Bell emphasizes original, ‘boots on the ground’ content for ethnic licence

GATINEAU, QUE. -- Seeking to differentiate itself from other applicants, BCE Inc. said it would not outsource, and commit to limit dubbing over, ethnic and third-language content it produces for its must-carry channel licence application. The company said it will commit to more original local content with its new OTV service, pledging to hire 53 new reporters for its ethnic content, open a parliamentary news bureau in the capital, and hire international correspondents. It is also pledging to a condition of license that would see it limit dubbing, or voice-over translation of existing content, to five to 10 per cent. The commitments were made Tuesday during testimony in front of the three-member CRTC panel on its second day of hearings for the sole licence to have broadcasters carry an ethnic channel on their basic television service. Last October, Rogers Communications Inc. was the subject of a complaint from a union representing Chinese-speaking members that claimed the company was contravening its condition of license for OMNI Regional by outsourcing content production of Chinese news. The CRTC ruled in favour of Rogers, allowing it to do such outsourcing. Bell noted during testimony that it’s different than Rogers in that hiring so many new reporters “entrench” it in the community. Rogers, which presented its case to extend its OMNI licence on Monday, said it is committing more resources into original, first-run programming and will be going above the expectations for the licence. As on the first day of the hearing, the commission heard Tuesday from other contenders who committed to dubbing content in a number of different languages to reach its stated target. CanadaWorld TV, for example, said on the second day it would commit to broadcasting news in 20 foreign languages, with a large chunk of that being dubbed content over its planned subscription to news services like CBC/Radio-Canada, Global News, and The Canadian Press. But for a sizeable portion of its testimony Tuesday, Bell was pressured to justify some of the figures it presented to the commission, including why it has a relatively high wholesale rate, what it costs a broadcaster to host the mandatory channel and the cost of implementing its service compared to Rogers. Bell noted its “boots on the ground” approach, having to spend more on journalists, and how much it feels it needs to get to sustain the service during the licence term. “Community support has waned,” Bell officials claimed of Rogers’ OMNI Regional, which holds the current must-carry licence on a three-year term. “The interim period with OMNI Regional has done little to change the situation. “It is time to turn the page and consider another option.” For its two channel feeds, Bell said it will provide 70 per cent Canadian content and 70 per cent third-language programming, with a Canadian programming expenditure requirement of 60 per cent and projecting more than $110 million over five years. It will also fund community news and shows and programs of national interest to the tune of more than $17.5 million, it said. The commission Tuesday also raised public interest concerns that a mandatory carriage licence going to a company that both owns content and operates the network the content runs on – or vertically-integrated companies like Bell and Rogers – would potentially leave out adequate checks to ensure independent voices are heard. Bell responded it isn’t about their structure, but about community feedback. But representatives from the smaller groups Tuesday raised just those concerns. For Independent Community Television (ICTV), which has the highest wholesale rate of the eight licence contestants at 40 cents per subscriber per month, the CRTC should consider how the content is determined. “How does big corporate interest mediate the content?” ICTV program director Paul de Silva said. “I think that’s a bigger issue. What are the editorial restrictions, if you will, that are put on it...if the people who are making the decisions about this programming are not from those communities, invariably that programming is mediated by the perspectives of the people who are making those decisions.” Ken Engelhart, a former Rogers regulatory executive who is advising CanadaWorld TV, a consortium including Telelatino Network Inc. and Asian Television Network International Ltd., said it isn’t so much about Rogers and Bell being vertically-integrated – it’s that they’re too big to care. Noting the company makes about $14 billion in revenue from their cable and wireless business, Engelhart asked what impact OMNI has on Rogers’ bottom line. “None. It’s just too small,” he said, adding even Rogers Media is such a small part of its business. “Something like OMNI can get lost, it can get missed, it can fall behind, they can lose track of it, and it can falter and I think that’s what’s happened,” Engelhart said, although noting that Rogers has the best intentions. “A service like this can’t get lost ...multicultural programming is all they’ve got. This is a huge part of their business. The problem with the is they are just too big to care as passionately about a service like this as a standalone multicultural broadcasters.” — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout atahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Kyle Duggan at kduggan@thewirereport.ca

Bell emphasizes original, ‘boots on the ground’ content for ethnic licence

News | November 27, 2018

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Bell emphasizes original, ‘boots on the ground’ content for ethnic licence

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