Canadian broadcasters argue there’s no room for foreign digital services

Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting Inc is one of several broadcasters hoping to stop new foreign channels from taking scarce capacity away from new digital TV services. The CRTC is currently reviewing requests to authorize 29 foreign television services for digital carriage, in response to its December call for proposals to expand the eligible satellite services list (PN 2000-173). But with 21 Category 1 digital channels preparing to launch this fall, and another 262 Category 2, two pay-per-view and four video-on-demand services licensed, several intervenors say there’s plenty to choose from now without letting more foreign channels into the country. Only a couple of the applications, including ones targeted at the Catholic and Portuguese communities, have received overwhelming support (see story in this issue). They also point out that the CRTC’s commitment to consider foreign channel additions preceded the application deadline for new Canadian digital servcies. Alliance Atlantis CEO Phyllis Yaffe argues in her April 2 intervention that no one could have "anticipated the tremendous response to the call for digital applications submitted in April 2000." She adds that satellite capacity is in short supply, and that "at this time additional non-Canadian services should not occupy digital capacity that could otherwise be used to distribute Canadian services." The Canadian Association of Broadcasters fears letting in more foreign channels will lead to a repeat of what happened during the 1997 launch of new specialty services, "where a number of non-Canadian services occupied valuable limited analog channel capacity for a period of two years prior to the distribution of licensed Canadian services." Pelmorex Communications Inc, which operates The Weather Network and MétéoMédia, also worries that cablecos and satellite TV companies will add foreign services to its digital tiers at the expense of newly licensed Canadian services. Even foreign channels owned by Canadians aren’t immune from the tidal wave of opposition coming from Canadian channels desperate for a spot on the digital dial. Global Television Network has applied for approval to add four of its overseas stations to the authorized services list. CTV Inc says the application should be denied on the grounds that those stations air U.S. shows to which it owns the Canadian rights. Elizabeth Duffy-MacLean, CTV’s VP of strategic and regulatory affairs, points out that Global’s TV3 from Ireland, TV3 Television Network and TV4 Television Network, both from New Zealand, and Network TEN from Australia offer programming schedules similar to CTV. "On the issue of competitiveness, we note that a number of the programs broadcast on these services are currently available on CTV. For example, Oprah Winfrey, The Bold and the Beautiful, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation are available on one or more of these services," she writes to the CRTC. Under commission rules, new foreign channels coming into Canada can’t compete with a Canadian service. The simultaneous substitution rules might also be difficult to apply to these services, CTV says, because the shows aren’t broadcast at the same time. Canadian program schedules tend to match U.S. schedules when the same episode of a show is aired. Duffy-MacLean points out, for example, that CTV schedules Law & Order on Wednesday, while Network TEN shows the program on Monday evening and TV3 (New Zealand) airs it Thursday. "The availability of programming on a third, fourth and, in some cases, even fifth channel could have a material impact on CTV audiences, making these shows less valuable to advertisers, and would significantly dilute the value of the Canadian rights to such programs for which CTV pays significant fees," she writes. Chum Ltd is also opposing Global’s applications because of the overwhelming amount of U.S. programming on the channels. For example, Network TEN has about 55 per cent domestic programming, while the remaining 45 per cent is mostly U.S. fare. "We feel that services that devote a minimum of 30–40 per cent of their scheduled programming to U.S. shows that are already present in the Canadian broadcasting system fail to contribute in any significant way to the overall diversity of the system," writes Peter Miller, Chum Television’s VP of business and regulatory affairs. On the other hand, Sextant Entertainment Group Inc objects to Global’s bid, saying the domestic programming on the four stations would compete with its recently licensed Category 2 channel, Best of the Commonwealth. Global makes the same argument in asking that the CRTC turn down a bid by TV Land to be distributed in Canada. The American channel broadcasts U.S. dramas, variety shows, westerns and sitcoms from the 1950s to 1990s – programming Global contends would compete with its Prime TV specialty channel. Noggin, Oxygen, and the Sundance Channel, are also among the foreign channels being opposed. Corus Entertainment Inc argues that Noggin, a channel jointly owned by Nickelodean and Sesame St Workshop, is competitive with YTV and TreeHouse TV and its Category 2 channel, Discovery Kids. As well, it feels that Oxygen, an English-language programming service directed to women, should be denied because it targets the same market as the Women’s Tele-vision Network, which Corus has agreed to buy. Sports broadcasters, such as CTV, are also against the addition of Euro-sportsnews. Duffy-MacLean says the headline sports service focusing on European sports, including soccer and skiing would be directly competitive with TSN and several of its new digital services.

Canadian broadcasters argue there’s no room for foreign digital services

Broadcast | April 11, 2001

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