GATINEAU — The CBC recommended the establishment of a ‘skinny’ all-Canadian basic TV package as it, like the private broadcasters, on Tuesday sought compensation from distributors for its conventional stations.

The plan put before the CRTC, where hearings on fee-for-carriage continue this week, would see the public broadcaster’s local signals included in a smaller basic package, at a lower cost to TV subscribers than the larger basic packages currently being offered.

‘Beyond basic, consumers could buy what they wanted,’ said CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix. ‘The end result would be an affordable basic package, a sustainable financial future for local television and more choice for consumers.’

‘Conventional television broadcasters have had to deal with the reality that their regulated business model cannot cope with today’s fragmented media environment,’ he said. ‘The solution is simple. Local television stations should be given access to subscription revenues.’

Bell Canada and Bell Aliant, which followed the CBC at the hearing, told the CRTC that a skinny basic wouldn’t work. Bell said it tested a small $7.95 basic package in 2003 and there was little or no uptake on it.

‘A lower price is destructive to our business,’ said executives. ‘We lost money on this package.’

Bell Canada continued to oppose a ‘value-for-signal’ regime, the CRTC’s new euphemism for fee-for-carriage, particularly since conventional broadcasting is, and has always been, advertising supported. Regulatory SVP Mirko Bibic also noted the broadcasters have continued this model online.

He told the commission that broadcasters and distributors could not come to an agreement on the matter because questions had to be answered before considering regulatory remedies ‘which would turn the regulatory bargain upside down.’

He threw out the following questions: ‘What is the appropriate amount of local content to meet the Broadcasting Act’s objectives? How much local content is there today? What counts as local programming? Is local news the only concern, or are other forms of local programming relevant? How do Canadians access local content now and how will they do so in the future?’

Bibic also pointed out that Bell Canada can’t be expected to enter ‘negotiations which by design will worsen our already poor financial situation,’ particularly since value-for-signal offers nothing to distributors and consumers.

Besides, he added, while satellite distributors Bell TV and Shaw Digital TV had pre-tax losses of $416 million in 2000, and $156 million in 2005, accumulating $2.2 billion in pre-tax losses since 1997, ‘we didn’t launch a ‘save DTH’ campaign.” he added.

During this time, he stated, conventional TV generated $1.2 billion in pre-tax profits.

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Photo credit: CPAC