CTF needs separate funds and boards: Rogers

Forget about two funding streams; the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) should be split into two separate funds to achieve public policy and private sector goals, Rogers Communications Inc. told the CRTC this morning. "We accept that public resources should be spent in support of government objectives," said Rogers vice-chairman Phil Lind in the cableco's opening remarks to the commission. "We do not accept, however, that all monies, public and private, must be spent in the furtherance of such objectives....In our opinion, a private sector, market-oriented fund with clearly defined objectives, and simple yet flexible program guidelines, will help to achieve broad, public policy objectives by building audiences for Canadian programs." While the majority of interveners on day one of the hearings in Gatineau QC predictably advocated maintaining a CTF status quo, it was harder to forecast which direction Rogers would take. The cableco has contributed more than $315 million to the fund since its inception and did not join Shaw Communications Inc. and Vidéotron ltée in discontinuing its payments to the CTF in early 2007. Rogers also operates on both sides of the CTF, funding it as a cableco and receiving funding as an over-the-air broadcaster. Lind addressed this dual role, saying, "In both of these capacities, we want to see the fund succeed." And in Rogers' view a successful CTF funds television programs that draw as many Canadian eyeballs as possible - so much so that by year four of a dual-fund system, the cableco says audience success and return on investment should be the only remaining determinants in allocating the Broadcaster Performance Envelopes. "We believe the overriding objective of an audience-based measure should be to reward the delivery of mass audiences to Canadian programming in primetime," said Lind. "By establishing clear objectives and streamlined guidelines, expanding the range of Canadian content that is eligible for funding, lowering Canadian content requirements, and aligning market preferences with funding criteria, the privately-funded, market-oriented fund will yield Canadian programming that generates large audiences."During questioning, hearing chair Rita Cugini attacked Rogers insistence that the CTF fund primetime hits. "The CTF is mandated to fund programs filling 7% of the primetime hours," she said. "The remaining 93% is up to the broadcasters. So why so much heat on the CTF?" "We're not saying the CTF is broken. We're saying it's losing its way a little bit," responded Rogers VP of regulatory Ken Engelhart. "There's no real synergies between the objectives laid out by Canadian Heritage and the audience success objectives of the Task Force Report....It's not that the current system couldn't work with the board governing two streams, but why? Why complicate it?" Although Rogers advocates a separate board to govern each fund, it believes both should be administered by the CTF. Lind pointed to the CTF's exemplary track record on administrative and back office issues like research, as well as the fact that keeping both funds under the CTF would reduce administrative costs. What Rogers failed to acknowledge, however, was the comment made by the CTF yesterday that meeting the fund's public policy objectives under the terms of its contribution agreement requires 61% of its budget, but Canadian Heritage's yearly contribution accounts for less than half of CTF monies. When pressed on the issue of funding, Rogers said it opposed increasing its contribution to 5% of revenues as suggested by the CFTPA - the cableco currently contributes about 3% of revenue to the CTF, with the other 2% going to its community channels. Lind noted that Rogers' contribution already increases about 6% a year as its revenues go up. Cugini replied, "That's the great thing about percentages."

CTF needs separate funds and boards: Rogers

News | 02/05/2008 7:47 pm EST

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