ACTRA calls on federal government to direct CRTC to regulate Cancon spending

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is demanding that the federal government intervene and tell the CRTC to implement spending requirements for the conventional broadcasters in wake of a recent decision that offers only incentives for the airing of Canadian TV drama (see article in this issue). Reiterating its call for more stick and less carrot, ACTRA national executive director Stephen Waddell says the CRTC in releasing its ads-based incentives program for Canadian drama has "failed to listen to the creative community which is dying out there." ACTRA wants the government to use its authority under section 7(1) of the Broadcasting Act to issue a policy directive to the regulator requiring private over-the-air broadcasters to spend as much on homegrown drama and series as they do in a year on foreign drama. "Canada’s private broadcasters are spending four times as much on U.S. programming as they are on Canadian drama programming," he tells Canadian Communications Reports. "And that’s inequitable. We want to at least see it dollar per dollar. If they are spending $400 million on U.S. programming, which they are, they should be spending $400 million on Canadian programming." ACTRA points out that in 2003 the private TV broadcasters in Canada spent only $93.1 million on Canadian dramas while they forked out $382.1 million on foreign dramas. Spending on Canadian drama and variety by private English-language TV networks dropped 20% between 1998 and 2002, according to ACTRA. ACTRA and the producers’ association believe that the 1999 TV policy that did away with spending requirements for conventional broadcasters has caused there to be less money for Canadian drama. CRTC chair Charles Dalfen tells CCR that the "additional ad minutes" policy is not an attempt to rectify any ills caused by the 1999 TV policy. "I would not say that…I think that question misrepresents that policy. It did move away from expenditures, but it did work toward expanding the category of priority programming, including drama," he says. "Those policy revisions will remain in place." He defends the regulator’s decision to try incentives. "You know regulation has been tried in the past, and I think ‘watched viewing’ didn’t change. We have looked at these graphs over many years when there was regulation and viewing that remained constant," he tells CCR. "Regulation somehow didn’t work, so let’s try something different. Let’s try this approach and see how it goes because it has never been tried before. That doesn’t mean it’s the future. It can be reviewed." ACTRA is also outraged that the ads-based incentive program has been planned with a five-year window since that means that Global Television Network and CTV Inc.’s licences, which expire on August 31, 2008, will be renewed before the policy evaluation period is over. One of the reasons that CTV and Global have argued that the 1999 TV policy cannot be changed in the middle of their licence terms is that their business plans and shareholders’ expectations are based on those established rules. The CBC’s licence expires in August 2007. With the five-year evaluation period established by the CRTC, the ads-based incentives program would not be due for modification until 2009. Following Dalfen’s keynote address at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), where he unveiled the policy, Waddell asked if the CRTC would be monitoring the performance of the incentives and if progress would be charted at the broadcasters’ licence renewals. "We will be monitoring the progress," Dalfen replied. "There will be questions of these broadcasters on how they are performing at their licence renewal hearings (although the licence renewals will come up before the evaluation timeframe of the ads-based incentive program)." In an interview with CCR, he added, "I think it’s fair ball to chart progress. They (the broadcasters at their licence renewals) may say, we’re in the middle, we’re just two or three years out, and here’s the preliminary results. But before we impose regulation, we want to see how this goes." Former broadcaster veteran Trina McQueen, whose report on drama was heavily criticized by the unions because it called solely for broadcaster incentives (CCR, June 5/03), added in an interview with CCR, "I worry when I hear the union use words like sticks. I don’t think the unions should beat up the broadcasters, and I don’t think the broadcasters should beat up the unions. Drama is a collaborative process. And what we need to make drama work in this country is working together. Let’s make drama, not war." McQueen adds that the money that broadcasters make by airing U.S. shows enables them to put money back into Canadian production. "With simultaneous substitution, you make more money and presumably you have more money that can pile back into Canadian drama. Because Canadian drama doesn’t make money," she points out. "Broadcasters spend a lot more on news than anything else and the reason they do is because they can get a return on investment. We’re trying to crack that barrier – that Canadian drama loses so much money – for broadcasters." Waddell dubs that a "ridiculous argument." "Absolutely, they are losing money on Canadian drama, the economies are such that it will always work against us because they are buying low from the U.S. The U.S. is selling its product on the cheap, and Canadian broadcasters are making profits because of the simulcast rules. They are living in a heavily regulated environment, so they should have to put some money back into the system," he says. "They are paying the lowest broadcast licence fees of any English-language broadcasters in the world. They have a great situation, so why would they give it up? The only reason would be if the government of Canada tells them that they have an obligation to," he adds.

ACTRA calls on federal government to direct CRTC to regulate Cancon spending

Broadcast | December 6, 2004

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us