CBC’s rural TV channel – Bold – raises ire of CRTC

The CRTC has summoned the CBC for a public hearing on June 2 to answer charges that the public broadcaster is flouting regulations by enacting an unauthorized change in the licence conditions of a television service catering to rural Canadians. The CRTC says CBC’s broadcast of the television service, called Bold, undermines the integrity of the licensing process because the program is not serving the underserved rural audience it was intended for. Furthermore, the commission stresses that Bold is inconsistent with policies on genre exclusivity, hence the need for a public hearing to determine the issue. In particular, the commission seems to be irked about the inclusion of variety and arts programming that includes jazz and performances from the Cirque du Soleil. The CBC argues the inclusion of such programs enables a wider audience reach, hinting that more eyeballs means more advertising dollars. The public broadcaster also notes that rural Canadians are as sophisticated in their viewing habits as their urban counterparts. “Country Canada, now Bold, has never been about crop reports or weather forecasts for farmers or country music. It is a sophisticated general interest entertainment channel for Canadians from all walks of life but it has some specific goals,” said Bev Kirshenblatt, senior director, regulatory affairs, in a letter to the CRTC. The public hearing is the culmination of a two-year tiff between the regulator and the CBC over the licence conditions of Bold. Originally licensed for Corus Entertainment Inc. and the CBC in 2000 under the name Land and Sea, the service was intended to be a national English category 1 television specialty service for rural Canadian families catering to adults aged 25-54. Its licence conditions specifically state that the service was intended to contribute to increased diversity by focusing on rural issues “in a level of detail not currently found in the Canadian broadcast system.” Additionally, the licence conditions state:” In order to protect this enhanced diversity, the Commission expects that the CBC will not in any way reduce the presentation of regional programming on its own television networks, following the launch of Land and Sea.” Shortly after the CRTC approved the joint licence, the service’s name was changed to Country Canada. In 2002, the CBC took exclusive ownership of the service with CRTC approval. According to the CRTC, the disagreement started when the CBC decided to rebrand Country Canada as Bold in November 2007. The same month, the CRTC wrote the CBC a letter objecting to the rebranding. “Please be advised that a departure from Country Canada’s current nature of service with respect to providing television service to rural Canadians from a rural perspective would require Commission approval of an application to amend this condition of licence,” wrote Scott Hutton, CRTC associate executive director, broadcasting. On April 24, 2008, John Keogh, CRTC senior general counsel wrote a letter to the CBC saying that while Bold has tenets of rural values and interests, there was insufficient evidence showing that overall programming conformed to requirements to “provide information, interaction and entertainment from a rural perspective.” In a May 9, 2008 response, the CBC insisted that Bold was consistent with its licence conditions by providing a wide variety of programming that includes arts and variety shows. Kirshenblatt also added that the format in which Country Canada was originally being operated was producing an identity problem for the service, making it difficult to market the service to BDUs and selling it to audiences. Difficulties in marketing and packaging have resulted in a dent in the service’s financial viability, Kirshenblatt said in a letter. In 2007, Country Canada had 934,344 subscribers and total revenues of $3.4 million, reaching only 157, 000 viewers a week. “Amongst all of the digital speciality channels it consistently ranked in the bottom half,” she said. The CRTC has set the deadline for interventions for April 15.

CBC’s rural TV channel – Bold – raises ire of CRTC

Broadcast | March 18, 2009

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