CHUM asks for flexibility in licence renewal applications for its two B.C. TV stations

CHUM Ltd. is asking the CRTC to allow it to reduce the amount of locally produced news it airs on its Vancouver TV station so it can become more competitive in British Columbia’s tight market. The request is made in the company’s licence renewal application for Citytv Vancouver. CHUM is asking the CRTC to allow it to amend its condition of licence to reduce the number of hours of local news from 15.5 to 12 hours per week. It proposes maintaining the total number of hours of local programming at 27.5 hours per week by replacing the reduced news programming with more information shows. As well, CHUM proposes changes to a licence condition of its Victoria BC station CIVI - The New VI that would give it greater flexibility and the chance to reduce the amount of local news aired. Currently, it is required to air a minimum of 26 hours of original local programming each broadcast week, including 19.5 hours of local news and at least 6.5 hours of other categories of local programming. CHUM wants that condition of licence modified to a commitment to broadcast a minimum of 26 hours of local programming each broadcast week, including 6.5 hours of non-news local programming. CHUM tells the CRTC that CanWest Global Communications Corp.’s two stations in the area, CHAN-TV Vancouver and CHEK-TV Victoria, continue to dominate news ratings, while CTV Inc.’s CIVT-TV and the local CBC affiliate also draw more viewers than Citytv Vancouver. "In the highly competitive Vancouver market, where the number of private television stations has increased from three to seven in the last seven years, it is important that Citytv Vancouver has the necessary flexibility to meet the demands of its audience and the ability to distinguish itself from the other stations in the market. One area where this can be accomplished is in local non-news programming," CHUM states in response to CRTC interrogatories in conjunction with its licence renewal application. "Vancouver residents are well served in the area of local news. By reducing the volume of local programming devoted to news, CKVU-TV would be able to devote more resources to local non-news programming - a genre of programming that is underserved in the Vancouver market and that our audience finds attractive." If granted the licence amendment, CHUM indicates that it would consider providing more audience-interactive local entertainment. Calling Vancouver one of Canada’s most competitive TV markets with the licensing of the over-the-air ethnic M Channel and the dominant position of CanWest Global, CHUM tells the CRTC that it "needs the necessary flexibility to respond to the competitive nature of the Vancouver market and the needs of its audience." In its licence renewal application, CHUM indicates that it will spend $8.7 million on news programming in the first year of the renewal, increasing to $63.1 million in year seven. Total Canadian programming expenses are estimated at $12.9 million in year one and $92.8 million in year seven. CHUM projects revenue to grow 6.9% in year one of the licence term, 6% in year two, 5% in year three, 5% in year four, 4.5% in year five, 4% in year six and 4% in year seven. CHUM says that Citytv Vancouver has met neither revenue nor profit projections from the time CHUM acquired the station from CanWest Global Communications in October 2001 and rebranded it Citytv Vancouver in July 2002. "…Since we appeared before the commission in early 2002, the Vancouver economy has slowed significantly. Tourism, one of the drivers of British Columbia’s economy, has slowed significantly due (to) factors such as the Mad Cow scare, fears over SARS and, more recently, the fires in the province’s interior. Continued weakness in the high-tech sector has also hurt the local economy," CHUM notes in its Citytv Vancouver licence renewal application. CHUM lists these same hurdles as challenges facing its Victoria station. It also notes that direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV distributor Bell ExpressVu LP didn’t carry the New VI until Sept. 15, 2003, almost two years after it launched, and that it is still not carried by satellite TV distributor Star Choice Television Network Inc. DTH carriage is important for the station because many residents of Vancouver Island live in remote communities accessible only by satellite, CHUM notes. It also points out that Shaw Cable has begun to use its community and program listings channels as a vehicle for advertisers to air full-motion, 30-second fully produced commercials, cutting into the available ad market. "Even given the above-referenced challenges, CIVI has managed to largely meet the overall revenue projections for our first two years of operations, as set out in our licence application of Sept. 23, 1999. However, we may just now be seeing the cumulative effect of these various market and industry issues, as revenue trends for fall 2003 are showing softness," CHUM notes in its application. In response to the competitive challenges of the B.C. market, CHUM cut 34 full-time and part-time positions at the two stations, and integrated Citytv Vancouver’s master control into the newer Victoria station (CCR, Nov. 14/03). The company notes in financial results for the quarter ended Feb. 29, 2004 that were released April 19: "The company’s British Columbia conventional television stations lost very little ground in their sales when compared with their performance for the period ended Feb. 28, 2003. Local sales in both British Columbia and Ontario continue to be soft." The licence renewal applications are scheduled to be heard at a CRTC public hearing on June 7 (Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing 2004-3). Written comments on the matter are due by May 13.

CHUM asks for flexibility in licence renewal applications for its two B.C. TV stations

Broadcast | April 22, 2004

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