in unveiling bce’s application to takeover ctv for $2.32 billion, the crtc has revealed details on the supporting $230 million benefits package, the largest one in Canadian broadcast history.

Among the many obvious bonuses for the production industry, the benefits package will, as one observer points out, create a ‘significant incremental body of priority programming – a minimum of 175 hours’ – without tapping into the Canadian Television Fund.

Funding of the package is divided into two broad categories: On-Screen benefits, or funds devoted to programming development, totaling $212.6 million or 92.4% of the package; and Talent Development, Culture and Innovations, totaling $17.4 million.

The On-Screen benefits are put into four sub-categories:

* Priority Programming ($140 million), which includes $45.5 million to a new mow series Heroes, Champions and Villains; $10.5 million to the Great Big Canadian Show – an annual celebration of Canadian talent – and $2 million to the National Broadcast Reading Service, a non-profit organization devoted to broadcasting for the hearing impaired;

* News and Information Programming ($53.5 million), including $14 million to fund the placement of 14 journalists in the fields of health & safety and science & technology, $12 million to open new foreign bureaus in New York, Hong Kong, New Delhi and Johannesburg, and $11 million to 2-Way Hot, a half-hour current affairs series for young adults;

* Pipeline to the Screen ($9.6 million), including $5 million to the BCE Content Innovation Network, which will work to enhance the talents of Cancon developers, $1 million to the National Screen Institute and $3 million to iTV specialists in ctv development offices in Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver; and

* Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund ($10 million).

In the second category:

* $3.2 million will go to the Canadian Media Research Consortium, focused on the development of Canadian data for use in media planning;

* $2 million will go to Community Journalism Initiatives, which will see local ctv stations funding relevant, university and college scholarships; and

* $2.5 million will go to ‘Ryerson Polytechnic University: BCE Chair in Convergence and Creative Use of Advanced Technology,’ to enhance the capabilities of the school’s Radio Television Arts, Journalism and Image Arts programs.

Further details on the priority programming side include: $18 million for doc production; $25 million for dramatic series; $3 million for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network; and $23 million for a new interactive entertainment series that will marry conventional tv with enhanced interactive features.

A public hearing on the bce application for change of ownership will be held beginning Sept.18 in Hull, Quebec. *

– www.bce-ctv.com