Following CAB closure, conventional broadcasters to fend for themselves, say insiders

Canada’s conventional television players are expected to fend for themselves after the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) closes this June, say experts and insiders. Last month, the CAB announced that it is closing in June due to an impasse between members. In its current form, the association represents the interests of radio and television broadcasters, cable and satellite distributors, and pay and specialty channels. “My sense is each of the sectors will make sense of their particular area and set up entities that will serve them accordingly,” CAB chairman Elmer Hildebrand told The Wire Report. But the association’s conventional television broadcasters, CTV Globemedia, CanWest Global Communications, Shaw Communications, Quebecor Inc., V (formerly TQS) and Rogers Communications, aren’t likely to form a new association, experts say. “The only reason you’d have an association is because you have a common interest to put forward,” John Chenier, founder of The Lobby Monitor, said in an interview. “You’re getting essentially what was an homogeneous group becoming very heterogeneous, very different agendas, with very little synergy in terms of working together on issues. They all have different interests.” Following the CAB’s announcement to cease operations, reports suggested that the divisive value-for-signal dispute ultimately tore the association apart. One industry source said it’s increasingly difficult for the conventional players to share common interests. The source said the members are large, vertically integrated companies with a variety of interests, making it difficult to form perspectives based solely on their television operations. Another industry source suggested that the conventional broadcasters are too concerned with the restructuring of CanWest Global Communications—and its potential new owners—to look into the creation of a new lobby group. Chenier added that today’s economic climate doesn’t favour the creation of a new lobby group. “Especially in the current fiscal climate, if you don’t have a need for it … why keep it alive? Why pay?” he said. Peter S. Grant, legal counsel with the McCarthy Tétrault law firm in Toronto and a communications industry expert, said the group’s conventional members are powerful enough to fend for themselves without the CAB. “ wouldn’t be appropriate for some groups, like Rogers and CanWest, which are big enough to look after their own,” he said. John Douglas, vice-president of public affairs at CanWest, said the company is still considering its next move. “It still has a number of months under its belt to go,” he said of the CAB. “We’ve always found a way to do things. Sometimes that’s formally, sometimes that’s informally. We’ll take the next few months to figure out where we want to go.” TVA, a privately owned French-language television network, left the CAB in September 2008 due to a difference of opinion with members. The network began to conduct work through the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and the Canadian Broadcasters Rights Agency, TVA spokeswoman Nicole Tardif said. She said TVA’s only remaining link with the CAB is through the collection of tariffs for the retransmission of distant television signals, but broadcasters will individually manage the collection of tariffs following the closure of the association. The Wire Report reported last month that a group of independent specialty channels is discussing the possibility of creating a new lobby group. The CAB’s radio members are also contemplating a group of their own. Their efforts are being led by Hildebrand, who said consultations are underway. V, Shaw, Rogers and CTV declined to comment. kfournier@thewirereport.ca

Following CAB closure, conventional broadcasters to fend for themselves, say insiders

News | 03/15/2010 8:26 pm EDT

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