O’Farrell embraces McCabe’s priorities, but plans to canvass membership on issues

The incoming president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) says copyright will continue to be a major focus of the lobby group after he takes the helm early in the new year. In an interview with CCR at the CAB convention in Ottawa, Glenn O’Farrell spoke about the challenges ahead and his approach to the job as chief spokesperson and lobbyist for Canada’s private broadcasters. "One of the key things for me is going to be copyright for all sectors, but specifically for radio," says O’Farrell, who will be leaving his current position as senior VP of specialty services at Global Television Network to join the CAB on January 7. He says he "was pretty much onboard" with the strategy recently outlined by outgoing president and CEO Michael McCabe at the National Press Club in Ottawa (CCR, Oct. 26/01) and at the CAB convention on Oct. 29. "It’s a matter of prioritizing and focusing the energies, and working very aggressively at achieving those shared goals that galvanize the resolve of the association," he notes. O’Farrell vows to retain an open mind to emerging issues, and isn’t afraid to admit that he has a lot of catching up to do on the radio side. "When I started my practice as a lawyer, one of my first communications clients was in the radio business," he says. "But clearly I have been involved in television – specialty issues predominantly – over the last little while, and I’m going to have to focus a lot of my time on getting up to speed on radio issues as quickly as possible." O’Farrell says he plans to spend the initial days on the new job talking to as many members as possible to get their perspectives and "to absorb and understand as best as I can where the priorities are for radio, for specialty and for conventional television." He notes that already members are coming to him to highlight concerns. O’Farrell points out that McCabe will be retained as an ongoing advisor and that he plans to "remain in close contact" with the man who headed the CAB for the last 13 years. Asked how he planned to bridge differences of opinions between the interests of conventional broadcasters and specialty networks, O’Farrell responds that he "isn’t in a position yet to offer a smart view on that." Since the absorption of the Specialty and Premium Television Association (SPTV) by the CAB late last year (CCR, Nov. 23/00), there has been some friction between conventional broadcasters and specialty services. For example, Rogers Communications Inc. withdrew from the CAB in protest of the association’s initial stance on further cable ownership of analog specialty channels (CCR, Feb. 14/01, March 14/01, June 21/01, Aug. 30/01). "I’m coming into this job with an open mind," O’Farrell says. "I’m coming to this job with a very constructive disposition; one that will hopefully develop the conditions and the environment where consensus will emerge as often as possible. Which organization has not had challenges on its horizon? I can’t think of any." But O’Farrell admits that the job heading up the CAB was not something he had initially taken seriously because "he was unsure of where the organization was going", and also because he felt as an executive of one member company he would be ineligible. He says industry players convinced him that "there was a broad consensus that the broadcast industry continues to need a focused, efficient, and strong industry voice in Ottawa to represent the industry – one that evolves into an organization that has a prioritized view of where things are going in terms of the current membership. " At Global, O’Farrell was most recently responsible for the company’s existing specialty channels and new ones in development. Previously, he was president of Global Quebec. Before joining Global, he was VP of legal affairs for Le Réseau Pathonic, a regional television network consisting of TVA affiliate stations outside of Montreal.

O’Farrell embraces McCabe’s priorities, but plans to canvass membership on issues

Broadcast | November 9, 2001

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