With the phrase ‘taking back our prime time,’ the CFTPA captures the spirit of its submission – as well as those of several unions and guilds – to the CRTC’s forthcoming over-the-air television review.

The commission’s 1999 TV Policy rocked the industry by deleting minimum Cancon spending requirements for broadcasters, expanding the definition of primetime to 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. and adding bonus time credits for six-to-10-point priority Canadian content. These decisions will be up for dissection beginning Nov. 27 in Gatineau, QC.

The brief to the CRTC from the Canadian Coalition of Audio-visual Unions (which includes ACTRA, the DGC, WGC and NABET/CEP) argues that the removal of spending minimums ‘proved to be disastrous for the cause of Canadian drama, since broadcasters then had every incentive to move away from high-cost, risky programming… and focus on cheaper programming. Drama expenditures for the OTA private sector plummeted and by 2005 were only 3.2% of ad revenues, the lowest amount in eight years.’

The CFTPA points to Nordicity Group research indicating ‘the profit margin [measured as EBIT] of TV and film producers dropped from 9.4% in 1999 to about 7.5% between 2000 and 2004.’ While producers’ profit margins are ‘in keeping with the average rates posted by all industries in the Canadian economy – 7.25% to 9.0% – [they are] considerably below that of the large Canadian broadcasters, which ranged from 13.3% to 19.2% between 1999 and 2005.’

‘The most important message,’ adds CFTPA president and CEO Guy Mayson, ‘is that we think the expenditure requirements work. They don’t have to be punitive. They work in specialty channel programming.’ He says the current policy ‘was not a major error. It was an experiment and it’s time for a new approach.’

His data shows spending on foreign programming has increased since the ’99 policy, while spending on Canadian programming has not.

As a result, several interveners are asking the CRTC for a regulatory safety net. A key provision would ensure conventional station groups allocate a certain percentage of gross ad revenues to Cancon production.

The CFTPA recommends 12% go toward priority programming – drama, music and dance, entertainment magazines, variety, documentaries longer than 30 minutes, and non-news regional programs produced outside the major centers – rising to 15% over the broadcaster’s next licence term.

The association also suggests broadcasters be required to air two more hours of priority programming weekly, for a total of 12. It agrees with the CCAU’s specification that ‘at least 7%’ of earmarked Cancon funds should go to drama, but further stipulates that for large ownership groups, 10% should be drama-bound, rising to 12% by the end of licence terms.

The DGC argues that the impact of the ’99 TV Policy has been devastating to its membership.

‘Many of our members are [no longer] in the industry. They’re freelance designers working in apartment buildings or bathroom stores,’ says Pamela Brand, DGC national executive director and CEO. ‘New opportunities have come up [in lower-budget genres], but those skills don’t take long to acquire. They don’t build the industry long term.’

While the Canadian Association of Broadcasters declined to comment for this story, submissions from the OTA broadcasters show that they don’t want to be forced into backing more expensive dramas.

‘Rather than introduce a Canadian programming expenditure requirement, the priority programming requirement should be expanded to include Category 11 [general entertainment and human interest],’ reads the submission from CTV. It argues Canadian broadcasters need to build expertise across more categories in order to better compete with U.S. programs, and that programs such as awards show The Junos should count as priority.

CHUM prefers to see local programming included as priority. It says other types of priority programming are ‘economically unsustainable’ and insupportable so long as conventional TV’s financial health is ‘in peril’ and there’s no new money coming from the federal government.

CanWest MediaWorks, which commissioned research from Communications Management, enumerates several factors – the most important being the decline in PBIT levels compared with the pre-fragmentation peaks of the 1980s – that it says prove ‘economic challenges facing broadcasters are not cyclical.’

Changing technology is also seen as a threat. CBC notes that advertising growth on the Internet and other distribution platforms, combined with the usage of new technologies to access television, will further reduce OTA ad revenues.

Unsurprisingly, while the producers and unions want fewer, if any, time bonus credits for priority programming, broadcasters want more.

Another hot issue is fee-for-carriage, which, if approved by the CRTC, would require BDUs to pay OTA broadcasters to carry their signals, as with specialty channels. Producers and unions want to have these fees invested in Cancon production – a scenario that would delight the DGC’s Brand, especially if it led to higher licence fees.

‘In Canada,’ she says, ‘broadcasters put in generally about 23% [of a show’s production costs], but in other English-language countries, the figure is closer to 70% or 80% for commissioned dramas. For the BBC, it’s very often 100%.’ She says the guild hasn’t actually pitched a percentage, but ‘40% or 50% wouldn’t be unheard of.’

The call continues for more consistent scheduling of Canadian drama in the heart of primetime – 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Brand says teen-targeted shows such as Global’s Falcon Beach and CTV’s Whistler have the potential to gain good ratings, but are buried. Falcon Beach has aired on Saturday nights, when many Canadians are not watching TV, and if they are, for a large part of the year it’s hockey they’re tuning in.

But programming is no longer just about TV – Cancon is now also distributed via the Internet and mobile devices, and ACTRA national executive director Stephen Waddell believes webisodes and mobisodes should be regulated, despite the CRTC’s earlier decision to not regulate the Internet and mobile TV.

Mayson, meanwhile, wants to see content on new platforms financed properly, and for producers to share in any revenues. He says broadcasters can ‘put pressure on producers to sign away more rights without proper compensation… We need a proper framework within which to operate, and someone to supervise that process.’

Will the CRTC move toward re-regulation? Will the commissioners on the panel – which won’t include CRTC chair Charles Dalfen, whose term ends Dec. 31 – decide to increase broadcaster support for Canadian priority programming, especially drama?

‘I believe they can,’ says Waddell. ‘None of the commissioners now on the commission were [there] in ’99. So it’s fresh ears.’

If the five commissioners aren’t swayed, it won’t be for lack of veteran insight. WGC executive director Maureen Parker is bringing along ‘a group of the most experienced writers to speak to the point that to have good talent, you need to invest in that talent.’