MP fumes his local anchors are now in Toronto
OTTAWA – The ongoing local television struggles were the topic of the day at the Heritage Committee this week as it kicked off its study on the media and local communities (just three short weeks after the CRTC did the exact same thing).
Officials from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Competition Bureau and the CRTC were at the inaugural meeting to provide MPs with background on the challenges facing the industry.
The nearly two-hour long session was mainly about giving and receiving information on the struggles of local TV, including news. Department officials explained that advertising revenue is shifting from traditional linear TV to digital platforms and that is having a negative impact on the profitability of TV stations. Yet, the spend on Canadian productions has increased from $2.5 billion to $2.9 billion.
And while committee members wondered what could be done to help the fledgling local TV business, a presentation from the Competition Bureau sparked some criticism from one Conservative MP. Kevin Waugh, who represents the riding of Saskatoon-Grasswood and is a former sportscaster for CTV Saskatoon, expressed his dissatisfaction with the bureau’s approval of the Bell acquisition of Astral and the decision by Shaw to centralize its anchors in Toronto.
In response, Jeanne Pratt, senior deputy commissioner of the mergers and monopolistic practices branch, noted that the bureau only looked at the economic part of the Bell-Astral deal and whether the transaction would be detrimental to the industry. Bell was forced to divest of 10 TV stations its had originally proposed to buy.
This didn’t satisfy Waugh, who then ranted that having Global anchors in Toronto report on local Saskatoon happenings is “ridiculous.”
“I have the full team out of Global Toronto telling me on Second Avenue in Saskatoon, how was it today? That to me is ridiculous. I’ll never accept that,” he said, noting that while viewers may accept it, “the ratings have plummeted.”
He went on. “I don’t care how many guys they got on television on the street, if you don’t present in front of the television set from the city you’re from, your ratings are going to zip.”
“I have the full team out of Global Toronto telling me on Second Avenue in Saskatoon, how was it today? That to me is ridiculous. I’ll never accept that.” – Kevin Waugh, CPC MP Saskatoon-Grasswood
Waugh pointed out that it’s not just Saskatoon that has lost its local Global anchors. The same has happened in Kelowna, Regina and Winnipeg.
The former sportscaster turned MP picked up on his issues with local news during the Commission’s appearance when he asked who regulates the quality and quantity of news programming.
Scott Hutton, the CRTC’s executive director of broadcasting, noted that the Commission has traditionally regulated local programming based on the numbers of hours. He added though that when it comes to the quality that’s much more difficult to measure.
He did provide Waugh with some tangible answers on what the Commission is doing to address the concerns he raised. Hutton said the CRTC asked during the eight-day local and community TV hearing whether local news requires a physical local presence, should there be reporters on the ground and what qualifies at local news.
“So those are questions that we're certainly asking and inquiring as to whether or not we should intervene in those areas,” he said.
In his opening remarks, Hutton acknowledged that the industry finds itself in a difficult situation, but added the Commission believes there is enough money in the system to support local news. Broadcasters spent $470 million spent on local programming in 2014 and broadcast distributors spent $150 million on community TV channels.
“So, the Commission is convinced there’s sufficient money in the system to support the creation of news and local information programming,” he said.
The CRTC also won’t hesitate to ensure broadcasters meet public interest obligations when it comes to news. “We’ve sent an equally clear signal to the TV industry that we’ll hold major broadcasters to account when their licences come up for renewal in 2017. If they fail to live up to their end of their bargain with Canadians, the CRTC will not hesitate to take action,” said Hutton.
