ACTRA is again challenging private broadcasters’ warnings that conventional TV is broken, and in a Wednesday appearance before Parliament’s Heritage committee, spoke out against deregulation while offering its own proposals on fee-for-carriage.

‘Do not buy into the panicked cries and threats from private broadcasters… [conventional TV] is facing the same challenges as any industry in transition and confronting a global recession,’ said ACTRA national president Richard Hardacre during opening remarks, joined by actress/activist Wendy Crewson.

The union representing 21,000 members also argued that specialty channels — of which OTA broadcasters CTVglobemedia owns 32 and Canwest 21 — continue to make record revenues to the tune of $2.9 billion last year.

‘If broadcasters are having difficulty with the downturn, it’s the result of their own bad business decisions,’ suggested Hardacre, pointing to ‘gross overspending’ on U.S. programming.

Hardacre’s comments echo those that Shaw and Rogers Communications have made around Ottawa; that the system is not broken and that broadcasters should be held accountable for spending on American programming. ACTRA, however, differs from distributors on the issue of fee-for-carriage.

‘We are not against fee-for-carriage. But we are against giving private broadcasters a new source of revenue and getting nothing in return,’ said Crewson.

The union suggested that revenues from fee-for-carriage be redirected to the screen for local and dramatic programming, while cablers should not be allowed to pass fees on to subscribers, as they have threatened. ACTRA also wants CBC included the proposed system, which would see OTA broadcasters collect fees from cable and satellite companies for use of their signals.

Hardacre went on to refute broadcaster claims that they can’t make money on Canadian programming, citing a recent study commissioned by ACTRA.

The study ‘demonstrated that when one accounts for repeat viewings and repeat airings by station group, broadcasters can recoup the investment on Canadian programming and in many cases, make a profit,’ he told the committee.