Cable and satellite companies say CTV is airing ‘one-sided and unbalanced coverage’ of the fee-for-carriage debate, and called on the CRTC to take ‘immediate action’ against the network over its recent reporting/lobby efforts to ‘save local television,’ which they say violate the Broadcasting Act.

CTV says its ‘Save Local TV’ campaign and the accompanying news special that aired May 23 were aimed at educating Canadians about the issues facing local stations – and not a self-serving initiative meant to put pressure on Ottawa regarding the thorny fee-for-carriage issue.

‘While we fundamentally disagree with CTV’s position on a TV tax, the issue here is not about their position, it is about a blatant violation of respected journalistic principles,’ said Rogers vice-chairman Phil Lind, adding that Canadians should not be ‘manipulated with one-sided reporting masquerading as ‘real news.”

Companies including Bell, Telus, Cogeco and Eastlink have also sided against the network, which aired a two-hour special on CTV Newsnet about the recent upheaval among local television stations. The special coincided with country-wide open houses at CTV and A stations, and is linked to an online petition aimed at Heritage Minister James Moore and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, urging Ottawa to approve fee-for-carriage.

CTV quickly fired back at the cablecos. ‘Instead of coming up with solutions and being part of the discussion, [the] underhanded move by cable and satellite companies is an abuse of process designed to suppress freedom of speech and mislead the public,’ said CTVglobemedia EVP of corporate affairs Paul Sparkes in a release. He denied that the campaign was an effort by CTV to put pressure on Ottawa on the contentious fee-for-carriage issue.

The response to the campaign has been ‘overwhelming,’ notes Sparkes, who says by late May the network had received over 36,000 signatures on its online petition, while over 12,000 e-mails had been sent to Moore and Harper.