The policy, its bonuses and our offspring

Maybe the crtc has finally snapped.

Or maybe, flagging under the strain of balancing the economic, technological and cultural demands of their high maintenance masters and clients, the commissioners decided to give up on tough love for the regulatory set.

With its new television policy, released June 11, the crtc might even be experimenting with a polite Canadian version of deregulation.

As a crtc spokesperson put it, regulation if necessary but not necessarily regulation.

But what has been deemed necessary regulation?

Beginning Sept. 1, 2000, the crtc won’t tell large private broadcasters how much they have to spend on Canadian content. Primetime is longer by one hour, starting at 7 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. The 150% credit for 10-point ‘priority’ programming (aka underrepresented categories) aired in primetime remains, but the commissioners added a 125% bonus for six- to nine-point priority Cancon aired in prime.

One industry observer says these moves give the broadcasters ‘free reign’ to spend as little as possible. Perhaps, he says, the regulator naively hopes the broadcasters will rise to the occasion now to avoid tighter regulation later. On the other hand, with eight more hours of ‘priority’ Cancon required and five extra hours of primetime each week in which to meet that quota, he says we’re most likely to see more magazine, entertainment and regionally based game shows.

But the cab’s Michael McCabe says the new policy is exactly what’s needed, says it’s high time the crtc offered more flexibility on priority programming and when it can air. He says viewers and ad dollars would depart if private tv was produced on the cheap. He says there’s nothing wrong with six- to nine-point programming. ‘I think we’ve got to get over this business of `you’re all bad if you’re running The Outer Limits.’ ‘

Happy with much of the new policy, Global president Kevin Shea is concerned, meantime, about the document’s take on serving kids since only shows aired in evening prime will qualify for the 150% Cancon bonus. ‘There’s no benefit to keeping as much kids’ stuff on the [morning] schedule’ if the bonus credit disappears.

Nelvana’s Michael Hirsh lobbied the crtc to require all terrestrial broadcasters to air at least three hours a week of high-quality educational kids’ fare, especially for under-fives. He recalls that even when the fcc deregulated a few years back, it required some over-the-air nets to air educational shows.

Think crtc bonusing and kids’ policy these days, and ‘deregulation’ is a term that comes to mind. If it’s in the plan, sober second thought is in order, since critics of the current tv ‘white paper’ are ‘bonusing’ it with red ink. At the very least, if the crtc’s high hopes for private broadcasters and Cancon go awry, the commissioners can reregulate when post-policy renewal hearings come around.