REGINA and GATINEAU – Some details of Bluepoint Investments purchase of the Saskatchewan Communications Network emerged Monday when its application to take ownership was made public by the CRTC.
Bluepoint, which made a few waves last year by agreeing to, and then pulling out of, a $1 deal to purchase the now-defunct CKX-TV station in Brandon, Man., made a last minute deal to buy SCN just days before the Saskatchewan government was to pull the plug on the provincial pubcaster.
According to its application, Bluepoint plans to imitate the privatization of Alberta’s Access and has committed to spend $12.25 million over the licence term to fund Saskatchewan productions, plus $7 million more over the licence term for the development and production of digital content.
The purchase price for SCN is just $350,000.
However, Bluepoint wants to modify the SCN licence by introducing advertising “while ensuring a balance between new commercial content and old or familiar content genres,” says the application, which is surely to see opposition from conventional broadcasters in the Prairie province.
“The daytime period would remain dedicated to children’s and educational programming which would run commercial free. Other periods during the day, including the access period, (between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.) and the evening period would contain educationally and culturally themed programming as well as popular programming designed to attract advertising revenues,” says the application.
“The applicant specifically requests to be allowed to broadcast 14 minutes of advertising per hour during the 63 hours per week where it proposes that commercial content might run, so that the service could run a total of 882 minutes per week of advertising.”
Click here for the application.
