Diversity is frequently preached as a wise philosophy for forward-looking Canadian TV enterprises – and it is also the mandate of a proposed digital service with a licence application that is – controversially – being considered by the CRTC.

Canada One TV plans to produce and commission mainstream, high-quality English-language drama that reflects Canada’s racial and cultural diversity. The channel’s backers tell the CRTC they will spend more than $2 million on script and concept development over a seven-year licence term, and air two hours of original Canadian drama between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. weekly by year five, and three hours between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. by year seven.

‘Factoring together the low presence of visible minorities and Aboriginal persons in English-language Canadian drama, and the lack of viewing by Canadians to Canadian drama programming on Canadian services, the need for Canada One TV becomes even more apparent,’ writes majority shareholder Diversity Television in its CRTC application.

Former VisionTV VP Paul de Silva, a partner in Diversity Television with Amos Adetuyi and Alfons Adetuyi of Toronto prodco Inner City Films, says the channel would fill a gap in reflecting Canada’s diverse cultural communities and by finding a place in the rapidly expanding ethnic market.

Also on board is Halifax’s DHX Media, headed by Michael Donovan, which would invest $5 million to launch Canada One, along with $2.5 million from the Royal Bank of Canada. CBC has provided research support, and could possibly provide technical facilities and collaborate on programming, says de Silva.

A sample programming grid submitted with the application includes entries such as Epitome Pictures’ Degrassi franchise and Protocol Entertainment’s Saddle Club, and includes ethnic-based programming from around the world. DHX will also provide programming from its catalog.

The channel would be financed primarily through subscriber fees, de Silva explains, and wouldn’t be expected to turn a profit until the end of its first licence term, with subscriber fees projected to increase from $29.3 million in year one to $47.2 million in year seven as the digital universe expands, while national advertising is estimated to grow from $735,000 to $3.5 million over the period. The channel is proposing a monthly fee of $0.50 per subscriber.

Canada One also pledges to annually allocate at least 65% of the previous year’s gross revenue, or about $26 million, to Canadian programming – 80% of which would be earmarked for drama. Nearly $5 million would be spent over the licence term on drama pilots, and about $4 million on training minorities to work in front of and behind the camera. Original programming would require at least two members of a visible minority in key roles of producer, writer, director or actor. No sports, news, religion or game shows would be included.

The catch – and the source of the controversy – is that Canada One has applied for digital basic coverage. That means the channel would be a must-carry for distributors, and would have to be taken by all digital TV subscribers. By contrast, Category 1 digis can be carried in discretionary subscriber tiers.

The applicants argue Canada One qualifies for digital basic because it is ‘exceptionally important to the achievement of the broadcasting policy objectives of the Broadcasting Act,’ due to its diversity focus.

But the concept of digital basic carriage was introduced as part of the CRTC’s digital migration policy, and many in the industry believed that a recent call for applications was only for analog specialty services looking to maintain their legacy positions in the cable lineup as they upgraded to digital transmission – not for new digital services. The Weather Network and CBC Newsworld are among those analog channels that have applied.

‘[The call for digital basic carriage] to our mind was an outgrowth of the digital migration framework,’ says Cal Millar, head of Channel Zero, which operates the Movieola and Silver Screen Classics Category 2 digis.

Millar was surprised when the application was gazetted in January and Canada One TV and other new minority-focused digi offerings Métis Michif Television Network, aimed at a Métis audience, and The Accessible Channel, for those with disabilities, were included. All Points Bulletin, a digital service providing information to nationwide law enforcement agencies, has already launched, but is also seeking digital basic status.

Millar says the commission should have put out a broader call for applications if it was going to expand digital basic to include new services. He says that he would have submitted a revised version of his Canadian Film Channel proposal that was rejected in the recent pay-TV applications. Seeking must-carry status for CFC, he asked the commission about applying as a Category 1 digi, but was told no more channels would be licensed in that category.

Millar has fired off a letter to CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein saying the process is not transparent, predictable or fair, and was planning to file a short submission against the process.

High Fidelity HDTV, which operates four high-definition channels, in its submission argued that no broadcaster, including existing analog channels, should be given protected status in the digital world.

The CRTC asked Diversity Television for forecasts of annual revenues and expenses if the commission were to approve the licence but deny the channel mandatory carriage.

‘Canada One is not a viable service on this basis,’ responded Diversity Television, adding it would be forced into being a ‘repeat’ channel because it would be impossible to produce much, if any, high-quality original drama without the guaranteed carriage.

De Silva said Canada One could launch anywhere from six to eight months after receiving regulatory approval. A public hearing on the licence application will be held on March 26.

www.canadaonetv.com