Broadcasting industry could suffer if more Canadian HD content isn’t produced: McEwen

Canadian Digital Television (CDTV) president Michael McEwen warned at an industry conference last week that a lack of Canadian high-definition (HD) television programming could lead to the demise of the existing Canadian broadcasting system. He theorized that American networks may refuse to sell the Canadian rights to HD programming in this market, and instead broadcast it only on their own channels, many of which are available on cable and satellite TV. With a dearth of Canadian HD content available, he warned that there would be little to no programming alternatives for the Canadian market. "I’m raising the concern that as the media market becomes more North American, I would think that some content providers and those networks in the States that are buying content would say, ‘what’s the value to me whether I sell off the Canadian rights or kept them and make advertising revenue (from them). I may not get to 100% of the Canadian market, but through cable and DTH, I’m getting to 85% or 90%,’" he told Canadian Communications Reports at the annual Canadian Satellite Users Association (CSUA) conference. "American content producers may not license programming to Canadian networks and that will present a challenge both to the industry’s economics and Canada’s broadcast and cultural policy." During the opening session at the CSUA conference on February 17, McEwen noted, "The Canadian broadcast system is basically dependent on the importation of highly popular American programs to generate the kinds of revenues that allows for the production of Canadian programming…Those elements (simultaneous substitution rules) for the system can be very important for a successful transition to high-definition television. What distresses me right now…is that we’re not commissioning, as a system, high-definition programming for our audiences. There is virtually no Canadian content in HD, other than Canadian content that has been produced for American studios, like CSI." He later noted in his keynote address that it should be a priority to ensure that there are quality Canadian alternatives to quality American high-definition programming. "While Canada produces a lot of content for the U.S. market, it does not spend the same money or technical commitment for Canadian HD product, thus less ‘Canadian programming’ is available internationally," McEwen stated. "Without Canadian content in HD, Canadian program libraries will suffer and the production community will face difficult challenges because of short shelf life for non HD." In order to improve content availability, he suggested that more education be geared toward the production community, and that incentives be included in production funds for HD/wide screen program proposals. He questioned the fact that at the annual conference of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) held in Ottawa this month not one session was devoted to HD/wide screen production (CCR, Feb. 13/03). But CFTPA president and CEO Elizabeth McDonald sees things very differently, saying there has to be demand for HD and a business case before shooting in that technology makes sense. "Producers will always produce what the marketplace demands," she told CCR when asked to comment on McEwen’s remarks. "That being said, when a broadcaster asks for a production in high-def, producers will comply. Epitome Pictures produced Riverdale in HD because that’s what the CBC asked for. Many, many documentaries have been shot in HD. If there is not enough HD content, then I have to question what broadcasters are buying and want. Do they want sports, drama or news in HD?" She added, "I would say that they (McEwen) don’t understand how the production business works. They don’t understand that a lot of producers aren’t standing around with all of this equipment. If he thinks HD content is so important, then he should ask his (CDTV) members whether they are asking for it." Elaine Baine, director of programming at CHUM Television’s Citytv, Star! FashionTelevisionChannel and SexTV: The Channel, spent much of her presentation at the CSUA conference questioning aloud whether her efforts to acquire HD programming are worth it for the "four viewers in Canada with HDTV sets that are actually operational." Acquiring HD programming has proved more challenging than expected. The recently launched digital version of Citytv, known as CitytvHD, has so far only managed to broadcast two HD movies (CCR, Jan. 16/03). Baine said that the distributors that CHUM deals with for movies to air in non-HD format on Citytv often don’t know anything about HD versions. As a result, she has had to resort to checking web sites, such as that of Astral Television Networks’ TMN that broadcasts movies in high-definition, to verify the existence of a HD version, and then jump through many hoops. "It’s a major pain in the ass to acquire high-definition movies at this point in time. Do I personally think it’s worth it? From a corporate point of view, sure it’s really worth it," she said somewhat sarcastically. "But from a personal, everyday how much more work is it for the return on the dollar point of view, not really. There are more people at our station who are highly paid and highly skilled working on this than there needs to be. Will we persevere? At CHUM, just because we’re stubborn, we will." CHUM had required the HD version of Smallville for CitytvHD, but delivery problems have hampered the broadcaster’s ability to simulcast it on Tuesdays with the Citytv signal. "Smallville is still being edited on Monday, and by the time the program is finished its edit session, we can’t get it uplinked to us, because the window is too short," explained Bruce Cowan, director of broadcast technology at CHUM Television. "WB (Warner Brothers) doesn’t have the satellite capacity to send it to us. We can’t take it off the normal WB system." "It’s perhaps no surprise that the first movie we broadcast in HD was called Mission: Impossible," joked Neile Staite, director of music operations at CHUM’s MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic, MuchLoud, and MuchVibe, and the moderator of a conference session on digital content. McEwen suggested the cheaper cost of shooting in digital, along with potential new revenue with value-added enhancements to advertising and data applications, should drive digital production. He noted that the operating costs for shooting in digital are cheaper than they are for analog – $1.60 per minute for HDCam versus $70.16 per minute for 35mm film. But Staite pointed out that HD equipment isn’t always easy to come by. For example, the nearest HD mobile truck he could find when looking to film a special event was in New York City. "The quoted rate was US$25,000 per day, plus travel, per diems and time, and you don’t just pull an HD truck in on the day of the show," he stated. "When you compare this to the traditional analog mobile at between Cdn$10,000 and $20,000 per day, the costs add up drastically," he said. "While the costs will start dropping with the addition of more HD mobiles, I think it’s still a long ways away." Kathleen Brown, senior VP of business and legal affairs at Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., commented that HD technology limits the type of shows that can be produced. "In terms of future needs, I think the question really is: What should a prudent producer be doing in this technological environment?…As a producer, Alliance Atlantis has shot some product in high-definition…But I’m also told that it is best used in controlled light situations. So you will see a lot of sitcoms and studio-based shows shot on HD, but you won’t see a lot of action or one-hour drama series shot in HD. So a series like CSI is shot on 35mm film, and transferred to high-definition for delivery to CBS." There are also concerns about copyright infringement in selling HD programming, according to Chris Bell, VP of technology at Astral Television Networks. Astral offers Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and regular HDTV movie broadcasts. The owners of the programming rights are worried, he said, that the content will end up on the Internet. That could lead to a devaluation in subsequent broadcast windows, such as syndication, and regional release. As well, viewers may have personal computers and personal video recorders (PVRs) at home, and the ability to record DVDs is imminent, he noted, so there is a whole discussion around the limits to "fair use." "Once you have the ability to capture and move HD content around, it would probably be permissible to use it in the home, maybe at the cottage, but what about in the car?" he asked, adding that the rights holders are worried about their work being indiscriminately copied.

Broadcasting industry could suffer if more Canadian HD content isn’t produced: McEwen

News | 02/28/2003 5:00 am EST

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