Cultural groups say cable concentration limits access to community coverage

GATINEAU, Que.—Two of Canada’s largest cultural workers’ unions told the CRTC Wednesday that a growing concentration of ownership in the country’s large cable providers is generating more “regional” programming than local, effectively limiting Canadians’ access to community television coverage. The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) appeared Wednesday to make a joint-presentation at the commission's hearings to review the community television policy framework in Canada. “Canadian citizens are being shut out of their community channels,” Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director, told the commission. “Canadians don’t have access to the tools to create local programming and too often the programming that is created is regional, not local.” Peter Murdoch, CEP’s vice-president of media, said the cable providers that control the community television system have not provided enough transparency and accountability. “The evidence that we’ve seen tells us that Canada’s four largest cable companies have not properly accounted for more than a billion dollars collected from subscribers over the last decade,” Murdoch said. The cable companies say consumers are happy with their community channel programming and that their critics are raising solutions for problems that don’t exist. Under the current policy framework, last amended in 2002, cable companies with more than 20,000 customers are required put two per cent of their subscriber revenues into funding for their community television channels. In 2009, the total sum of those contributions amounted to $123 million. Since 1999, the contributions to community television amount to more than $1 billion. “At a bare minimum, why not ask the companies to file this information regularly with the CRTC, to permit you to assess whether your policy’s goals are being achieved?” Murdoch asked the commission. Murdoch said that the amount of airtime allocated to community access programming—defined as that produced by individuals, groups or companies in the community, as opposed to the cable company—accounted for only 27 per cent of all community channel hours in 2009 for all of the major cable companies combined. But Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, questioned that number in light of a presentation earlier in the day by Cogeco Cable Inc., during which the company said more than 54 per cent of programming on its channels fell under the definition of community access. Monica Auer, counsel for the CEP, told von Finckenstein that the union arrived at the number by reviewing the aggregated returns of large cable companies and adding up their reported community access hours. Cogeco told the commission Wednesday that it prides itself on the 54 per cent of programming airtime it dedicates to community access. The company said it has not received one complaint about access to community airtime in the 35 years it has operated its 37 community television channels in Ontario and Quebec. Waddell said he supports in principle the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations’ (CACTUS) proposal to create a new licence class for independent, community-based television, and to redistribute the cable funds to create 250 community-run, multimedia training and production facilities across Canada. “While we support taking community TV out of the hands of the cable conglomerates, we have heard the chair’s desire for a less radical approach, and are open to a compromise solution,” Waddell said. Commissioner Peter Menzies asked the panel whether community channel funding should be paid for by the cable companies or raised by communities. Murdoch said the money used to fund the community channels comes from the pockets of cable company customers. “It’s not any different than our tax system at any level of government,” he said. “So I don’t see the disconnect.” On the question of community access through new media, the panel agreed that social networking websites like Youtube and Facebook are no replacement for a healthy community television system. “We think that giving an American company distribution, take down and intellectual property rights over Canada’s community TV content contradicts Parliament’s requirements that our broadcasting system be owned and controlled by Canadians,” Murdoch said. Commissioner Michel Morin asked Cogeco representatives about his proposed compromise to split community television funding between the cable providers and community groups. Under Morin’s proposed plan, the cable companies would set aside one per cent of their revenues for their own community television channels. A national community fund would receive access to the other one per cent. Community groups would need to fundraise from community members for further money. Lucie Bergeron, Cogeco’s director of programming and community relations for Quebec, suggested that, under the proposal, community groups would have to fight for access to the funding, and that some could get lost in the shuffle. “What we’re saying is that groups that want access to the airwaves can come to us,” Bergeron said. “We’ve proven with our track record that we will give access to all groups. We’ve already proven ourselves, while many of the groups that would apply for access do not have the same proven track record.” The CRTC also heard from volunteers and viewers with Rogers Television Wednesday. They all spoke about the important role Rogers Television plays in their communities. Robb Hartlen, a Rogers TV volunteer from Fredericton, NB, spoke about the importance of local information when national and international news is much more accessible. Hartlen added that local newscasters are members of their communities. “They’re from our towns, they sit beside us in the movie theatres, they stand in front of us at our local grocery stores,” he said. “They are us and we are them.” Debbie Gordon, a Rogers Television viewer from Lake Simcoe, Ontario, told the commission how the community channel has helped several not-for-profit organizations in her community. “Community television is accessible to the people on a very quick basis and it appeals to the people in the community,” Gordon said. “In our community, it’s working and it’s working extremely well.” jmigneault@thewirereport.ca

Cultural groups say cable concentration limits access to community coverage

Broadcast | April 28, 2010

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