Cultural groups say Astral’s request for bilingual designation means lower Cancon

Astral Media Inc.’s request for a bilingual group designation from the CRTC came under fire from various industry groups Thursday at the commission's French-language television licence renewal hearings. Throughout three days of hearings this week, Astral’s request has been the source of concern for industry groups that say increased flexibility could allow the broadcaster to transfer mandatory Cancon spending from its English-language services to services on the French-side, where money is more readily spent. This would allow Astral to reduce its English-language Cancon funding, the organizations say. “The opportunity created by more flexibility would be too hard to resist,” Marc Séguin, senior vice-president of policy at the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), told commissioners Thursday. In an application to the CRTC, Astral requested a bilingual group designation, arguing it is the only non-vertically integrated broadcasting group in the country. Astral said its revenues are split almost evenly, with 45 per cent going to English-language services and 55 per cent to French services. But the desired designation has raised concerns from critics about the fate of Astral’s English-language services. “The only result will be reduced Canadian content on those English-language services,” Séguin said. He said broadcasters tend to spend more money on the French side and will continue to do so if the CRTC permits them to. Cultural groups say broadcasters tend to spend more money on producing French-language Canadian content because English-language content is readily available from the U.S. and other markets but French content is not. Astral is asking the CRTC to renew 13 television licences at the hearing as a single broadcasting group, as the commission did for BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media, Corus Entertainment Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. subsidiary Shaw Media in the English-language group-based licensing regime last year. The group-based licensing system allows broadcasters more flexibility to meet their Canadian content obligations by shifting spending among various broadcasting services. Jay Thomson, vice-president broadcasting policy and regulatory affairs at the CMPA, told the commission that if more flexibility is granted to Astral, English pay TV services will suffer because the company’s French-language services will benefit from additional funding. He said Astral could also start to claim French-language over-expenditures against English-language Canadian programming expenditures. “This would mean less money spent on English-language programming, with no more money spent on French-language programming,” Thomson said. He said that that would mean a net loss for the Canadian broadcasting system. “If their plan is to continue as they have done in the past, then why do they need ?” Séguin asked the commission. Kelly Lynne Ashton, director of policy at the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), said Astral’s request seems to be aimed at reducing the company’s contribution to Canadian programming. “Based on our experience, when we hear the word ‘flexibility’ from a broadcaster, we know that it really means ‘we want to spend less on Canadian programming,’” Ashton said. She said Astral’s services are so distinct in terms of the French and English markets that it could not rebroadcast programming over those different services. “They will not be airing English family programming on the French music service, for example, nor will they be airing adult drama on the French Disney Jr. service,” she said. “So what kind of flexibility is Astral really asking for in this proceeding?” Séguin said the Canadian theatrical film industry is facing a crisis because broadcasters continue to lose interest. He said Astral used to support Canadian films but that its interest now appears to be waning. Dropping support from broadcasters is a serious issue for the entire filmmaking industry in Canada, said Mark Slone, vice-president of Alliance Films Inc., who appeared before commissioners with the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE). He said the average annual licence fee for Alliance’s Canadian films offered by the pay services owned by Corus Entertainment Inc. and Astral have dropped by 49 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively, in the last two years. Slone said Astral at one time bought a majority of the Canadian films released in a year. But now, even the most successful films are struggling to find a place among a variety of popular sitcoms, he said. He added that if the reduction of film acquisition is allowed to continue, the existence of the Canadian homegrown feature film industry would be threatened. “It’s heavy lifting in this country to make Canadian films,” Ted East, CAFDE’s president, told the commission. “It’s much easier to buy foreign films.” CAFDE asked the CRTC to make the acquisition of Canadian feature films a condition of Astral’s new licence. L’Association des producteurs de films et de télévision de Québec said that although it is concerned with Astral’s requested designation, the company would be regulated by competition and would not to pose an immediate threat. The group told the CRTC that it was initially concerned Astral could add funds to its French-language market and impoverish its English services. “But then I thought, well these people have competition,” said Claire Samson, president and CEO of the APFTQ. “They specialize in networks and services,” Samson added. “They can’t just run anything. They have people to respect.” She said an experienced broadcaster such as Astral would have no interest in impoverishing either one of its networks. A bilingual designation for Astral “does not present a threat or a very great threat,” Samson said. Quebecor Media Inc. subsidiary Groupe TVA Inc. was also discussed Thursday, as commissioners asked the Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC) whether it agreed with commissioner Michel Morin’s proposal to require the broadcaster to have at least one journalist based in Toronto. “It would be a way of covering Ontario in the fashion of a francophone frame,” said Sylvie Peltier, president of the APFC. “Ontario can be very interesting to Quebecers.” She said the reporting could cover Canadian issues in a Quebec framework. The commission said that the particular requirement would ensure that minorities are given a chance to see themselves on the screen. “Part of our aim here is to make sure that Montrealization is not the name of the game,” commissioner Suzanne Lamarre said. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

Cultural groups say Astral’s request for bilingual designation means lower Cancon

Broadcast | December 8, 2011

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