In This Report:

As the new head of CanWest Global, Peter Viner looks to expand the network’s media holdings. p. 23

Cover montage index p. 24

Mintz on Asper p. 27

Brinton on Asper p. 28

CanWest history: an overview p. 30

Asper in Alberta: a fitting adieu p. 31

Make no mistake about it; the media are miffed. After two decades of access to the irrepressible I.H. Asper, he is, for the foreseeable future, not holding court on fee-for-carriage, the crtc, foreign ownership, or CanWest’s big-picture plans. Nothing. As per the New Zealand media, ‘Prince Izzy’ is incognito. Even on the network’s 20th anniversary.

What we have instead is one Peter Viner, 52, the new president and ceo of CanWest Global Communications. A ‘Who?’ is justified, everywhere except within the bowels of CanWest where Viner, who started as vp marketing in 1974 for the then drowning Global Television, has been the cornerstone of one of the bigger success stories on the international broadcast scene as president and ceo of Australia’s Network Ten.

It goes without saying that Peter is not Izzy. Asper is manic, Last of the Cowboys. Viner, not so much. In the glossy anniversary book published by CanWest, Leonard Asper, vp corporate development for CanWest, has this to say of Viner, who was instrumental in turning Vancouver’s u.tv into its present cash-cow incarnation.

‘Peter decided that u.tv was going to become a hip station. He was going to go from tired old ckvu to urbane, happening, in-your-face u.tv, and he really didn’t tell anyone about it.’

That’s not to say Viner is quiet. He’s just more quiet than Asper. The adjectives forthcoming on Viner, who held a large in-house staff meeting a month ago at Global, include ‘personal,’ ‘approachable,’ and able to make Global’s media expansion plans ‘exciting for people.’ Peter, say many, inspires confidence. Peter is not afraid to make decisions.

It’s a gift he shares with Asper, although they have different, albeit complementary, styles.

‘Izzy is the classic entrepreneur. I’ve been a professional manager all my life,’ says Viner.

Global/Ten: rags to riches

‘Professional manager’ is accurate to Viner like saying the Princess was well liked: true but not apt. His curriculum vitae – Global vp marketing 1974-80, Harvard Professional Management Degree, 1980, president ckvu-tv 1980-84, president Telemedia Communications 1984-88, executive vp for Telemedia in charge of English publishing and broadcasting, president and ceo of CanWest Broadcasting and gm of u.tv 1990-93, ceo of Network Ten Australia 1993-97 – hints at his story, a microcosm within the macrocosm of the corporate high drama that is the CanWest story.

History Coles Notes.

Global Television, owned by Al Bruner, Peter Hill and a group of independent investors, launched in January 1974. By March, it was losing almost $50,000 a day. Enter the Asper clan, armed with The Love Boat and a focused programming strategy which said license popular u.s. commercial programs and then sell like hell. Enter Viner as vp marketing, working under Global president David Mintz, whom Asper calls the father of the Global Television Network.

By 1987, Global becomes the first Canadian English television station to clear $100 million in sales, a pretax profit of $20 million. In 1996, investors taking advantage of CanWest’s initial public offering in 1991 have a 1000% return on investment. CanWest’s investment in Canadian programming in 1996, including news and sports, runs to $62 million.

Today the Canadian market accounts for about $1 billion of its $4.6 billion in revenue. The remainder comes from broadcast holdings in New Zealand and Australia, which brings us back to Viner. There’s a tiny numbers tale there too. In 1990, Network Ten was losing $2 million a week. Enter Asper et al with a 57.5% economic interest. By 1996, revenues for Network Ten register in excess of $451 million, operating profit of almost $160 million.

In the years between those numbers, Viner was sent in to head up Ten, sealing his career in the process and presumably Asper’s decision to hand the reins to him over the host of other talented executives available.

Although Ten’s overall audience share rates second to Seven, it is the second most profitable network in the country. It reaps the benefits of CanWest’s considerable buying clout which is grounded in buying international rights for three continents as opposed to the Auzzie competition which is buying for local markets, and the benefits of John McAlpine’s sales expertise. (McAlpine has succeeded Viner as ceo of Ten.)

In the Australia media buying community, Ten has become what they call ‘advertiser friendly,’ ably carving a niche for itself in the 16-to-39 demographic, all while keeping operating costs below the other networks.

Viner, the 1995 Australia Media Executive of the Year, took a solid two weeks to accept Asper’s offer to lead CanWest through the new millennium. Accepting the Australia posting in 1993 was a virtual flat, instant, yes. It’s hard to say why this year’s decision took so much mind time, says Viner.

‘I don’t know. I was excited about the possibilities. But I’d made a career out of following bad acts. I wasn’t sure I knew how to follow a great one.’

CanWest expands its media

Out of the frying pan and into the proverbial fire. The times, they are a’changin’. CanWest, which has resisted vertical integration most of its 20-year life, is sharing the same bleak reality as the rest of the Canadian private networks, looking into the gaping maw of the global marketplace and convergence and knowing they are simply renters of programs. It doesn’t bode well for long-term growth and/or stability.

So what is CanWest up to? It would be strange if they weren’t shopping for a library of programming to own. It would be unusual if they weren’t looking into establishing a distribution arm. Producers are already well aware that the broadcasters are questing after more equity in production. It would be unusual if CanWest wasn’t among the bidders for tvontario and cfmt-tv.

But most obvious is its sustained interest in the WIC Western International Communications conglomerate and the healthy litany of radio stations that would come with it, should Mrs. Emily Griffiths move and the business opportunities shift so as to leverage CanWest’s position as a 24% owner of wic’s outstanding shares and its largest non-voting stockholder (they bought another $30 million worth Sept. 22).

Naturally, Viner is tight-lipped on the topic. ‘We like wic. We like their properties, we like their investments and we see value in investing in them. We’ll just have to let circumstances unfold as they will.’

What he is more willing to speak about is his first priority: ‘Number one is to keep up the pace of growth.

‘I think we’re underdeveloped in the specialty channel area. Territory-wise, we’re almost licensed out, so I would also like us to have another media strand in Canada, not simply be a television company. We’re watching the Internet. It’s not a particularly lucrative area yet, but in the outside event it turns into a cannibal, I think it’s best we understand it. What we’re trying to do is educate ourselves so we can recognize value when we see it.’

Global is in, this 71 applications round, with eight new specialty proposals. It’s going head-to-head with wic on regional news in Vancouver and Alberta in addition to apps for news in the Maritimes, Quebec and Saskatchewan, Mystery Channel, Love and Romance Channel and Action Channel. The new rules of the game, post the Eligible Services Lists decision and on the precipice of convergence, are straightforward, says Viner.

‘Everybody has the right to go broke.’

The status quo isn’t particularly pleasant for any of the players, and the ground rules may have to shift accordingly, he adds.

‘The cable companies are caught in a bind. It’s disappointing that the Canadian services already licensed are already having a hard time getting access, but even those that are playing are going to have to fight to stay alive. You’re going to come back to consumer acceptance and consumer demand and they’re going to have to have compatible Canadian content contributions. One that’s sympathetic with penetration numbers.’

This is somewhat ominous at the production end. It seems to translate into downsized commitments. Yet Viner puts the ability to produce high-quality Canadian programs second on the list of primary issues facing the Canadian broadcasting industry, second to access to and the cost of international programming and ahead of competition for what was formerly, exclusively, the television advertising dollar.

‘The [production] industry is learning how to produce Canadian programming that is internationally attractive. That, in the long term, will bring down the absolute cost and will encourage broadcasters in the long term to take bigger risks because there’s definitely a return on investment.’

According to Viner, part of the key to evolution is increased flexibility for the broadcasters from the regulator. Canadian licensees need as much control as possible over how they manage their business in this increasing competitive environment, he says.

‘The crtc seems to have a more realistic and commercial outlook. Ideally we should have less restrictions on the ability to schedule Canadian content and the types of Canadian content that are prioritized. A review of the value of drama in primetime versus documentary versus children’s programming, versus news and sports, for example, could be appropriate. A look at the automatic benefits test – is that concept still valid; is the way it’s applied still valid?’

Enter the national networks hearing Nov. 5 and the subsequent content hearings in the spring on those particular topics. In the meantime, Viner wades in as the new head of CanWest, bridging its Winnipeg/Toronto infrastructure and applying what he calls Asper’s ‘common sense, conservative’ brand of individualization to new business ventures. The protect-the-downside-and-think-longer-term mind set that has propelled CanWest through to 1997, per se. Oh, and know when to take risks.

His role is fairly simple, Viner concludes. ‘It’s a myriad of big and small things. I’m trying to help shape the strategy, to help provide the resources and a climate that’s conducive to success.’