Banding together: unaffiliated broadcasters are finding a voice of their own…when they need to

Let's be clear, this is not a story about anyone withdrawing from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. In fact, it's quite the opposite. But while the formation of a splinter faction of broadcasters to rival the venerable CAB on regulatory issues would certainly make for great copy, it is interesting to note that despite the stark differences that exist among them, Canada's broadcasters remain united through membership in the CAB. "It's important to us to wherever possible support the CAB....I think they do a tremendous job on a number of fronts," says Cal Millar, VP and GM of Toronto's Channel Zero Inc., which operates the Category 2 digital specialty services Movieola and Silver Screen Classics. However, he adds, "The CAB finds itself in a very bizarre position, representing three groups which have, not necessarily mutually exclusive interests, but pretty divergent objectives."Indeed, it's not hard to see the conflicting interest within the CAB or at times how those conflicts limit, and sometimes negate, the lobbying power of the association. Millar breaks the CAB membership into three groups: broadcasters affiliated with a BDU; those affiliated with a national over-the-air broadcaster; and everyone else. Considering the CRTC had to institute regulations to ensure fairness in the market for all three groups, trying to get all three to take the same stance on a regulatory issue is like, as Millar says, "herding cats." And even in situations when the CAB presents a strong voice, some of its members may still want to speak for themselves. Such was the case at September's Diversity of Voices proceeding. As Canadian Communications Reports noted on day one of the hearings, the national broadcasters (CanWest and CTV) could have let the CAB do the talking for them. During their presentations both broadcasters echoed, almost verbatim, CAB president and CEO Glenn O'Farrell's comment that, "The current system is working very well and no new rules are necessary." The edict was similarly repeated by both Shaw Communications Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. when they appeared before the commission. However, on Day 2 of the hearings another group of broadcasters presented a separate opinion. "Given the concentration and integration of ownership that have characterized the Canadian broadcasting system in the last 15 years, the independents fear that, absent regulatory intervention, we will not be able to discharge our respective mandates for very long," said Brant Kostandoff, General Counsel for the S-Vox Group of Channels. Kostandoff was speaking on behalf of a group that also included Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Ethnic Channels Group Ltd., Fairchild Television/Talentvision, Stornoway Communications LLP, TV5 Quebec Canada and Channel Zero. The group called itself the Independent Programming Services, but Millar, who was also on the panel with Kostandoff, refers to it as the unaffiliated specialty broadcasters, since not being affiliated with a BDU or national OTA can sometimes be the only visual similarity among the members. "We don't have anything to bind us together," says Millar. "It's what we don't have that binds us together. We've got everything from 9(1)(h) services through to analog specialties, category 1s, category 2s, third-language services. It's a diverse group. You want diversity of voices, come have a look at us."The group is also united by a desire to represent the interests of unaffiliated broadcasters when the CAB is unable to do so, and the limited individual resources to retain regulatory counsel fulltime. So members of the working group split the cost of preparing a submission by the number of signatories. Membership, which is consecrated with a verbal agreement, is open to all unaffiliated specialties. But with such a diverse membership it seems the unaffiliated working group is bound to run into the same problems as the CAB. "We don't agree on all points across all topics," says Millar, "but there's enough topics where there's pretty clear unity that allows us to formulate a message."The group is currently working on a submission for the upcoming BDU review, but that's not to say the broadcasters are resigned to operating independent of the CAB on all regulatory issues. "If the association can come up with a good strong position in terms of representing specialty broadcasters' needs, especially those of us not affiliated with over-the-air or BDUs, then we're there and we're excited to be a part of a larger group, " says Milllar. "If it can't, then we think it's better to simply go in with a consistent voice, or if we go in separately at least all of us reading off of the same function."While it's a perfectly logical stance, the visual implications of collaborating as a group independent of the CAB are not lost on Millar: "Every time somebody hears about it, it's like ‘ah, you're going to break away .' I respect that assumption; that's an interesting story."

Banding together: unaffiliated broadcasters are finding a voice of their own…when they need to

News | 10/05/2007 12:11 pm EDT

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