Specialty TV bringing French-language choices to Quebec viewers: Astral’s Roy

Pierre Roy, president of Les Chaînes Télé Astral, praises the success that specialty channels (he didn’t address the failure of any Category 1 licensed French-language digital services launching) have had in delivering French-language programming to Quebecers. But speaking November 6 to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, he also criticized the fact that most government funding goes to the public broadcaster. Below is an excerpt of his address. Specialty television is here to stay Television today has evolved enormously. The quality is higher but there’s also so much greater diversity. Television now offers a range of programming absolutely unimaginable compared to what was available 10 or 20 years ago. Specialty television, including pay TV and pay-per-view shows or movies, is here to stay. ...Here in Quebec, specialty television is already 20 years old. It’s mature and it’s solidly established. It’s part of the landscape, even though many people still consider it a minor component in Canada’s television network system. Last year, Francophone Quebecers watched 2.3 times more specialty television in French than programs on the Radio-Canada network. Many of Quebec’s specialty channels - including Super Écran, VRAK.TV, RDS and Télétoon - individually achieved greater market shares than Télé-Québec, even though that channel is accessible free of charge to over 98% of Quebec households. Every year, French-language specialty television pays Quebec’s independent producers three times more money for broadcast rights than Radio-Canada television does. And specialty channels pay 25% more than TVA and TQS combined. What Quebec-based specialty television contributes to the economy in general is far from marginal. Specialty television plays a key role in the development of Quebec’s independent television production business and captures a full 30% share of the Quebec TV-viewing audience in the process. Specialty television’s audience share also continues to grow - up 12% in 2003 compared to the year before. Why all this growth? Because specialty television responds effectively to the needs of both viewers and advertisers. With its extremely varied programming grouped around themes or target audiences, and its frequent daytime and nighttime repeat broadcasts, it’s no surprise that specialty TV’s popularity continues to grow... Public financing You can’t talk about the television industry without raising the issue of it being partially financed through tax dollars. In 2002, the federal and provincial governments earmarked nearly $460 million to support the operating costs of French-language public television networks or television productions in Quebec. Strictly in terms of economic returns and tax revenues generated for government, this contribution is justified. ...However, the majority of these government contributions go to public television. Only a small fraction goes to conventional or specialty channels in the private sector...In fact, out of the $460 million in government contributions, fully 60% went for operating subsidies to public channels like Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, or producers like the French-language side of the National Film Board. Slightly less than 40% went to support actual production of Quebec-based TV programs. These subsidies are implemented via tax credits or through intermediate organizations like the Canada Television Fund (sic), Telefilm Canada or SODEC. The 40% that supports program production, and which goes to independent producers, is divided up, in turn, between public television broadcasts and privately owned television programs. Public television monopolizes at least 50% of the total funds allocated to independent producers. So the final calculation gives 80% of the public funds set aside, or about $370 million, to public television, leaving only 20% for private-sector television. And yet it’s these privately owned conventional or specialty channels that make the biggest contribution toward providing Francophone Quebecers with French-language television programming that has real variety and attraction - and they’ve got over 70% of the total television audience to prove it.

Specialty TV bringing French-language choices to Quebec viewers: Astral’s Roy

Broadcast | November 28, 2003

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