The CRTC’s licence renewal decision for CTV and Global Television may be a win for the Canadian public but it has caused some concern among the broadcasters.

The decision, which held few surprises, was the result of the commission’s first opportunity to evaluate the private broadcast groups against provisions of the TV Policy.

In the area of priority programming of Canadian content, for which the commission no longer requires a minimum level of expenditure, CTV’s president and COO Trina McQueen says, ‘There are fairly rigorous expectations already in place. We’re just happy there were no additional requirements on that level.’

As a condition of licence and as outlined by the TV Policy established in June 1999 and put into effect September 2000, CTV and Global are required to air eight hours per week of Canadian priority programming.

And, in terms of that programming, the broadcasters must commission at least 75% from independent producers – production houses in which the licensees own or control less than 30% of the equity, which excludes programming from production affiliates Landscape Entertainment (CTV) and Fireworks Entertainment (CanWest Global).

While the commission has effectively endorsed the goals of vertical integration through, for example, its approval of the BCE/CTV deal, ‘it is limiting the next level of vertical integration, between the distributor and the creator,’ says Gerry Noble, president and CEO of Global Communications. ‘We should be required to program eight hours a week of priority programming, but we should be able to decide where it comes from. The best stuff will rise to the top anyway.’

On the other hand, McQueen says, ‘we might have preferred 35%, 45% or 50%, but we’ve always thought the majority of programming should be done by independent producers. Seventy-five percent of eight hours a week is not crippling.’

The two biggest demands, admits McQueen, are in the areas of convergence and diversity of voices.

To these ends, the CRTC has mandated the broadcasters to adhere to a fairly autonomous Statement of Principles and Practices regarding cross-ownership of television stations and newspapers, as proposed by the broadcasters.

Andree Wylie, vice-chairperson of broadcasting for the CRTC, took a harder line at the renewal hearing in April. She suggested broadcasters could ensure diversity of voices by adopting a code that would prevent print and broadcast journalists employed under the same corporate umbrella from talking to each other. But both broadcasters balked at the idea, suggesting a method of self-governing when it comes to news coverage and information sharing.

‘We believe convergence can be about good journalism,’ says McQueen. ‘And there’s really no evidence that news is in the hands of a few people in Canada. It’s an extraordinarily competitive field, with at least three big, well-resourced news outlets in CTV, CBC and Global. The A Channel in the West is doing a great job, too, and Chum is certainly a formidable competitor in the news field.’

At the hearing, Leonard Asper, CanWest Global president and CEO, called Wylie’s suggested code ‘unconstitutional’ and both broadcasters proposed that a complaint system would be more suitable.

Likewise, the CRTC has asked the broadcasters to appoint a monitoring committee to field complaints and report to the commission.

But while Noble admits the CRTC made a ‘fair and balanced decision,’ he says, ‘my biggest complaint is that the commission has given over to the independent monitoring body the function of assessing complaints, which technically means the committee, which is not controlled by the CRTC, could decide that we’re in breach of our licence. And what if they’re wrong?’

The Statement of Principles and Practices, created to ensure that CTV and Global continue to contribute to the Broadcasting Act’s objectives, includes the following provisions:

* Management of the broadcast newsrooms must be kept separate from the newspaper newsrooms.

* CTV and Global will each form a neutral monitoring committee to deal with complaints from employees and the public about the broadcasters’ compliance with the statement. The committees will report annually to the CRTC on all complaints received and how they were dealt with. To investigate complaints, the committee is authorized to obtain information from the licensees’ management and their subsidiaries or any employee involved and to examine any relevant files.

* CTV and Global will each spend $1 million per year promoting the committee and the Statement of Principles and Practices.

The CRTC is, however, prepared to consider suspending the conditions of licence relating to its Statements of Principles and Practices if the licensees and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council present the commission with an acceptable industry-wide code. For Noble, such a code would be preferable.

He would also prefer to increase commercial minutes per hour, but the commission quashed the request made at the hearing.

‘This just means we will have to fill more time in the U.S. schedule with non-paid advertising, station IDs, promos.’

The following highlights some of the other fine points in the CRTC’s licence decision:

* Services to the visually impaired: the broadcasters are required to broadcast a minimum of two hours per week of described video. The level should increase to four hours by the end of the licence term.

* Closed captioning: the broadcasters must close caption 90% of regular programming and 100% of news. These requirements will come into effect at the start of the new licence term for all stations earning more than $10 million annually. For stations earning less, the condition will take effect Sept. 1, 2003.

* Cultural diversity: in accordance with the TV Policy, the commission expects the broadcasters to provide, within three months time, with a plan outlining how CTV and Global will address such concerns as corporate accountability, programming practices and community involvement as they relate to the goal of ensuring that the diversity of Canadian society is reflected fairly and consistently.

The commission has also issued a public notice (CRTC 2001-88) calling for the creation of a community and industry task force – which the commission expects CTV and Global to financially support – to address the issue of Canada’s cultural diversity in broadcasting.

For more details on the CRTC’s licence renewal conditions for CTV and Global, go to www.crtc. gc.ca.