CRTC must

go farther

The crtc is considering charging cable companies fees for carriage and opening the airwaves up to infomercials. But it needs to do more to help Canadian broadcasters, says Canadian Association of Broadcasters president Michael McCabe.

McCabe feels the crtc is becoming more responsive to broadcasters’ needs.

‘I think they are trying to take a less strident regulatory approach, but I don’t think they’re going far enough. I don’t think they’re yet seeing the need to say to broadcasters, `How can we help you compete and contribute to a 500-channel universe?’ ‘

In spite of this, progress is being made, says McCabe. Although there is no official word from the crtc, he believes it will be open season for infomercials in the near future because Canadian broadcasters are clearly losing money to u.s. stations.

McCabe is also optimistic that a fee-for-carriage option is being considered by the crtc.

‘This idea was turned down cold a year ago, but now I have the sense that there’s a new openness to thinking about it.’

Many attribute this change in attitude at the crtc to the speed at which the communications universe is changing and subtle pressure from government in actions such as its review of the crtc’s judgment on direct-to-home service, says McCabe.

Heritage Canada Minister Michel Dupuy says it’s necessary for the ministries of both Heritage and Industry to take a larger role in communications regulations, given the multitude of changes happening in the industry.

‘We are moving towards a communications universe and all major players are preparing for big changes. It’s important for the government to look at current policies to decide whether they are still relevant and that is what John Manley and myself are doing.

‘I wouldn’t say we are re-examining crtc decisions, but there are gaps in terms of policy, and we’re preparing to fill those gaps and reduce the uncertainties to facilitate change in our world of communication,’ Dupuy says.

At a government level, there seems to be a growing recognition that heavy regulation won’t drive revenue in the system, and that if broadcasters commit to putting compensation from the cable companies into programming, a viable cycle for financing could begin, says McCabe.

‘I think they know now that they’re going to have enormous difficulty keeping other services out of the system, and that unless we create a situation where private broadcasters have enough money to create the programming, we risk not having enough Canadian programs on the 500-channel universe,’ he says.

The crtc is less enthusiastic about the proposal for non-simultaneous substitution of programs, the ability of a Canadian broadcaster to block out an entire American broadcast of the same show in a scheduled time block.

‘The crtc’s very leery about that one – they wonder about consumer reaction to it. Our view is that the tv listings would stop indicating that the show was on and work with broadcasters and the cable companies so as not to anger the public,’ McCabe says.

The cab will go back to the crtc to discuss fee for carriage and non-simultaneous substitution when the panel meets to explore the role of telephone companies in the system in February or March of next year.

In the meantime, the cab and cbc have asked the ministry for a task force to examine the funding and process of converting Canadian broadcasters to digital transmission.

‘We need all the players to look at how we’re going to convert and where the money is going to come from – it’s going to have to be from our revenues, but they’re not wonderful at this point,’ says McCabe.

Dupuy won’t commit to a task force yet, but expresses support for the need to move the conversion process along as quickly as possible.

‘There has already been a task force on digital radio and they made reports that have been addressed to technicians, so the move is on. If there is a need for further work and new studies would speed up the process, I would certainly be supportive of it,’ he says. AV