Commissioners eye V Interactions for increase in local programming

The CRTC may require French-language TV network V Interactions Inc. to increase its original local programming as the broadcaster’s subscriber base continues to grow, commissioners said Tuesday at a hearing to discuss television licence renewals. “You only have one hour in seven days of Category 1 news,” Commissioner Michel Morin said at a hearing in Quebec City in reference to V’s local programming and news requirements. “People should feel that they are being covered by V Interactions.” During any given week, Morin said, V now broadcasts one hour of local news out of Trois Rivières, one hour out of Sherbrooke, one hour out of Saguenay and two hours out of Quebec City and Montreal. Part of this is in the form of quick-hit news segments, which are frequently as short as 90 seconds each. The commissioner suggested that the local content should be increased to two hours per region per week. V officials told commissioners that the company would consider the proposal but it would keep its current local programming format for now, which dedicates one hour to news content during the week and 30 minutes on weekends. Morin noted that V is the only network that broadcasts the same Category 1 newscast twice. “It’s like nothing else I’ve seen,” the commissioner said, adding that V should make changes to its local programming because it is not clear or focused enough. In response, V officials said its unique programming approach allows viewers to catch up on content they may have missed a few hours earlier, perhaps while driving to or from work. Company officials said at the hearing that the broadcaster is working to improve its news and local programming content offering and that its strategy emphasizes activities across the Quebec region. “We are isolated,” Maxime Rémillard, co-chairman and CEO at V, told the commission. “There is no convergence and there is only one niche in Quebec and that’s general interest television.” Marc Giguère, V’s vice-president of sales and head of commercial operations, said the company will invest $5 million more in programming expenses during the current broadcast year than it did in 2010-2011. V made these investments despite previous financial limitations, he said. Giguère told the commission that the broadcaster now makes a 75 per cent contribution to Canadian programming expenditures and said that the additional $5 million will go to Cancon production to be broadcast during prime time. Commissioner Suzanne Lamarre said that, as V experiences better ratings, it will be required to make more of an effort to focus on local programming and news. But the company suggested it is already experiencing significant growth during peak and off-peak television hours. Giguère said since 2008-2009, V has experienced a 34 per cent increase in market share for its entire programming schedule from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. “V has grown from a 6.4 per cent market share in 2008-2009 to a share of 8.6 per cent in the fall of 2011,” he said. For the 5-7 p.m. viewing block, he added, V’s market share went from 4.1 per cent in 2008-2009 to 17.4 per cent in the fall of 2011, representing growth of 324 per cent. But V told the commission it cannot compete with Quebecor Media Inc.’s broadcasting subsidiary Groupe TVA Inc. during the morning programming hours. TVA dominates those hours with as much as a 40 per cent market share across the region, V officials told the commission. V also weighed in on the issue of group-based licensing models for French-language TV stations, arguing that such a model could be detrimental to some of the players in the market. Rémillard said the French-language market requires the production of original French-language programming and that the market is unlike the English-language market where broadcasters can acquire the rights to American productions. “The objectives behind the broadcasting rules on the English-language market side cannot be transposed onto the French side,” Rémillard said. In CRTC decision 2010-167 last year, the commission decided to allow a group-based licensing approach for English-language television, which gives broadcasters more flexibility to move around Cancon programming in a competitive market. Astral Media Inc. has asked the commission to designate its 13 services, of which 10 are English and three are French, as a bilingual group for the purposes of licensing. Rémillard argued that Astral already dominates the sector of pay and specialty TV services with its share accounting for nearly a quarter of French-language listening hours. “Allowing flexibility and the transfer of Canadian programming expenditures of one specialized service to another would only support one player—Astral,” Rémillard said. By contrast, he said, V is a single player that operates only conventional television networks and would not benefit from the increased flexibility provided by group-based licensing. V said the commission should treat each broadcasting group based on its ability to contribute to the system while ensuring a competitive balance. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

Commissioners eye V Interactions for increase in local programming

Broadcast | December 7, 2011

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