GATINEAU – The industry needs increased levels of funding for access programming said executives from MTS, who appeared before the CRTC’s local and community TV hearing on Monday. The company has proposed that the more access programming BDUs carry on their community TV channels, the more money they should get.
In opening remarks, Paul Norris, VP of residential solutions at MTS, noted viewers want to see local programming that goes beyond news and that access programming is important for locally reflective expression.
“Access programming fulfills a unique role that is not available from conventional broadcasters or from social media platforms like YouTube,” he said, adding that “funding for community programming should be based on the degree to which a BDU embraces access programming.”
MTS acknowledged that local news is a critical part of the local TV ecosystem, but says moving money away from community TV to news would inhibit local story telling on community channels.
“MTS challenges the merit of an argument that would divert funds from community programming, a public service, to commercial programming that even commercial advertisers are reducing support for. Such a decision would remove community producers from the system while providing insufficient funds long-term to offset the increasing costs of commercial broadcasters,” said Norris.
Under questioning, the company responded to suggestions that physical studios and linear channels are a much better approach for community TV. CACTUS had argued that public libraries could be the homes of these studios. Norris countered that setting up these facilities may in fact shift money away from community TV, so before any decision like that was made, an assessment would have to be done to measure the impact on community story telling.
Quebecor Media Inc. suggested last week that BDUs that only operate on-demand channels should have their funding cut in half. Greg McLaren, manager of MTS TV content, disagreed saying the money should go to story telling not linear TV infrastructure. MTS offers its community programming on its VOD platform.
"If you choose to build a studio or build a mobile studio that's going to cost additional money then you're going to have less opportunity in your market to be able to tell those stories. We’ve chosen not to go down the path of media infrastructure, building a linear channel, and our community producers should not be penalized for that,” he said.
“It’s not that we don’t license not-for-profit community TV and radio (we do); we just don’t resource them adequately. Meanwhile, we bail out the private sector every time, there is an economic downturn or a new business model threatens incumbent ones.” – David Murphy, Community Media Policy Working Group
The Toronto Community Media Network (TCMN) underscored in its appearance the difficulty in showcasing community level programming in a market as diverse and vast as Toronto. Dahne Jobson, chair of TCMN, said Rogers TV is doing a poor job of reflecting the interests of the various community and ethnic groups in the region. TCMN supports the CACTUS proposal of establishing community media centres.
She said that Rogers TV lists 60 programs as being available to residents with 10 of them considered multicultural. But those same 10 programs are shown in multiple smaller regions within the GTA, meaning that some multicultural groups don’t see any relevant programming.
The Community Media Policy Working Group (CMPWG) used its appearance to reiterated the position espoused by CACTUS. It noted its surprise at the use of the term “radical” by Commissioner Candace Molnar to describe the idea of community not-for-profits managing community TV channels.
“It’s not radical but self-evident in other jurisdictions,” said David Murphy, a member of the Hand Eye Society, a community gaming organization, adding that “United States enfranchised not-for-profit boards from the outset.”
“It’s not that we don’t license not-for-profit community TV and radio (we do); we just don’t resource them adequately. Meanwhile, we bail out the private sector every time, there is an economic downturn or a new business model threatens incumbent ones,” he added.
The hearing continues tomorrow with Shaw Communications and Telus headlining.
Screen cap from CPAC.ca, which is carrying the hearing live on its web site.
