Local news funding needed in C-10: Bell

As the House of Commons Heritage committee hearings on the government's proposed update to the Broadcasting Act carries on, BCE Inc. told the committee in a Monday meeting that while it supports the bill, it needs a carve-out of funding for local news broadcasters. Even though Bell's vice president of regulatory law Jonathan Daniels said that his company feels the update -- known as Bill C-10 -- is long overdue and "urge its swift passage into law," the company also thinks the bill needs to set aside funding for local news programming. "Bill C-10 does recognize the importance of local news, but it fails to specifically provide financial support to local news. This oversight must be rectified, otherwise, we risk losing voices and stories that enhance our Canadian democracy," Bell's assistant general counsel Alain Strati told MPs in French, according to simultaneous translation. "We propose an amendment to the bill that would ensure direct financial support for the production of news programming, funded by both OTT and domestic distributors," he said, using the acronym for over-the-top streaming services like Netflix Inc. Bell CEO Mirko Bibic had previously given a "tip of the hat" to Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault on the legislation in a fall earnings call, saying at the time that "we’ve been asking for the recognition of regulatory symmetry and a level playing field for a long time." Also in the fall, Bell Media’s senior vice-president of radio and local TV, Nikki Moffat said that lessening Canadian content regulations would allow Bell's radio stations to compete with streaming giants like Spotify AB. Liberal MP Marci Ien asked Bell's representatives about the several hundred layoffs that the company had made in recent months, noting that she had been a former employee. "Bell has laid off hundreds of people who are responsible for Canadian content in this country," Marci Ien said. "This is something that is concerning. if we're concerned about Canadian content, and Canadian content producers, and jobs are being lost." "We've had to make difficult decisions that are necessary to adapt to the transforming media industry, but at the same time I think what this bill enables us to do is to have more money come into the system generally," Daniels replied. Under the government’s proposed update to the Broadcasting Act, foreign streaming platforms would be brought under the regulatory framework of the CRTC, though it will be up to the CRTC to determine the precise regulations within nine months of receiving an order-in-council from the government. Meanwhile, the CEO of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance -- which represents a number of small companies providing internet and television services -- told MPs that the bill risks weakening the CRTC's oversight over large broadcasters when it comes to the regulator’s Wholesale Code, which governs the business relationships between broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) and other distributors. "Our concern is that, as written, the bill will enable those giants to favour themselves in ways that will serve to increase costs and reduce choice in our broadcasting system," the CCSA's Jay Thomson said. In its submission to the committee, the CCSA pointed to language in the CRTC's digital media exemption order which prohibits online streaming services such as those owned by Bell and Rogers Communications Inc. from offering programming “on an exclusive or otherwise preferential basis in a manner that is dependent on the subscription to a specific mobile or retail Internet access service.” Bill C-10, Thomson said, risks redefining "online undertaking" to the extent that it supersedes the CRTC's authority under the digital media exemption order, and called on the legislation to be amended to confirm the CRTC's jurisdiction over the matter. Friends of Canadian Broadcasting executive director Daniel Bernhard criticized the bill for failing to prioritize Canadian ownership of media, and for a lack of clarity on how the bill intends to regulate social media platforms like Youtube and Facebook Inc. "The promise of additional legislation to combat illegal content online is a complete distraction. What about broadcasting standards, or the fair allocation of political advertising space?" Bernhard asked MPs. "Exempting social media from the act will make it impossible for the CRTC to address these culturally important issues," Bernhard said. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca

Local news funding needed in C-10: Bell

Broadcast | March 22, 2021

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Local news funding needed in C-10: Bell

Broadcast | March 22, 2021

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