Federal action on local programming will depend on outcome of CRTC review

Those awaiting quick action from the federal government to help Canada’s ailing local television sector will have to wait until the CRTC provides its assessment on the impact of fee for carriage early next year. While sympathetic to the financial plight of local broadcasters, Heritage minister James Moore cautions in his response to a Heritage committee report that any outcome must ensure affordable access to citizens, and incorporate new digital platforms. “Ensuring consumers and citizens have affordable access to a diversity of news and information, both through conventional television and other media platforms, is vital,” Moore writes in the Oct. 8 response to the Heritage committee’s June report on the Issues and Challenges Related to Local Television. Some of the committee’s key recommendations include bolstering local programming, elimination of Part II fees, stable financing for the CBC/Radio Canada, and the creation of a plan by the government to meet the 2011 deadline for the transition to digital and assisting the transition. Moore acknowledged the challenges of the digital age and said the government is currently assisting through processes such as the updating of the Copyright Act and the creation of investment mechanisms to spur innovation and the creation of digital technologies on multiplatforms. “For instance, the creation of the Canada Media Fund Program from a merger of the former Canadian Television Fund and the Canada New Media Fund, will ensure a more effective and modern approach to support the production of Canadian content and its delivery to Canadians.” Moore also cited the creation of the Canada Music Fund, the Canada Periodical Fund and the Canada Book Fund as some of the steps the government is taking to support innovative thinking and application of digital technologies. At the same time, the Heritage minister stressed that conventional television is no longer the primary medium for getting local content to viewers. “Creators need the right set of conditions to support their work in building new, innovative media products and services on all platforms. This includes having the right tools to compete in global markets, and build new business models... We need regulatory solutions that are forward-looking and incent the industry to adapt to the digital environment, which is based on consumer choice and control,” he stated. Moore’s response comes as cablecos and broadcasters duke it out in a high profile media campaign to sway consumers to their side in the debate over fee for carriage. Broadcasters argue that cable subscribers already pay for local signals as part of their basic cable package and, since cablecos are making record profits, should forward a portion of this revenue to local TV stations. Cable operators argue, however, that over-the-air television has always been free and that consumers will simply have to pay more each month if a new carriage fee is introduced. Moore sidestepped these issues in his response to the Heritage committee’s report, saying the government is reserving judgement until it reviews the CRTC’s report on the impact of fee for carriage, stemming from a hearing scheduled to begin Dec. 7 on the “implications and advisability of implementing a compensation regime for the value of local television signals”.

Federal action on local programming will depend on outcome of CRTC review

Broadcast | October 16, 2009

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