GATINEAU – On the one hand, John Bitove says his proposed company, HDTV Networks, wouldn’t take local ad revenue away from existing TV broadcasters because he wouldn’t want to do much local programming.
On the other hand, if you’re going to be a conventional, over-the-air television broadcaster – complete with all the rather favourable must-carry and simultaneous substitution regulations – part of the deal is you must be in local programming, reflecting each community in which you have a transmitter, back to itself.
Bitove, founder and chairman of Canadian Satellite Radio – owners of XM Canada – wants a national over-the-air high definition television network license from the Commission with transmitters in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.
Under the proposal, the new station would claim all the rights a legacy broadcaster gets, including priority placement on channel guides, mandatory carriage by BDUs and simultaneous substitution of its signal when it runs American programming from U.S. broadcasters.
The new entity, since its plan is to stay away from local programming to concentrate on being a national network and selling advertising to national advertisers, would therefore have limited impact on existing local broadcasters, Bitove told a CRTC panel this morning during the hearing into his application.
For the commissioners, however, this is a problem. The Broadcasting Act calls on local broadcasters to provide local expression and while Bitove’s application steers around that by suggesting it would be a net positive to have a new network that would contribute to production funds and create new Canadian content – without impacting local ad revenue pulled in by existing broadcasters, commissioners Konrad von Finckenstein (chair), vice-chair telecom Len Katz and vice-chair broadcasting Michel Arpin, all but insisted local programming had to be part of the deal.
As an all-HD network, Bitove said the new company is a new category altogether and suggested that if viewers “are looking for local news and local content, don’t look to us.
“We have to respect the territory of the local broadcasters and their local revenue pie,” he added.
“We appreciate what you’re doing,” said von Finckenstein, “but we can’t let you off the hook… this is a big ‘give’ you’re asking for here.”
Citing the recent van crash in Bathurst, N.B. where several members of the same high school basketball team were killed as an example of local programming that becomes a national story, Bitove added: We didn’t say we would have absolutely no local programming… What we’re not building is a schedule with regular local programming blocks.”
But if HDTV Networks wants to be national and have no local programming restraints, why not request a digi-net license instead, asked von Finckenstein.
Five reasons, said Bitove: “We want to be free… “We want to be general programmers with no creative limits… We’d like the simulcast and substitution rights allowed and given by the Commission to over-the-air stations… We need the elements of must carry as we think that reach is very important… (and) in turn – the benefit from that is dollars plugged into the Canadian production community.”
And what about any potential for fee-for-carriage, asked Arpin, since that is to be decided with the upcoming BDU policy hearings.
“If you change the rules going forward, we trust you’ll be fair to everyone,” said Bitove. “We built this application not expecting or knowing at the time the Commission may consider the whole industry will go to a fee-for-carriage sort of business.”
The hearing continues into this afternoon with the consideration of Toronto-only HD application YES TV and various intervenors, as well as into tomorrow.
