Shaw put $32M into $100M local broadcast fund in 2011; CBC got $40M

Shaw Communications Inc. was the largest contributor to the CRTC’s Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) last year and CBC/Radio-Canada was its largest recipient, CRTC documents show. Shaw, one of Canada’s largest broadcast distributors, which owns the Global Television network and also receives LPIF funding, paid about $31.8 million into the fund from Sept. 1, 2010 to Aug. 31, 2011, according to a CRTC document detailing information about the LPIF. Shaw’s local TV stations received about $8 million from the fund. The CRTC created the fund in 2008 to help secure the financial viability of local programming during economic downturns and to support local programming produced by conventional television stations operating in non-metropolitan markets. Broadcast distributors are required to contribute 1.5 per cent of their gross revenues to the fund, which is used to reimburse over-the-air TV stations for a portion of their local programming expenses. In broadcast decision 2009-406, the CRTC increased the broadcast distributors’ LPIF contributions from 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent of gross revenues. BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Canada and Rogers Communications Inc. contributed $25 million and $24 million, respectively, to the fund for the 2010-2011 broadcast year, said the CRTC document, posted on its website Friday. BCE’s Bell Media stations, including those in the CTV network, received more than $23.6 million over the year, while Rogers’ CHMI station in Portage La Prairie received $1 million as the lone Rogers station to qualify for the fund. Quebecor Media Inc. and Cogeco Cable Inc. paid $13.6 million and $6.7 million, respectively, into the fund last year. QMI received $6.4 in LPIF funding for five of its stations operated by subsidiary Groupe TVA, the commission reported. Other, smaller broadcast distributors contributed $4.1 million to the fund last year. The commission collected a total of $106.5 million for the LPIF during the 2010-2011 broadcasting year and gave out a little less than $106.1 million to broadcasters, about $6 million more than the previous year. The CBC led all broadcasters in the receipt of LPIF funding, taking $40.6 million for 20 local stations. That total is an increase of $7.9 million, or 24 per cent, from the $32.7 million the public broadcaster received the previous year. The CBC's increase was the largest year-over-year change for the large, broadcasting groups. The CRTC distributes LPIF funding based in part on stations' spending on local programming. One third of the total funding is divided equally among all eligible stations in both languages. The remainder is distributed based on how much each station spent on local programming in the previous three years and average spending on local programming by all same-language stations during the three-year period. The commission holds each station’s total local programming expenses in confidentiality. Independent broadcaster V Interactions Inc. received $2.6 million in LPIF funding last year and other, small broadcasters collected a total of $23.5 million from the fund. The CRTC reported that broadcasters spent more than $246.2 million on local programming during the 2010-2011 broadcast year, including $135 million on English-language services and $111 million on French. In December, the CRTC announced a public review of the LPIF, with a hearing in April, to determine “whether the fund should be maintained, modified or cancelled.” The CRTC document, entitled “Local Programming Improvement Fund Additional Information,” was posted days in advance of its Feb. 15 deadline for comments for its review of the fund. As of Tuesday afternoon, the commission had posted more than 1,200 comments for the proceeding from companies, non-profit organizations and individuals. news@thewirereport.ca

Shaw put $32M into $100M local broadcast fund in 2011; CBC got $40M

Broadcast | February 14, 2012

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