Montreal: Four major Quebec-based broadcast groups and an impressive array of partners have entrenched for a late fall battle over the lucrative right to operate new specialty channels on travel, history, drama, outdoor life and business and consumer affairs.

If the crtc holds to its past policy model for the French-language market, insiders say as few as five or six licences will be granted when the regulator hands down a decision sometime in the spring of ’99. And while some services could go to air as soon as the end of next year, cable may prefer holding out for a better promoted package launch in the fall of 2000.

Regardless of how many applicants ultimately gain a right of passage, none has been deterred from investing in partnerships, pitches and demographic research for 18 new French-language specialty channel proposals, which the crtc will consider at hearings starting Dec. 7.

Prime contestants in the new round include Group tva, Radio-Canada, Astral Communications’ subsidiary Reseaux Premier Choix and Radiomutuel.

Highlights on the main fight card include:

– an outdoor/how-to skirmish between tva and partners Cinar Films and Telemedia and a Radiomutuel/Atlantis Broadcasting proposal called Canal Chez-Moi;

– a main-card duke-out over history between Radio-Canada and the National Film Board, and an equally impressive contender advanced by Alliance Communications and Astral;

– a no-holds-barred battle over a business/consumer affairs licence sought by src and partner Bell Satellite (bce) and competitor tva and its print partners, The Globe and Mail and Publications Transcontinental; and

– the highly coveted travel/ adventure channel licence, which will see the Radiomutuel/Astral tandem take on tva and bce.

CRTC warning

Following the original Sept. 30, 1997 submission deadline, the crtc had asked applicants to try to merge some of the 20 original proposals (21 including a bilingual Radio-Nord ‘technology’ proposal), but tentative partnership meetings floundered and otherwise proved ‘too complex.’

In a recent speech, crtc chair Francoise Bertrand said the commission intends to ‘give priority to French-language services in the French market.’

Effectively, Bertrand seems to be saying the crtc is willing to review the status of existing u.s. and Canadian specialty and premium services in Quebec if cable operators do not play ball.

All of the French-language applicants are expected to ask for modified dual-status as discretionary (or non-basic) services with national distribution.

Quebec currently has 11 French-track specialty channels, including Reseau de I’Information, the three top-rated services – Canal Famille, Teletoon and Reseau des Sports – and MusiquePlus and Canal Vie. Combined, the specialties have a growing 14% share of the French market.

Revenue proposals

Raynald Briere, vp specialty channels and regulatory affairs at tva, says tva’s general revenue proposals include advertising plus subscriber fees, ranging from 50 cents up to 85 cents in the case of how-to channel Canal Savoir-Faire, 40.3% controlled by tva and partnered with Cinar Films, Telemedia and Serdy Video (19.9% each).

Briere says tva is aiming for a 65% penetration level, ‘because we’ll probably be on a second tier.’

Anne-Marie DesRoches, director, corporate affairs at src, says she expects a 70% to 75% penetration rate, with subscriber fees ranging from 60 cents up to 90 cents in the case of arts applicant Reseau des Arts, partnered with bce and Paris-based cultural network La Sept-arte (20% each).

According to DesRoches, src’s proposals are a natural extension of the public broadcaster’s mandate. ‘They have a public-service character,’ she says.

Members of the apftq, Quebec’s producers association, have raised several concerns, specifically asking that programming not be transferred wholesale from an operator’s conventional service to a new specialty channel.

Two src-managed applications, rda and Reseau de l’Histoire, partnered with Bell (ExpressVu) and the nfb, will offer up to eight minutes of advertising, while no commercial airtime is envisioned for Reseau de l’Economie, a consumer-affairs proposal.

Cancon promises

On the Savoir-Faire application, tva’s Briere says Cancon is pegged at 60%, with $4 million of $6.6 million in overall programming expenditures slated for new and/or acquired Canadian programs. Cancon is split $3 million for new licences and $1 million for acquisitions. Savoir’s operating budget is in the order of $9 million.

‘We think that up to 75% [of Savoir’s Canadian program budget] will go to independent producers,’ says Briere.

rda is proposing 50% Canadian content, 80% or more in the case of rde and 60% for rdh, says DesRoches

rda has an operating budget of over $10 million, with more than $500,000 a year set aside for development spending. The Canadian program budget is $7 million, with up to 75% of original production assigned to independent producers.

Since arte has a 20% participation in rda, DesRoches says there will be ‘arte theme nights’ on the sked.

The agreement between src and arte ‘is a two-way’ deal and especially attractive in that it opens a new window in Europe for Canadian programs, says DesRoches.

‘All the profits of the three networks will be reinvested in programming,’ she says.

The three src services – rda, rdh and rde – plan to develop children’s blocks and forge relationships with regional producers, especially in docs and information programs.

NFB seeks TV branding

nfb chairperson Sandra Macdonald says building brand identity and bringing the Canadian experience in French to tv are two important reasons for supporting rdh.

According to Macdonald, very little in the way of Canadian history and documentaries is currently available in French.

‘It’s wonderful [the proposal] in that it gives us an outlet and our films will be identified as ours, which is something we have a great deal of difficulty accomplishing with other broadcasters,’ says Macdonald. ‘You know, they clip off the credits… and so we think it will be good for visibility.’

rdh is proposing a broad range of Canadian and world history in French and plans to ask for national distribution.

As for financing, Macdonald says rdh will ask for both subscriber fees and ‘some advertising’ and expects to operate on an annual budget of over $8 million, typical of many of the smaller specialty startups.

rdh is proposing a $300,000 annual r&d ‘pot’ for docs and animation.

tv is a growth area for the nfb, with more than half its $10 million in annual revenues sourced from broadcast sales, both national and international, says Macdonald.

tv viewers in Canada already see about 5,000 nfb program broadcasts annually.

Macdonald says the potential for a long-term partnership with a sister public institution like src, ‘which shares many of our values,’ adds value to the rdh application.

The nfb produces more than 100 doc and animation titles annually and has over 9,000 library titles built up over its 59-year history.

In other developments, CanWest Global has decided against any involvement in French-track specialty applications, while Cancom, a wic subsidiary, recently withdrew from equity participation in all French specialty channels, including tva’s Canal des Affaires.