S-VOX president makes case for “re-regulation”, and a Cancon-heavy basic tier

Broadcasters and BDUs advocating lighter regulation need to remember that Canada's entire broadcasting system was built on regulation that balances business concerns with cultural objectives, says S-VOX president and CEO Bill Roberts. With the CRTC's BDU and specialty review less than a month away, Canadian Communications Reports caught up with Roberts to talk market forces, Canadian basic and re-regulation. "It's nice to talk about market forces, but Canada's not a market," says Roberts. "It is a completely artificial creation. It is an idea. If we were to really surrender ourselves to market forces, you and I would be debating who we're backing, Obama or Hillary? So this is an idea, and we need this idea to constantly step forward and balance market forces with the requirements of the fabric of this Canadian idea." Roberts recognizes that the commercial objectives of many in the broadcasting system are completely legitimate, but he says they are not in keeping with the sprit of the Broadcasting Act. Too often, he adds, the line in the Act about allowing the system to keep pace with technological advancements is held up as a defence of deregulation. On the contrary, he says that line should be taken to mean that technology should be used to enable a broadcasting system that accommodates an ecology of small, independent players as well as large vertically and horizontally integrated entities. In fact, if the system is to keep pace with technological advancements, Roberts suggests the CRTC should consider moving the American networks off of the basic cable tier. While this may be a long shot, S-VOX's argument to maintain a primarily Canadian basic cable tier should resonate with the commission. In its submission to the CRTC on the upcoming hearing, S-VOX recommends that such a basic package include: At least two thirds Canadian owned and operated channels that exceed 65% Cancon in their schedules and spend 50% of their revenues on Canadian programming; A minimum number of French-language services; Channels that offer third-language and aboriginal programming as well as content that reflects the experiences of Canadians with disabilities and; Channels that offer community programming. "I can completely understand large commercial players needing to grow, create scale, and respond to the demands of stock markets and shareholders et cetera.," he says. " Vision, like APTN and CPAC were created as wilful public policy acts by the CRTC. And they were created largely on the basis that they would have universal access to the distribution system and that the business model that would allow them to survive and provide those unique services to those unique niches, was fundamentally Canadian basic service." Roberts refers to Canada's small broadcasters as the canaries in the mineshaft for the nation's broadcasting system as a whole. While Canwest, CTV, Rogers and Shaw may be big time here, he says, they are tiny by comparison to US conglomerates like Comcast and Time Warner. So if regulation becomes such that independent broadcasters can't survive, the bigger players should take it as a troubling sign. "If we are truly taking a long-term view here, this is the time for us, small and large, independent and converged, we need to find ways to work together, to pull together and not pull apart," he says. "And anything else is just short-sighted and might be convenient for some family estate planning but it's not a good way to run a broadcasting system." "That's why we need the balancing hand of re-regulation. Deregulation is about running up this white flag and saying ‘it's just too difficult for us to put our heads around,' and that's a surrender that's not complimentary to any of us participating in this upcoming hearing in April."

S-VOX president makes case for “re-regulation”, and a Cancon-heavy basic tier

Broadcast | March 12, 2008

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