17 in Hull, PQ. Some current Category 2 licensees are upset, not only that the applications have been filed, but that the CRTC has agreed to consider them. They say several of the new applications look remarkably similar to ones just licensed. Chum has applied for two relationship channels that some applicants feel are similar to Passion Television and The Singles Network, which were awarded Category 2 licences last fall. Chum is telling distributors that it will have a relationship channel available for carriage come September, the same time some existing Category 2 licensees hope to launch. Sue McGarvie, the principal behind Passion Television and The Singles Network, says she is not afraid of competition, but that Chum is off base with the timing of its applications. "I’m fine with competition. I’ll take on anybody, however, let us get launched first. Just let me get to September, and then let Chum or anybody else do it," she notes. "To allow Chum to go forward when we are not up-and-running means all the little guys are going to disappear. (The established players) will take the best of the applications and they have the resources to launch a channel faster than we do." Under the CRTC’s digital licensing framework, Category 2 channels can be competitive with each other, but not with Category 1s or existing analog services. While it appears that Chum is technically working within the framework, there is a sense that its maneuver isn’t particularly fair. "Why did we do all this work for April? And then to essentially be hamstrung. What’s the point of having deadlines?" asks McGarvie. Peter Fleming, who also has an interest in Passion Media, agrees: "The commission has given us three years to get them up-and-running. It’s not appropriate to license more channels the morning after the first round." But Peter Miller, VP of business and regulatory affairs at Chum Television, says: "Far from stealing ideas, we’re actually proposing formats that we applied for in Category 1 and didn’t in Category 2 (in the first round of digital licensing, including the Relationship channel) and in other cases, they’re quite frankly original ideas." McGarvie is skeptical. "I’ve had some meetings with Chum on friendly terms (about cooperating on her sex channel). And then they come out and apply for their own channel. We decided if they are going to play that game, we’re not going to go there. We’re going to go about doing our thing, which is getting carriage," she says. Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc is another player who could be affected if Chum is successful. Chum has applied for three Category 2 film channels – the International Film Channel, that would showcase contemporary foreign films and classics, the World Film Channel (1), which would be devoted to non-U.S. foreign movies and Canadian movies versioned for international distribution, particularly those focusing on ethnic communities, and the World Film Channel (2), which would provide film criticism and commentary on international cinema and film festivals as well as non-U.S. films and Canadian films distributed internationally. Miller says these concepts are different from the Category 1 Independent Film Channel that was awarded to Halifax-based Salter Street Films Ltd. Ted Bravakis, a spokesman for Alliance Atlantis, declined to comment on the matter, because its acquisition of Salter Street and its independent film channel, is currently before the CRTC. Another new entrant, Martha Fusca of Stornoway Communications Inc, which was awarded licences for one Category 1 and three Category 2 channels, points out, "It doesn’t strike me as being fair or as being the commission’s intended result. It also seems to go against the Broadcasting Act and the preamble to the last call, which was a call for new voices." Shan Chandrasekar, president and CEO of the Asian Television Network, notes that in the past the commission has allowed a substantial amount of time between licensing rounds and that the practice should be continued if new channels are "really duplicating what has already been done." Along with Chum, three other players have filed for Category 2 licences. Persian Vision Inc of British Columbia wants to start a channel that would focus on Canada’s Persian community, with 85 per cent of its programming in Farsi and the rest in English. The Jewish Television Network of Thornhill, ON, is proposing a service targeting Canadian Jewish communities, and Frank Rogers of Markham, ON, is gunning for the High School Television Network, which would focus on the lifestyles of high school students across Canada.

Chum filing sparks battle over whether more Category 2s should be licensed

News | 02/28/2001 5:00 am EST

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