CCR Short Takes

Dalfen briefs Parliamentary Heritage committeeOutgoing CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage at the end of October to brief its members on the commission’s evolving mandate and priorities. In response to questioning from the various members of Parliament sitting on the committee, Dalfen defended the lower Canadian content requirements on satellite radio services, provided more detail on the conventional television policy review taking place later this month and offered assurances that the CRTC would hold an exhaustive consultation before approving or denying Bell Globemedia’s acquisition of CHUM Ltd. As well, committee members pressed Dalfen on the commission’s ability to foresee technological change and plan regulations accordingly. For example, Dalfen was asked about the CRTC’s decision to take a hands-off approach to content delivered over the Internet. "We didn’t want to be sending wrong economic signals through premature regulations when it wasn’t yet clear what we were regulating," Dalfen replied. "The commission found there were manifestations of Canadian content on the Internet. We wanted that to be encouraged in as free an environment as possible, and that continues to be the case today." Perhaps most interesting was Conservative MP Ed Fast’s questioning on the role of the CRTC; namely, whether it is there to make policy or whether it is intended more as an agency for implementing the Department of Canadian Heritage’s policies. Dalfen answered that while the minister of Heritage holds sway over broader policy decisions, "we do regulatory policy-making every day of the week" to the extent allowable in Section 7 of the Broadcasting Act. Fast’s fellow BC Conservative Jim Abbott also grilled Dalfen on the relationship between the CRTC chair and the minister of Heritage, asking about the consultative process between the two posts and the level of confidentiality therein. "Information gathering, particularly for new ministers, is an important role," Dalfen said. "We try to be helpful in terms of where we’ve been and where we’re going." He added that where ministerial consultations are necessary or required by the Broadcasting Act, "we generally don’t make those documents public. In fact, generally we don’t make them public; we leave them for the person seeking the advice, namely the minister, to make public if he or she chooses. Producers, ACTRA step up rhetoricThe war of words between Canadian producers’ organizations and the guild representing acting talent continued at a heated pace last week, with one side issuing a media release and the other refuting its content just hours later. On November 15, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and the Association de producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ) released a statement claiming that the two producers’ groups had reconvened talks with the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and that the groups had agreed "to remove or significantly amend – in ACTRA’s favour – three of the four proposals that ACTRA and its members have identified as being most contentious": rest periods (turnaround) between production days, new media amendments and new performer compensation arrangements on productions with budgets in the $4-million and $12-million bands. John Barrack, chief negotiator for the CFTPA, said the move showed "significant willingness to move forward in the process" and "provided ACTRA with a road map for addressing its members’ concerns." Within a few hours, ACTRA fought back with a statement of its own characterizing the CFTPA/APFTQ press release as "highly misleading." Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator in the talks, said the producers’ groups actually intended to "tinker with three of their proposals without fundamentally changing them," and also referred to "an enormous gap between the parties." The Independent Production Agreement which governs the working relationship between the two sides will expire on December 31, 2006. Rogers gets OK to use fibre to distribute signalsRogers Cable Communications Inc. has been given the green light to use its own fibre optic network to relay distant Canadian and US 4+1 signals to its regional cable systems, taking it out of the satellite relay distribution undertaking loop. Rogers’ request was publicized by the CRTC and opened up for comments on July 28 (CCR, Aug. 15/06), and soon drew comment from Shaw Communications Inc.-owned Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (Cancom), the largest SRDU in Canada. Cancom pointed out that the application by Rogers is the latest in a long series of BDUs looking to bypass the requirement to source signals from a licensed SRDU – namely Telus Communication Inc.’s successful application in December last year – and told the commission that if Rogers’ request was approved, it would be filing a request of its own: to amend its conditions of licence as well as the commission’s policy framework for SRDUs. Since Cancom didn’t expressly oppose its application, Rogers offered some informal support for Cancom’s argument. "It acknowledged Cancom’s view that the market for SRDU services has changed and argued that, as markets and technologies evolve, the commission’s regulatory framework should also evolve to permit all players to operate in a much more efficient and effective manner," Broadcasting Decision 2006-619 reads. Vidéotron adds four new HD servicesThe high-definition quotient has also been turned up a notch at Vidéotron ltée. The Québecor Média Inc.-owned cable system recently announced the addition of four more all-HD services to its illico digital cable offering: Super Ecran HD, Canal D HD, Ztele HD, and Canal Vie HD. In total, illico now features 20 channels dedicated to HD programming. In a media release announcing the new channels, Vidéotron VP of television distribution content, VOD, Internet and wireless Claude Sauvé seemed to take a shot at the CRTC and surreptitiously plead the company’s case for fewer restrictions in light of the commission’s various pending policy reviews. "Videotron faces unique regulatory challenges," Sauve said. "We must ensure a judicious programming combination in analog, digital and HD modes on the same network, in an environment where our company’s operations are subject to numerous regulatory constraints." Sherbrooke station to sign off for the last timeA Sherbrooke QC radio station will effectively shut down due to a disagreement between its owner, Corus Entertainment Inc., and Standard Radio Inc., which supplies much of the station’s content. Since 1992, when it was owned by Telemedia Radio Communications Inc., CKTS-AM in Sherbrooke had been simulcasting a feed from Montreal’s CJAD. Astral Media Inc. took a majority ownership stake in Telemedia in 2002, and in 2005 dealt CKTS to Corus as part of an asset swap that involved a number of Quebec radio stations.Corus says CKTS’ transmitter is decrepit and needs an overhaul, but that Standard Radio is refusing to share the cost. "The CKTS antenna needs major work, and expenses for annual upkeep are significant," Corus Quebec VP Jacques Papin said in a release. "Given Standard Radio’s decision not to cover these costs, we have no choice but to relinquish the license to the CRTC." As a result of that move, the frequency previously used by CKTS will also be returned to Industry Canada. The station will be available to Sherbrooke-area listeners on Bell ExpressVu’s DTH subscription service. HDNet makes its way to Canada on Rogers, ExpressVuCanada’s leading HDTV specialty broadcaster, High-Fidelity HDTV Inc., will have some competition with the launch of a new all-HD service on Rogers. HDNet, the general-interest network launched by dot-com billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, signed a carriage agreement with Rogers Cable Communications Inc. on November 7, followed by a similar deal with Bell ExpressVu the next day. The service has been on the air since September 2001 in the US, and broadcasts around-the-clock in full 1080i high-definition. Rogers will preview the channel for free in Ontario and Quebec on its digital cable network. HDNet also offers a full-HD movie channel titled HDNet Films, but no plans were announced to offer that service in Canada. While High-Fidelity’s four licenced 24-hour-a-day HD channels differ from HDNet in that they’re Canadian-owned, the firm does have a US production partner, Cablevision Systems Corp.’s Rainbow Media Holdings LLC division.

CCR Short Takes

Broadcast | November 22, 2006

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