Ottawa considering aid for private broadcasters
This journal would be in support of loosened restrictions on private broadcasters – not because of the fact that CanWest are political allies of the neo-cons and this will pressure the CBC, but because this is good in principle. However, any move to garnish Canadian’s labour in the form of direct subsidies, or to attempt to control the content of any private (or public) broadcaster by attaching conditions would be a different matter altogether. The coming transition to digital broadcasting will likely play a part in the decision making around the issue of carriage fees as well, since the airwaves will then become a viable competitor to the cable companies.
Jennifer Ditchburn, Canadian Press
March 19, 2009
Government ‘mindful’ of threat to local news, minister says, as media companies face sharp drop in revenue
OTTAWA — The Harper government is considering help for Canada’s troubled private TV broadcasters, including the possibility of looser regulations and tax changes.
Heritage Minister James Moore said yesterday that the federal cabinet is aware of the threat to local news content should more local stations close.
And he confirmed that the government is looking specifically at how to assist CanWest Global Communications Corp., which is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
“We’re mindful of that and we’re thinking about whether or not there’s anything the government can do, but I can’t be any more specific than that right now,” Mr. Moore said.
He hinted the help could come in the form of looser regulations and changes to the tax system that would also help other private networks.
“The role of the government is to make sure the regulatory regime, the tax regime is more flexible, more forgiving and more open in the future,” Mr. Moore said.
“We’re a low-taxation government that does not believe in over-regulating industries that are struggling.”
Several high-placed industry and government sources say discussions at the highest levels of government have intensified as CanWest’s April 7 deadline to satisfy creditor demands draws nearer.
Public records show that CanWest, along with other broadcasters such as CTVglobemedia Inc. and Quebecor Inc., have been lobbying Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office for relief in the form of regulatory changes. CTVglobemedia owns The Globe and Mail.
CanWest has contracted the services of Ken Boessenkool, a former top adviser to Mr. Harper, to help plead its case. Mr. Boessenkool works for consulting firm GCI Canada.
Mr. Harper has had at least one face-to-face meeting with CanWest CEO Leonard Asper and two with Quebecor’s Pierre Karl Péladeau since the new year, according to public filings with the lobbyist registry.
The industry is hurting because of a sharp decline in advertising revenues and the ongoing fragmentation of TV viewing audiences.
CTV has closed three channels in Southern Ontario this year and ended some local newscasts.
CanWest, which owns 39 daily and community newspapers and the Global Television network, has put some of its stations up for sale.
Mr. Moore said there is no question of additional assistance for the CBC, which is facing a budgetary shortfall this year of more than $100-million because of declining ad revenues and increased costs. CBC employees are bracing for an announcement later this week of an estimated 600 layoffs.
“I would say the challenge in the mix is what to do or not to do with the CBC,” said one industry insider. “The political and economic reality of helping the private broadcasters is part of a policy-making problem.”
One of the key requests of the private broadcasters is for something called “fee for carriage.”
Cable companies that carry conventional broadcasters’ signals would be charged a sort of rental fee for that privilege. Revenues from those fees have been estimated at $150-million annually, to be divided among all the conventional broadcasters.
The idea has been rejected several times before, deemed unpalatable because the cable companies would likely pass on the fees to the consumer – something no politician would want to be associated with.
But there are signs the political landscape has shifted.
Members of Parliament have grown concerned by a number of local television station closings and newscast cancellations, both because of the ensuing public outcry but also because they depend on those outlets for coverage of their own activities.
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