Lincoln disagrees that markets will erode government’s ability to regulate media

Technological developments and the power of the market are eroding the amount of control the government is able to exert over media, according to the senior VP of policy and regulatory affairs at the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA). Speaking February 14 at a session on the role of the government at the Who Controls Canada’s Media forum in Montreal, Michael Hennessy argued that public policy will in time have less and less influence over the media industry. The government will have no choice but to decrease its role in terms of competition, technology and consumer choice, but will be able to continue to provide subsidies, set fee schedules and require contributions from broadcasters, he argued. He noted that a slew of new television channels and media options, including the Internet, have created fragmented audiences, which are dynamic and unpredictable. "You can’t expect old (government) controls to work," Hennessy, a former director general of competition, convergence and social policy at the CRTC, said at the conference organized by the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Old models are disappearing, he noted, as technology erodes borders, content becomes commoditized faster than it is created, and competition increases with the introduction of new media, new screens and new sources of information. For example, he said he no longer had to listen to the radio because he could download music from the Internet. With that much market fragmentation, Hennessy said no one ends up controlling the media. He concluded that technology was creating more options and less control, but also more diversity and consumer choice. "The only loyalty will be what works for the consumer," he suggested. Hennessy’s views were supported by fellow panelist Terence Corcoran, editor of the Financial Post. Corcoran theorized that the government, or its broadcast regulator, doesn’t need to be involved in television and radio when there are thousands of sources of information. He called it "laughable" that the CRTC tells a small radio station what it can and can’t broadcast. But Liberal MP Clifford Lincoln, who chairs the Parliamentary committee that is currently wrapping up an extensive study of the Canadian broadcasting system, disagreed. At numerous public hearings conducted by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Lincoln, also a panelist at the session, said many witnesses noted that the role of the government in the broadcasting system was significant. Lincoln said one area where the government has a definite role is in copyright. His committee will soon begin hearings on that matter. "You shouldn’t look at extremes and blow things out of the water," Lincoln said. Different regulation is required for changing circumstances, he added, citing the example of the North American Free Trade Agreement emerging once trade between Canada and the United States became more intertwined. While the role of the CRTC might evolve, there will still be a need for a regulator, Lincoln pointed out. He wouldn’t reveal any details about the recommendations to be included in the Heritage committee’s report, which could set the government’s future policy direction in broadcasting. The report is expected to be released in late March or early April. Marc Raboy, a communications professor at the University of Montreal and advisor to the Heritage committee reviewing the broadcasting system, noted that it wasn’t a question of whether the government had the ability to control media, but rather one of when it should try to direct or orient it. The government has regulated the media for the past 100 years, and its role will become even more important in the future, Raboy said. While the spectrum scarcity argument for government intervention is becoming less valid as technology developments such as digital have increased the number of channels that can be distributed, Raboy pointed out that ways can be found to regulate the media in a changing environment. It’s just a matter of political will, he added.

Lincoln disagrees that markets will erode government’s ability to regulate media

Broadcast | February 28, 2003

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