The cbc’s business relationship with independent producers, its access to the Canadian Television Fund, its regional presence, and even its licence term will be under intense scrutiny when the public broadcaster begins three weeks of licence renewal hearings later this month.

A total of 31 licences are to be considered by the crtc as the broadcast regulator reviews the Corporation’s performance on its main, English and French television and radio networks, its specialty services, and its regional services. The process will involve a three-week public hearing filled with interventions by industry groups. A spokesperson for the crtc says about 100 representatives/individuals will appear at the hearings.

One key question at the hearings, as framed by the crtc, goes to the heart of the public broadcaster’s relationship with program suppliers. The commission wants to examine the cbc’s ‘policies and practices with respect to the acquisition and use of programming produced by Canadian independent producers and the impact of the government’s decision to remove the cbc’s guaranteed access to a portion of the Canadian Television Fund on the Corporation’s ability to acquire programming from Canadian independent producers.’

In its application, the cbc points out it is ‘meeting and exceeding both the licence-term expectation and the long-term expectation for the use of independent production in all categories other than news, public affairs and sports.’

Regarding drama, about 93% of cbc’s programming comes from the independent sector (1998/99), which is up significantly over 1994/95 when about 75% of its drama programming came from indies.

Slawko Klymkiw, cbc’s head of English network tv programming, says as more and more of cbc’s drama comes from independent producers, ‘there is a necessary relationship between the public broadcaster and the independent producer – both believe in a strong Canadian industry with strong Canadian content.’

But Elizabeth McDonald, president of the cftpa, representing more than 300 producers across Canada, which filed an intervention with the commission says, ‘while a substantial amount of drama is with the independent production sector, we believe that more and more the cbc should be licensing to the underrepresented categories: entertainment, drama and documentaries. Predictably, McDonald says she’d like to see cbc commission 100% of its dramatic production from the independent sector.

‘I think that the cbc does have to demonstrate when it does work in those categories that is efficient and effective and [makes] the best use of public money,’ she says.

As an example, McDonald contends the pubco has not met required weekly targets for children’s and youth programming during the past two licence periods.

Following cbc’s licence renewal hearings in 1994, the crtc told the broadcaster ‘to add immediately to its English-language network schedule, 2.5 hours per week of programming directed to teens and preteens on the English-language network, rising to five hours per week by the end of the licence term (for a total of 22.5 hours), and to maintain a minimum level of 20 hours per week on the French-language television network.’

Although Klymkiw promises to meet or exceed children’s and youth requirements in the next licence period, the requirement was not met for English-language youth programming in the current licence period. cbc reached a high watermark of four hours per week when, as a spokesperson explained, budget cuts forced it to cut a half-hour, bringing it to its current level of three and a half hours.

Says McDonald: ‘We are calling for the crtc to impose a new condition of licence requiring that the cbc meet the expectation of 22.5 hours per week of children’s and youth programming as set out in the last renewal of the cbc licence.’

Another carrot the cbc holds out involves plans to launch a primetime Canadian feature film programming stream in the 2000/01 broadcast season. While no details are forthcoming, Klymkiw says the cbc hopes to have part of a night, or a night, dedicated to features. Currently, features air during the summer for 13 weeks or on Saturday nights or as specials during the year.

‘We have put a plan together in which we will trigger a lot more films with independents,’ says Klymkiw. He did not say whether the cbc would commission more features – as advocated by a January report on feature financing prepared for Heritage Minister Sheila Copps – or if the broacaster would acquire more finished product, or a mix of both. A spokesman in the minister’s office says Copps has no plans to act on the feature film report at this time.

When it comes to the cbc losing its guaranteed envelope in the Canadian Television Fund – which will happen April 1, 2000 – Klymkiw says the pubcaster is looking at the rules of the fund ‘and the types of programs we’re going to produce. We will have to do the best we can to get as many dollars as possible to go towards our Canadian programs.’

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters doubts the cbc will suffer in losing guaranteed access to the ctf. As the cab’s intervention on the cbc’s licence hearing comments, ‘We expect that the cbc will continue to be prepared to put forward licence fees above the market level in order to secure a better ranking for its projects. Therefore, the result next year could be more ctf support, not less, for cbc projects.’

While not new, the battle over rights and what are considered fair business practices between networks and independent producers is currently being waged in a series of negotiations between the cftpa and the cbc. The association has studied models developed between such public broadcasters as bbc and Australia’s abc and their program suppliers, and is now calling for a ‘terms of trade’ agreement for this market to be concluded by December 1999.

‘It is an agreement signed by the independent producers association and the public broadcaster. It means if there are issues, there is a way that they can be dealt with – and that protect the interests of both parties,’ says McDonald.

Meantime, other industry associations such as the Canadian Independent Film Caucus have called for the cbc to appoint an ombudsman to deal with disputes.

In its renewal application, cbc notes it is already discussing a schedule of meetings with the cftpa to develop an agreement which will outline the ways it does business with independent producers. Klymkiw declined to provide details of the cbc’s position on the terms of trade proposal. While he agrees cbc’s business practices should be open to scrutiny, he says neither side has ‘a magic solution.’

The cftpa is also concerned that the cbc wants to commit 2% of its overall budget to new media, and that the rapidly changing info-age means new licences should be for five, rather than seven, years. While McDonald stresses the cftpa does not expect the broadcaster to behave like a luddite, she adds that, ‘they found 2% in their overall budget in what they’ve been able to save through efficiencies.’

The association is also concerned about copyright issues in the realm of new media and the Internet – which would also be addressed as terms of trade.

Naturally, the cbc wants seven-year renewals. As for new media, Klymkiw asserts that the cbc can’t ignore the new communications tools. ‘It is a tough one. On the one hand we want to put every possible penny on the screen so we can do the best job possible on the main channel, but we must be cognizant of the changes that are taking place around us.’

A decision on cbc’s licence renewals is expected in late fall.