CACTUS campaign on community TV draws 800 letters to CRTC

A lobby campaign spearheaded by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) has resulted in 800 letters to the CRTC in support of community television—but the commission hasn’t yet posted them on its website, says Catherine Edwards, a spokeswoman for CACTUS. Many of the letters asked the CRTC to extend the Feb. 1 deadline to submit comments for the commission’s review of the community television policy framework, she said. The 800 letters have not yet been added to the public record for the hearings, scheduled to start April 26, 2010, she added. “We assume they’ll be posted eventually,” said Edwards, adding that many of them are based on a form letter on the CACTUS website. A CRTC spokesperson was not available to comment on the matter. But the commission’s policy is to post all letters it receives for hearings. When form letters are submitted, it posts one copy and lists how many were received. In its form letter, CACTUS accused the broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), or cable companies, of misusing funds collected from a broadcast levy. The levy, which brought in $116 million in 2008, was intended to create a public trust to support community television. CACTUS argues that the cable companies should use the fund to train volunteers for the production of community-run programming. But Edwards said the cable companies are using the money to produce their own professional programming for local community television stations. “Our estimate is that 90 per cent of Canadians don’t even know they could go to a cable company and ask ,” Edwards said in an interview. “And if they did, they would encounter significant difficulties.” On Thursday, there were 1,020 submissions to the CRTC in advance of the Feb. 1 deadline to submit documents for the commission’s hearings to review the community television sector. A large number of the letters also say that the cable companies’ support for community broadcasting is serving their communities well. “The importance of these ‘grass-roots’ stations to the vitality of the Canadian film and television industry is paramount,” wrote one supporter, Devlin Ford, from Vaughan, Ont. “Rogers alone has groomed thousands of industry workers who continue to push the boundaries of Canadian film and television, technically and creatively.” Another writer, Stuart Huston, Mayor of Spruce Grove, Alberta, wrote: “It is my pleasure to share with you our appreciation of the contributions Shaw TV makes to The City of Spruce Grove.” In another letter to the commission, Anne Arthur, the publicity chair for the Toronto and District Ladies Curling Bonspiel, commended Rogers TV in the York Region for covering a women’s curling tournament that her club participated in last year. “We like Shaw TV, our local, community-focused station, just as it is today,” Brenda Baker wrote, representing the Fundraising Committee for Station 20 West at Grosvenor Park United Church. Edwards said her group’s campaign in defense of community television has been overshadowed by the “local TV matters” campaign on the fee-for-carriage issue. “We’re finding that, with the person on the street, there’s a very poor understanding that community TV is separate from the local TV campaign,” Edwards said. “They think that in writing in support of local cable channels they’re supporting local TV.” Edwards said that while the cable channels are technically local, they could give far more resources to communities to produce their own programming. The Wire Report attempted to reach cable companies for comment late Thursday but none was immediately available.

CACTUS campaign on community TV draws 800 letters to CRTC

News | 01/28/2010 11:20 pm EST

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