Groups lobby commissioners for more local news hours

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) called on the CRTC Monday to maintain a minimum quantity of local news hours as broadcasters push the margins of the commission’s new group licensing policy. Peter Murdoch, vice-president of the CEP, told commissioners at a hearing Monday that broadcasters should gradually increase their local news hours over their licensing periods, arguing that local programming is essential to the public. “Since 2002, private English language TV stations have cut local news hours by 37 per cent,” Murdoch said. “From 899 hours per week in 2002, to 565 hours in 2010.” Under the CRTC’s existing policy, broadcasters must provide a minimum of seven-to-14 hours of local programming per week, which translates to six-to-11 per cent of the broadcast news day. According to the CEP, since 2001, lower levels of local programming have caused private over-the-air TV stations to reduce their staff by 12 per cent, which has come as a significant blow to the local broadcasting industry. Murdoch proposed that a weekly 17 per cent average of local news time be enforced by the CRTC to all group-based licence holders taking part in the licence renewal hearings. The CEP requested that the CRTC force Shaw Media Inc., owner of the Global Television network, for example, to spend more on local programming over the next five-year licensing term. Murdoch requested that—outside of its tangible benefits package, funds which Shaw is paying into the Canadian broadcasting system as part of its acquisition of Global—the company be required to increase local program spending either in line with the previous year’s revenues or with the average forecasted annual growth in news expenditures for competitors CTV and Rogers Communications Inc. The commission’s group-based licensing policy also requires spending on programs of national interest (PNI), which covers Canadian drama, documentaries and awards shows. The CEP said broadcasters have long been allowed to spend more on foreign than domestic content, affecting the quality and quantity of Canadian dramas and sitcoms available. Murdoch argued that although the industry might say that foreign drama revenues support the production of Canadian drama, the gap between the two is growing. “This gap must be closed, but not at the expense of non-PNI programming such as news,” Murdoch said. Broadcasting watchdog group the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting also appeared before the commission Monday. The Friends called on the CRTC to raise its five per cent spending requirement for programs of national interest to a minimum of 6.4 per cent. It also asked that broadcasters introduce local news content on new platforms. Ian Morrison, spokesman for the Friends, called on the commission consider the role of “cross-subsidizing,” or when companies’ push one asset at the expense of another. “As in many companies, some parts cross-subsidize other parts—a cost of doing business,” Morrison said. “We therefore urge the Commission to consider the capacity of the whole business.” Morrison also urged the commission to come up with a subsidy program for the over-the-air television industry’s transition to digital broadcasting, for which deadline is Aug. 31, 2011. Morrison said CMRI research shows that 29 per cent of Canadian households have at least one analog television set receiving over-the-air signals. Many of these viewers are seniors with lower incomes, he said. He suggested the $40-to-$50 per-household digital conversion costs be covered for those who cannot afford it. “I don’t think so,” CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein replied, suggesting those costs would be pushed onto broadcasters and the government. Via teleconference, representatives from charitable organizations and independent producers also presented Monday. Their survival depends on solid local television stations and programming, they said. The programs of the Children’s Breakfast Club, a Toronto-based charitable organization that works to bring a daily breakfast to over 5,000 children, could not exist without local coverage, which encourages viewers to donate and volunteer, the group said. The Edmonton-based Ice On Whyte Festival also attributed its success to local programming. Other organizations such as Greedy Productions, Winnipeg Harvest, and Hockey Calgary, also argued that broadcasters should invest more into local programming. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca --- CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the Friends called for a increase in PNI to 10 per cent, but they called for an increase to 6.4 per cent or higher. In addition, the Friends did not precisely call on the CRTC to force service providers to cover digital transition costs for low-income households.

Groups lobby commissioners for more local news hours

News | 04/11/2011 10:49 pm EDT

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