OTTAWA — ‘Snowbama’ may have put the nation’s capital in lockdown on Thursday, but that’s not why Konrad von Finckenstein shut down the new media hearings for two days. The CRTC chair’s sole motive, he says, was to attend the annual CFTPA conference and listen to what the industry has to say about the many issues facing its rapidly changing landscape.

Von Finckenstein’s all-encompassing opening speech at Prime Time, which coincided with Barack Obama’s first visit to Canada, a city-wide showstopper nicknamed ‘snowbama’ by the local media because the U.S. president arrived amid a snowstorm.

For added drama, there was reportedly a SWAT team on the roof of confab headquarters, the Westin Hotel, as the country’s chief broadcast regulator spoke about how audience fragmentation now means that ‘TV is no longer the center of the universe.’

Von Finckenstein warned some 560 delegates — a number slightly lower than last year — that what is ‘looming over everything is the global economic crisis.’ He said the downturn is ‘affecting all sectors including broadcasting,’ which is the top reason that broadcast licence renewals will now be conducted in three phases, ending April 2010.

Other reasons for the revised and cautious regulatory approach include loss of advertising, the ‘challenge of new media’ and the ‘diminished role of conventional TV.’

‘Younger Canadians in particular are turning to Internet-based and mobile media that hardly existed as entertainment sources 10 years ago,’ he said, alluding to a CRTC decision in 1999 to avoid Internet or new media regulations. ‘Whatever the outcome of these hearings, there’s no doubt that new media has become a major engine for distributing broadcasting content.’

He emphasized that any new rules must reflect the new broadcasting reality, which includes the Internet.

Von Finckenstein’s speech was top-of-mind among delegates at the 16th annual Prime Time, as were two ‘topics du jour’ that were previously floated by the CRTC — the possibility of creating a new media fund, possibly through a levy on Internet service providers, and the proposed ‘one-to-one’ spending ratio on Cancon and American programming.

Regarding the one-year licences, Directors Guild of Canada topper Sturla Gunnarsson told Playback Daily that ‘it makes sense to have the dust settle before we look at the whole broadcasting picture. It’s hard to talk about interior design when the ship is going down.’

Gunnarsson also said he thinks directors will applaud the proposed 1:1 ratio, ‘which is something we’ve been advocating for seven years. So when you consider the fact that the sky is falling, there’s lots to be optimistic about.’

That optimism was later echoed by CFTPA chair Sandra Cunningham. ‘I think we need a balanced approach. I do support the idea of this fund. In these early stages it’s important to support the creation of content, but it’s only part of the solution,’ she said.

‘Without Cancon requirements and levies, we have reason to doubt there would be Canadian content at all, so we need to look for the opportunities that the Internet provides that are different from conventional,’ Cunningham added. ‘What we haven’t understood yet is how to monetize it, and that’s the multimillion-dollar question.’