UPDATE: CBC responds. See below.

Contrary to most leading opinion in the space, traditional media is not, in fact, being threatened by technologies like Internet television and iPods. Further, it would be a waste of time to create Internet-only content if the goal is to generate advertising revenue.

That’s the CBC’s official position, as articulated in a submission last week to the CRTC titled Reject Old Assumptions About New Media.

The document is a short 13-page PDF document. Here is my summary of its main points.

(CBC management: Like all carbon-based life forms, I make mistakes. I’ve made several here before. If I’ve misinterpreted something, please join the discussion in the comments. And hey, just for fun, shall we assume silence means I’ve got it right? <grin>)

1. Traditional TV and radio usage is not being displaced by the Internet.
2. Amateur video will never be a substitute for traditional media, particularly entertainment programming.
3. It would be a waste time for traditional media companies to create Internet-only content if the goal is to generate advertising revenue.
4. Most Canadians use the Internet primarily as a communications and research tool (Ed: Implying that most Canadians do not use the Internet for entertainment.)
5. The trend is towards personalizing and controlling media, not developing new ways to consume it.

The points argued by the CBC in its submission appear diametrically opposed to the opinions of most thought-leaders who work in new media and broadcasting. The Corporation, downplaying the amount of opinion to the contrary, admits it stands largely alone in its assessment of the current landscape:

“There appears to be an assumption in some [Ed: Emphasis added] industry literature that broadcasting content found on new media is reducing the consumption of traditional radio and television…. This broad assumption is false, and empirical data refute this hypothesis.”

My opinion: One can’t dispute the hard numbers — they’re sourced from reputable organizations like BBM Neilson Media Research. (Although I’m afraid I just can not accept the stat quoted that fewer than 1% of Canadians watch broadcast television over the Internet.)

More than that, I’m concerned that the submission illustrates only the current reality — there’s no articulation of any vision for the future here.

• We have producers who are winning prestigious international awards as they develop new forms of entertainment media. Did we ask them where they think we should be going? I’d rather put my money on the “gut feel” of those folks than statistical forecasts generated from surveys and focus groups conducted months ago — remember “months” is an eternity in today’s new media world.
• We have an industry-leading media research team in Toronto. Were they tasked to chart out likely scenarious using widely available results from other public broadcasters around the world? Did we meet with the BBC or ABC or NPR to get a sense where we’ll be in ten years? If so, what do they think?

The conclusions in this submission seem way off base to me, and it lack of vision scares me.

Then again, I also have a mortgage to pay. So I’ll shut up now and turn it over to you.

What do you think?
Note: If you’re a CBC insider, consider posting your thoughts from your home computer. I’m just sayin’. Besides, shouldn’t you be working right now and not reading the semi-coherent ramblings of a freelance radio producer?

CBC’s Response

Hey Tod,

I am worried that some of your contributors may be taking your synopsis of our submission, which highlights only a couple of its points, as the sum total of our position.

To be clear, CBC/Radio-Canada believes that the new media world is a large and important part of its future. It is a central pillar of the strategic themes identified in the Challenge Us! process. Providing space for Canadian expression on the maximum number of platforms that Canadians want to use to consume media is, we believe and multiple Parliamentary committees have confirmed, now part of our mandate. As you know, we are expending a lot of energy and creativity on developing new ways of providing that space either using current resources or by finding new ways of generating funds.

Last week’s submission was not our last word on the subject. The Commission will initiate a broad review in the fall and we intend, as usual, to submit a fully developed, forward-looking position that describes our role and how it fits into the larger system.

Last week’s filing was a preliminary one, in response to the CRTC’s initial question of whether it was framing the issues properly. We did not want the public debate to move forward and public policy decisions to be contemplated based on what we perceived to be two faulty assumptions in the Commission’s framing of the issues. And those are:

1. That the consumption of broadcasting content found on new media is replacing the consumption of traditional broadcast media, particularly television; and

2. That new media represents a major business opportunity for Canadian broadcasters.

Today and, to the extent that we can foresee, into the future, the vast majority of high quality broadcast content found on any platform is going to be produced by traditional broadcasters. Public policy decisions based on the assumption that that supply of quality Canadian content will be financed by a one-for-one shift of revenue from traditional to new media would lead to a severe weakening of the country’s main creators of Canadian broadcasting content.

That is not the CRTC’s intention and we want to ensure that the debate from the outset reflects not only the future potential but the current reality of the new media universe.

Thanks,

Steven Guiton
Regulatory Affairs

	11 Comments »	See also: Technology, The CRTC
	Email this	Posted at 2:31 pm (17 Jul 2008)

The CRTC today reported that profits for Canada’s cable providers (like Shaw, Rogers, etc.) continue to earn very strong margins — and earned a BILLION dollars more last year than it did in 2006.

Total revenues for all cable companies combined jumped by more than 16% over the previous year (2006). That added an additional BILLION dollars into their hands as the total rose from $6.1 billion to $7.1 billion. The number of basic-cable subscribers increased by a little — about 2.3% increase in customers.

But as for their profit margins (a much more illustrative metric) Canada’s cable companies continue to bank a lot of cash. Their profit margins last year were at 21.7%  in 2006. With those kind of returns, I should drop my conservative (12%) RRSP investments!

In 2007, cable companies employed 17,900 people and paid a total of $1.07 billion in salaries. In comparison, in 2006 these companies employed 15,271 people and paid out $933.1 million in salaries.

	5 Comments »	See also: The CRTC, The Media Landscape
	Email this	Posted at 3:08 pm (18 Jun 2008)

The CRTC has just issued its report on the Canadian Television Fund’s mandate and governance structure.

In its report, the CRTC recommends that:

• The CTF’s funding be split into private- and public-sector streams. The private-sector stream would support the production of commercially successful programming and be accessed by private commercial broadcasters. The public-sector stream would be set aside for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, educational broadcasters and other not-for-profit broadcasters.
• Two separate Boards of Directors be established, with one having oversight of the private-sector funding stream and the other being responsible for the public-sector funding stream. However, both streams should share the day-to-day administrative services of the CTF to reduce operating costs.
• Increased emphasis be placed on audience success as a criterion for access to the new private-sector funding stream.
• The CTF maintain its current practice of funding productions that score 10 out of 10 points on the scale developed by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (the CAVCO scale).
• The proposals by two companies that distribute broadcasting services to opt out of their contributions to the CTF, as required by the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, be rejected.
• The CTF establish a new funding stream to support the production of Canadian programs for broadcast on new media platforms.

More detail for CBC employees are on iO!

In February 2008, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced that the government had asked the CRTC to prepare a report and make recommendations on the Canadian Television Fund.

This request followed a public hearing on the CTF held by the Commission from February 4 to 8, 2008, at which interested parties expressed their views. The Commission had previously created a Task Force to provide a detailed analysis of the issues concerning the funding of Canadian programming and the CTF’s governance.

	Add Comment »	See also: The CRTC
	Email this	Posted at 1:49 pm (05 Jun 2008)

The CRTC has approved CBC’s application to operate a new FM station in Vancouver at 88.1 FM. This will improve the quality of signal in Vancouver’s urban core.

Unfortunately, the Commission turned down our request to add an FM transmitter on Gabriola Island at 98.7 MHZ. This transmitter was intended to fill in coverage gaps along the Sunshine Coast that would result from lost signal following the proposed conversion of CBU to the FM band.

In the same decision, the CRTC turned down a separate application to add a transmitter of CBCV-FM Victoria in Nanaimo, British Columbia at 104.1 MHZ. The transmitter was intended to fill in coverage gaps in Nanaimo with the surrounding area that would result from loss of signal following the proposed conversion of CBU to the FM band and provide a Victoria based regional service to the Nanaimo area, which is currently served by CBU Vancouver.

Ultimately, the Commission decided that the public would be better served by using 104.1, the last available FM frequency in the Vancouver market, to provide a new radio service in Vancouver. The frequency was awarded to a numbered company to operate a new commercial FM station with an Adult Alternative Album (Triple A) music format.

Given the scarcity of frequencies in the relevant areas and the applications before it, the Commission decided that most appropriate and efficient way for the CBC to make its programming available to listeners in Vancouver, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast would be to make use of 88.1 MHZ to serve Vancouver and maintain operation at its current AM frequency in Vancouver, to ensure good coverage in outlying areas.

The CBC will continue to operate AM 690.

	4 Comments »	See also: The CRTC, Transmission, Vancouver, Vancouver Island
	Email this	Posted at 1:47 am (01 Jun 2008)

Star Choice has responded to the CBC’s complaint that it took the CBC Saskatchewan channel out of its compulsory package for subscribers.

The company, owned by Shaw Communications, claims that CBC News is still on the air — broadcast by the SCN, the Saskatchewan Storyteller channel. SCN itself is not a CBC property.

In a news release headlined “CBC Misleading Public About Star Choice Carriage,” Shaw president Jim Shaw said that if CBC wants its entire channel of CBC Saskatchewan broadcast, it should get its own transponders.

Shaw doesn’t stop there. He blames the move to drop CBC Saskatchewan on the CRTC, saying since the regulator insisted they carry Super Channel, which takes up 10 channels of their bandwidth through 4 standard and 2 HD channels, they had no choice but to bump the local-programming.

The yanking of Radio-Canada’s French language service doesn’t even merit a sentence in the Shaw/Star choice release.

	7 Comments »	See also: Saskatchewan, The CRTC, The Media Landscape
	Email this	Posted at 9:16 am (20 May 2008)

Star Choice has decided to drop yet another channel in its lineup in addition to CBC Saskatchewan — it has now dropped RDI, the CBC French news channel, in all Anglophone markets.

The CBC launched another formal complaint with the CRTC this week. RDI is on a very small list of channels that all providers are required to carry with their basic package, and the CBC argues that Star Choice is now in violation of its broadcast licence.

Earlier this week, five local news channels, including CBC Saskatchewan, were replaced by specialty channels like MuchMusic and Teletoon Retro by Star Choice.

Perhaps they got rid of RDI because they needed room for the Golf Channel?

	1 Comment »	See also: Radio-Canada, Saskatchewan, The CRTC
	Email this	Posted at 11:06 am (16 May 2008)

Is it just me, or does the CRTC seem to be on a loop like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day?

It really wasn’t that long ago (1999) when Canada’s federal broadcast regulator studied the Internet and decided — in what can only be termed a blatantly obvious decision — that they won’t regulate the Internet. (Although, just for snits and giggles, it would have been fun to watch them try.)

Enter 2008. And just hours ago, the CRTC announced it would study… wait for it!… “the new media envirornment in Canada!” [sfx fanfare] This seems to have emerged from their previous study called the New Media Project Initiative, which was established to “highlight changes [to yet another, previous study] since 2006.”

The product of which… I think, I’m kind of getting lost here… is this morning’s call for comments about how new media intersects with broadcasting.

“New digital technologies and platforms are creating opportunities for the broadcast of professionally-produced Canadian content that simply didn’t exist a few years ago,” said the CRTC Chairperson. “Our intention is not to regulate new media, but rather to gain a better understanding of this environment and, if necessary, to propose measures that would support the continued achievement of the Broadcasting Act’s objectives.”

To be clear… (from a CBCnews.ca article)

The commission in 1999 decided against regulating broadcasting over the internet because it was still in a fledgling state, and issued a similar decision in 2007 on cellphones. However, because the pace of technological change has been so rapid, the CRTC said it is now time to review its role. [emphasis added]

The Commission wants to hear your opinions.

You have until July 11 to send your comments online, faxing 819-994-0218, or through their web site launched today to collect comments at http://crtc.newmedia.econsultation.ca.

	7 Comments »	See also: The CRTC, The Media Landscape
	Email this	Posted at 12:16 pm (15 May 2008)

The CRTC has approved CBC/Radio-Canada’s application operate nested FM transmitters in Windsor. The CRTC received several favourable interventions regarding the application, and that it rejected oppositions filed by Neeti Ray and CTVgm. The CBC has two years to get the transmitters in order. (Hat tip to Gary.)

	2 Comments »	See also: Asides, CBC Radio 1, Ontario, The CRTC, Transmission
	Email this	Posted at 9:57 am (13 May 2008)

The CRTC today denied HDTV Networks’ application for a licence to operate a national, English-language high-definition conventional television service.

“HDTV Networks sought to launch a television station that would be the Canadian equivalent of a superstation,” said Michel Arpin, the CRTC’s Vice-Chairman of Broadcasting. “The programming strategy associated with such a station is inconsistent with the objectives of the Broadcasting Act and the Commission’s policies. We have never granted a licence for such a conventional television station in the past and did not find any compelling reason to do so at this time.”

The requirement to make local programming available to audiences is an integral feature of the CRTC’s conventional television policy. HDTV Networks would only commit to providing two hours of local programming per week in each of the eight markets it wanted to serve: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. By way of comparison, existing conventional stations offer on average more than 22 hours of local programming per week

In addition, the CRTC today denied YES TV Inc.’s application for a licence to operate an English-language high-definition conventional television service in the Greater Toronto Area. The Commission was not convinced that the applicant could fulfill its programming commitments, among other things.

	8 Comments »	See also: Asides, The CRTC, The Media Landscape
	Email this	Posted at 3:00 pm (03 Apr 2008)

Late last week, the federal government appointed three new members to the CBC Board of Directors. Two of the three have strong ties to the Conservative party:

• Mary McNeil is a fundraiser and charity executive by profession. Earlier this year, she was hand-picked by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to compete for the candidacy in a wealthy Vancouver riding. (She said she’d never favoured any party, but acknowledged her whole family were Conservative party supporters.) She lost the bid to a business professor.
• Brian Mitchell, lawyer #1, sits on a number of other boards in Montreal. He is a former member of the Conservative National Council. He once ran against Joe Clark for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party, then ran unsuccessfully in for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Until the CBC appointment, he has served on the Conservative Party’s national council.
• Linda Black, lawyer #2, has been a senior executive in a variety of government roles — most recently in a provincial Labour Relations ministry. She’s currently a lawyer with a legal review board.

Opposition MPs claimed the appointments to the CBC Board were part of a larger strategy to fill vacancies on federal Boards in advance of a possible federal election. (Along with 15 judicial appointments, people were appointed to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, the CRTC, the Bank of Canada, the National Welfare Council, the Canada Race Relations Foundation and others.)

The appointments were made without the supervision of the federal appointments commission that Prime Minister Harper had promised during the last election campaign.

Also related to broadcasting, CTV reporter Marc Patrone, a former Conservative candidate, was named as a CRTC commissioner. The Globe and Mail says the job pays $126,200 to $148,500 a year.

However, respected Conservative blogger Stephen Taylor did a study in 2005 and discovered that 85% of political contributions from CBC board members went to the Liberal party.

	14 Comments »	See also: Board of Directors, Parliament, The CRTC
	Email this	Posted at 12:17 pm (26 Feb 2008)

Zero hour approaches.

Wednesday at midnight (okay, technically speaking midnight is on Thursday, but you know what I mean) is the deadline to get letters of support for CBC Radio One on the FM dial in Vancouver into the CRTC.

You can keep it simple. Just tell them how much you like CBC Radio programing, and that you think it’s crucial for the Lower Mainland to have access to the national broadcaster on the FM dial. And feel free to pester your friends. They’ll thank you for it later.

To do this, go to the form on the CRTC website and click on the button #2007-18. Check the box beside #200714239 (in the list, this is the second CBC application) and go to the bottom of the page and select next. Then just follow the instructions to complete your letter of support. (Please copy CBC on your e-mail at regulatoryaffairs@cbc.ca)

	1 Comment »	See also: CBC Radio 1, The CRTC, Vancouver
	Email this	Posted at 12:14 am (23 Jan 2008)

The federal broadcasting regulator is imposing considerably tighter rules on media ownership.

But those rules will not apply to existing ownership structures.

From now on, a person or company can only control two of the following types of media that serve the same market: a local radio station, a local television station or a local newspaper.

Full story at CBC.ca

This is quite a step up from common ownership policies governing the number of conventional television and radio stations a person may control in the same market.

As well, the CRTC will:

• impose limits on the ownership of broadcasting licences to ensure that one party does not control more than 45 per cent of the total television audience share as a result of a transaction; and
• not approve transactions between companies that distribute television services (such as cable or satellite companies) that would result in one person effectively controlling the delivery of programming in a market.

“The trend toward greater consolidation in the broadcasting industry has raised concerns that a large ownership group could achieve a dominant position through acquisitions, which could bring about a reduction in the diversity of local, regional and national content,” the CRTC said in a news release issued this morning.

It’s not immediately clear whether there’ll be a grandfathering clause or the rules mean current owners will have to sell off operations if they own more than than two.

“With these new policies, we have developed a clear approach to guide us in assessing future transactions in the broadcasting industry,” said CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, CRTC. “It is an approach that will preserve the plurality of editorial voices and the diversity of programming available to Canadians, both locally and nationally, while allowing for a strong and competitive industry.”

The policies apply only to private broadcasters.

	5 Comments »	See also: The CRTC, The Media Landscape
	Email this	Posted at 11:44 am (15 Jan 2008)