Following a meeting between cftpa president Elizabeth McDonald, chair Linda Schuyler and Baton Broadcasting ceo Ivan Fecan, the cftpa plans to ‘positively acknowledge’ ctv’s recent Canadian programming contributions in front of the crtc at the upcoming Canadian Television Policy Review hearings.

Such a declaration by the producers association could intensify a CanWest/ctv rivalry – prompted in part by ctv’s call for Cancon equity between broadcast groups.

And while the official word at CanWest Global and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters is that ‘everything’s fine,’ the equity between broadcasters issue appears to have splintered the two biggest members of the private broadcast lobby group, the cab.

‘We’ll be using ctv as a positive example of what a private broadcaster should be doing,’ says Schuyler, who notes that ctv’s current schedule of Canadian programming falls in line with the first-year guidelines of the cftpa’s ambitious plan that calls for an eventual 10 hours of Cancon in primetime.

‘ctv is already on our plan,’ she says.

Schuyler also confirms that the cftpa will make note of ctv’s recent licence fees – some of which are over the mandated threshold and above both Global’s and cbc’s.

Representing the cftpa in Hull, Que. will be a diverse panel, including producers from all regions, types of production and size, while members from the private broadcast industry representing the cab will consist of Jim MacDonald, president of the recently purchased WIC Western International Communications and tva president and ceo Daniel Lamarre. No executives from ctv or CanWest will be on the cab panel.

Joining McDonald and Schuyler on the cftpa panel will be Halifax-based Salter Street Films president and coo Catherine Tait; Edmonton’s Andy Thomson, president of Great North; kids’ program producer Ira Levy from Toronto’s Breakthrough Entertainment; and heavyweight Michael MacMillan, president and ceo of the recently merged Alliance Atlantis Communications.

While some have suggested that ctv and Global’s inability to present a united front could mean trouble for the cab, Tom Curzon, ctv vp communications, says ctv remains committed to its membership in the broadcast lobby group – so much so that the network will be a platinum sponsor of the cab’s upcoming convention in November.

‘The cab’s submission is a compilation of what we have all collectively as private broadcasters agreed to,’ says Curzon.

Yet in a speech delivered mid-September to the National Press Club, cab president Michael McCabe stated that private broadcasters should be able to access government funds.

In ctv’s submission to the crtc, it argues that broadcasters should be able to internationally distribute programs that access funds, but doesn’t ask that broadcasters themselves be allowed to access funds.

Fecan has often used the upcoming Sarrazin-Couture Productions series Flesh and Blood, which was sold to Pearson International, as an example of a Canadian program that is being distributed by a foreign company because of such rules.

McCabe could not be reached for comment at Playback press time.

With ctv currently spending roughly 33% of its revenue on Canadian programming while CanWest spends approximately 18%, the two broadcasters differ strongly on what percentage of revenue should be put towards Canadian shows.

‘You can’t ask Global to go up to where ctv is, so I think that the only smart thing the commission can do is let ctv come down,’ says one cab staffer.

Other issues emerging as hot topics for Hull include the amount of promotion dollars that broadcasters put towards Canadian programming.

Though none of the major broadcasters will produce a dollar amount, cbc executive director network programming, Slawko Klymkiw, says the cbc has increased the amount of promotional spending on Canadian programming this year by between 20% and 25% with efforts such as the theatrical promotion of DaVinci’s Inquest.

ctv senior vp industry affairs, Beverley Oda, says ctv has ‘significantly’ increased its promotional spending as well this year.

In this fractional year it seems the only issue that every participant in the upcoming hearings can agree upon is the need for the continuation of government funding for Canadian programming.