Every few minutes, for no apparent reason, Rick Brace’s computer emits a loud, resounding chime. The e-mail server has been going up and down all morning, he explains, tapping at a few keys, and his desktop PC won’t shut up about it.

Bliiinngg!, it says again.

He ignores it, and we get back to discussing bigger problems of technology and the business of network broadcasting.

Since taking over as president of CTV last fall, Rick Brace has been quietly steering his company away from troubled projects undertaken in the convergence-happy heyday of the late ’90s. Following the retirement of network grande dame Trina McQueen, Brace was called up from his post as head of the net’s many specialty channels.

News of his appointment and the departure of Kevin Shea, then-new media guru of parent company Bell Globemedia, broke on the same day back in October and was taken by many as a sign that BGM parent BCE was ditching convergence. Rumors continue to swirl that BCE is looking to sell its media properties – Bell Sympatico, CTV, The Globe and Mail – to boost its sagging stock.

Playback talked with Brace at the CTV head office about the near future of the network and its cross-media plans – touching on the fate of the digichannels, diversity and the CTF along the way.

PB: Do you think BCE will sell CTV?

RB: I’ll defer to the point [BCE president and CEO] Michael Sabia made during the last report to The Street, and he said we’re performing well and selling us is not on his immediate agenda. He’s pleased with our performance… He has bigger issues than us.

PB: Is BCE dumping convergence?

RB: BCE isn’t abandoning convergence, but it’s a small ‘C’ now. Big ‘C’ convergence was supposed to combine content and productivity across many platforms, everything from Bell ExpressVu to The Globe and Mail. We were never able to fully realize those benefits… but at CTV we still look for opportunities to cross platform.

PB: Such as?

RB: A good example would be Degrassi or the Juno Awards, where there’s a lot of web activity tied to the TV product.

PB: If you’re not sharing content and productivity, what’s the advantage?

RB: Where synergies really work is in the back office: accounting, financial, legal business affairs. Back-end savings. With Sympatico, for example, it’s technology – the web activity is centralized in one location.

But the biggest benefit is the ability to cross promote. From an advertising perspective, there is nothing better than using our own airtime. It’s more effective than print, more than any kind of ads. But we still look for opportunities to cross over, for example, we run Daily Planet, a Discovery program, on CTV.

PB: But not news? CanWest Global is co-mingling its coverage.

RB: Not to the same extent. We’re committed to an editorial division between the print and broadcast side of the business. For sure, efficiencies could be garnered by combining those two, but we believe the brands are important and should stand alone. It’s why, for example, we maintain a different website for CTV news and for The Globe. We believe the brands are important and should stand alone.

PB: How have the CTF decisions affected your plans for this fall?

RB: There are four movies that are still kind of out there – they would require the additional $25 million being put back in the pot, and we’d have to access it. I’m not sure that’s going to happen.

PB: Are you still optimistic the $25 million will be restored?

RB: Uh, hopeful, I guess. But we’re certainly not betting the farm on it. The bottom line for us is that the system is obviously broken. We’re hoping that the people involved can sort it out.

PB: But that could take awhile. In the meantime, will the net rethink its programming plans for the next season or two?

RB: I think we have to proceed along the same lines as we have – planning as if the fund will be restored at some point and making adjustments if that doesn’t happen. We’re among the leaders for movies of the week and dramatic programming in this country and our commitment to the independent producers is still there.

PB: Is it still good business to make big-ticket shows? Aren’t you sticking your neck out?

RB: Well, we are a business and we have to run like a business. But I think we should plan the way we always have and then deal with the situation once we know the facts.

PB: What is your main strategy as head of the network?

RB: We want to make sure we do not lose focus on the core business. CTV has tremendous value and we have some of the strongest specialty services with TSN, Discovery, The Comedy Network, which are all doing extremely well. We want to exploit the brands we’ve created.

PB: How will you apply your experience as head of the specialties to build the core business?

RB: Specialties are smaller businesses, and cost control was always paramount. What I bring is the attitude… to run things as efficiently as possible. How do we schedule programming? Is it worth repeating? How can we find creative ways to sell advertising? It’s these kind of initiatives that we’re bringing forward, into conventional TV, out of a much smaller business model.

PB: Are the digital channels living up to expectations?

RB: It is a slow process, probably slower than most of us thought. I thought it would be a little quicker than it has been in terms of the advertising. But you have to look at the subscription revenue too. Animal Planet is close to a million subscriptions and that’s starting to reach the realm of respectability.

PB: How long can you afford to operate the others – CTV Travel, WTSN, Discovery Civilization, for example – without significant revenue?

RB: We’ve set 2004 as our benchmark, after that we’ll have to see. Meanwhile, I think what you’ll see across the board is, as a result of the advertising situation, more severe cost management.

PB: More severe? Don’t they already run on pennies?

RB: They do, but there are always opportunities to manage more efficiently.

PB: Canada seems to be undergoing a small boom in ethnic broadcasting, and yet CTV is seen by many as being ‘white bread.’ Do you plan to change this?

RB: I’m not sure I agree with that. If I look at the list of our drama programming, there’s a tremendous amount that demonstrates cultural diversity.

[Asked for examples, Brace could not name any specific, diverse shows. A CTV spokesperson later cited Degrassi: The Next Generation and the Juno Awards.]

This is a bit of a hot point for us. We have a diversity plan that is very much a part of our overall business plan and every station manager has a diversity objective. I think we’ve been very proactive in this respect.

-www.ctv.ca