Montreal: Benefits resulting from the CanWest Global/Tele-Metropole entry into the Quebec broadcast market will be wiped out by job and programming cuts at competitor cfcf-tv, says recently named cfcf-tv president Rene Desmarais.

At a crtc hearing slated for Nov. 30, Desmarais says CFCF-12, the CTV Television Network affiliate in Montreal, plans to vigorously oppose a bid by CanWest/Tele-Metropole to convert ckmi-tv, a cbc station in Quebec City, to a Global station.

According to Desmarais, the 1995 tv ad market in Quebec is flat, and projected CanWest Global ad revenues of $11 million to $13 million for ckmi ‘will come right out of (cfcf’s) pocket.’

‘If they come in we’ll being taking the blunt of the blow, up to 75%,’ he says.

CanWest’s entry ‘will create a price war,’ says Desmarais, adding Global will also be taking ad revenue away from cteq, the newly licensed ethnic channel.

‘This is the rebound effect I don’t think CanWest has looked into,’ says Desmarais. ‘If they come in and cut into our revenue – they say they’ll only do national advertising – then if I’m losing on national advertising, so I’m going to have to push retail very strongly.

An excess of English-language tv inventory will drive down prices, ‘and cfcf will be forced to compete, even if we don’t want to, with radio and print,’ says Desmarais.

Desmarais says there are already clear signs tv ad rates are being undermined.

‘In Trois Rivieres, tva, as part of their global selling package, are giving (the local station) away for practically nothing in that area so competing stations are having lots of difficulty selling.’

He says CanWest’s promise to invest $9 million and create 75 new jobs in Quebec City ‘doesn’t make sense’ in a market with 12,000 anglophones, ‘and is really just a ploy to get into the Montreal market.’

‘They are not bringing in anything new and their investment is nothing compared to the money we spend on programming, believe me,’ says Desmarais.

‘The key question is if we are going to have another broadcaster come in, is the proposition Global is bringing in the right one?’

As for programming alternatives, Desmarais says, ‘There would be only two new Canadian shows made available (as a result of Global’s entry), and of the top 25 shows in the u.s., 23 are already available (in Quebec) and 19 of 20 (top u.s. shows) are broadcast on CFCF-12.’

As for the promise to create 75 new jobs in Quebec, Desmarais says this is a zero-gain proposition for the industry because cfcf will cut an equivalent number of positions.