As it did with an earlier plea by Rogers and Shaw (CCR, Jan. 12/06), the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has lent conditional support to Eastlink Cable’s request to use the permitted 25% of local avails to promote its bundles and telecom services. Below is part of a submission by CAB VP of television and specialty and pay services Wayne Charman.

David Goldstein has been named to the position of VP, government and regulatory affairs at CHUM Ltd. in Toronto. The move is an internal one: since 2003, when he joined the firm, Goldstein had served as national director of government affairs, radio and television within the CHUM organization. In his more than 15 years in the broadcast industry, Goldstein has also held the position of director, government affairs and VP, government relations at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). Before joining the CAB, he had also served with various television, multimedia and post-production firms for an eight-year period. In his new role, Goldstein will report directly to CHUM CEO and president Jay Switzer.

TV profits up, but Cancon lags foreign content: CRTC report
The CRTC released its annual report on the well-being of Canada’s private television broadcast industry late last month. In the document, titled Television Statistical and Financial Summaries 2001-2005, the commission noted an overall upward trend in revenue and profitability over the five-year period from 2001 to 2005; however, while total revenue increased 15% over that period, it actually dipped in 2002 compared to the preceding year. In 2005 alone, income from national advertising sales gained 5% – to total nearly $1.5 billion – at the expense of local time sales, which shrank by 1.1% to fall to less than $363 million. However, operating expenses increased by 4.3% year-over-year, hitting the $1.9-billion mark in 2005. Private broadcasters also spent slightly more than $587 million last year on Canadian programming of all types – news (by far the biggest single category), drama, music/variety, games shows, human interest, and other – including $138 million that went to independent producers. Total non-Canadian programming expenses that year, however, came in at nearly $612 million. That led the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) to decry the increased spending on imported programming. "Last year, we were shocked that so-called Canadian private broadcasters spent four times more on US programming than they did on original Canadian drama," said ACTRA national executive director Stephen Waddell in a media release. "Now, we’re appalled to learn that in 2005, they spent almost five times more. The system is clearly broken."