Bell surprises commission with proposal for national community television channels

GATINEAU, Que.—Bell Canada faced tough questions from the CRTC Friday about a new proposal to merge the cable and Internet protocol TV (IPTV) providers’ community television channels in the same markets and share their content with two national Bell TV community channels, one in English and one in French. “We propose that the commission authorize access by all BDUs to one version of the local community channel currently operated by cable companies on the market-by-market basis,” Dan McKeen, senior vice-president of customer solutions at Bell Aliant Regional Communications, told the commission. The proposal means that the community television channels operated by the IPTV and cable providers would merge in each market, no longer competing with one another. “We propose that the commission authorize access by all BDUs to one version of the local community channel currently operated by cable companies on a market-by-market basis,” McKeen said. “This channel would be branded in a competitively-neutral way, without BDU branding. All BDUs granted such access would be expected to contribute to the funding of its operation.” McKeen added that community channels are publicly funded and should be made available to all Canadians. “It is not an efficient use of public funds to operate competing community channels within a given market,” he said. Bell also proposed that direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television providers get access to the cable and IPTV providers’ community television programs, and that Bell TV exchange programs with the BDUs. Through this access, Bell TV would provide two national, “omnibus channels,” one in English and one in French. Bell would produce some of its own community programming to exchange with the BDUs and use content from “community programming licensees and other community-based media.” The proposal was not included in Bell’s February submission to the CRTC in advance of the commission’s hearings to review the community television policy framework. Hearings continue on Monday and Tuesday next week. Bell Canada currently has about 1.95 million direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television customers across the country. The company does not offer any community television programming to its customers because, unlike the cable companies, it is not classified as a BDU. The company said its proposal would allow it to offer customers access to community television. McKeen said the proposed channels would pool content from different communities. “There are a number of community channels that have created programming that is like a magazine format,” McKeen said. “You set up a structure of a show and then community groups provide inputs in segments. There might be a two-minute segment from Halifax, there might be a two-minute segment from Windsor, there might be a five-minute segment Moncton, but it’s all talking about the same kind of subject matter.” The commission took issue with the centralized nature of a proposal that could favour national and regional programming over local. “You’ve effectively redefined community,” Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, told the Bell panel. “Community is based on a locale and local people coming together. You are now saying a community of interests, and that’s undoubtedly a community too, but they’re different communities.” Under existing regulations, BDUs like Rogers and Shaw are required to offer community channels with community access programming—defined as that produced by individuals, groups or companies in the community as opposed to the cable company. Leonard Katz, a CRTC commissioner, questioned how much local content community members would see on the omnibus channels. “How much time are people in Flin Flon, going to see of local Flin Flon programming if it’s on one feed of 168 hours?” he asked. Chris Frank, vice-president of programming at Bell TV, said Bell and the cable companies could supplement the television content with an online portal. “You’re right,” he said. “Two channels, one in English and one in French, cannot carry programming from every community across the country. But what we can do is knit the country together with programs of regional community interest and some local programming. The balance would be available from our online capability.” CRTC commissioner Michel Morin said American satellite companies use “spot beam” technology to focus their satellite signals in specific geographic areas. He asked Bell whether the technology could help provide more local community content via satellite. “The American market is many times larger than the Canadian market,” Frank said. “The American satellite companies have much more scale than we do. Currently, our satellites have national beams, so I think the answer to your question is that we will have to use alternate technology, such as online capability, to provide that kind of programming granularity.” The CRTC also heard from the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) Friday. APTN asked for more cultural diversity on community channels so that aboriginals can better benefit from the training and cultural expression opportunities on community television. “Local community channels represent an ideal access platform for Aboriginal language programming directed to specific communities,” Jean LaRose, the CEO of APTN, told the committee. The CBSC asked that its codified standards currently applied to broadcast television—such as appropriate television content—be applied to community television. “Ultimately, what the CBSC wishes to see clarified by the commission is that the standards applicable to the broadcasting playing field be applicable to all broadcasters, whether private, public or community,” Ronald Cohen, national chair of the CBSC, told the commission. jmigneault@thewirereport.ca --- CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the BDUs and Bell would collaborate to combine their community channel programming under national French and English channels. Bell proposed that cable and IPTV television providers collaborate on community channels, and that Bell exchange programs with the BDUs to serve its proposed national community channels.

Bell surprises commission with proposal for national community television channels

Broadcast | April 30, 2010

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