By Denis Carmel
MONTREAL – On the second day of the CRTC hearing into the proposed purchase of Groupe V Media by Bell Media hearing, the first intervenors were the Independent Broadcast Group.
The concern of the group of broadcasters which included Channel Zero, Stingray Digital, OUTtv and others, is the diversity of voices issue.
“The Canadian broadcasting landscape is now even more consolidated and integrated than it was even nine years ago, in 2010, when the Commission last looked squarely at some of the consequences of vertical integration and ownership concentration in the Canadian market,” their intervention reads.
At the time the Commission permitted widespread vertical integration, it was thought that we would build Canadian media companies with scale to compete with American companies.
“It’s not clear that this is happening. Instead, vertical integration has made these companies more dominant, especially in relation to independent players. VI companies have used their position to buy more of the premium content available in foreign markets — primarily from the U.S. They are focused on increasing revenue and market share in Canada across all of their businesses,” said OUTtv president Brad Danks during the IBG presentation.
“The Canadian broadcasting landscape is now even more consolidated and integrated than it was even nine years ago, in 2010, when the Commission last looked squarely at some of the consequences of vertical integration and ownership concentration in the Canadian market,” he added.
While the group didn’t officially oppose the Bell-V transaction, the IBG suggested it is time for a review of the entire framework which allows vertically integrated companies to dominate the Canadian media ecosystem. “The idea that scale in Canada provides a great advantage internationally is given too much weight. We would argue that too much scale in Canada – the dominance of a few players in our domestic market – is actually inhibiting innovation in Canada and affecting our ability to expand Canadian services worldwide,” said Danks.
Thursday’s reply phase started with a plea by Maxime Rémillard, who angrily contradicted the comments of Québecor’s CEO, Pierre Karl Péladeau from the previous day. Rémillard stated that when V Media decided to examine its future, it concluded that selling was the best option. They sought many proposals and the Bell was the only viable one.
“The fact that Bell Media has assets outside of Québec has no bearing on our actions in the Québec market.” – Karine Moses, Bell Media
Then Karine Moses, president, Bell Media Québec, called Québecor’s arguments, “an effort to squash potential competition to its own advantage and at the detriment of Québec viewers and the Canadian Broadcasting system.”
Then she reiterated that there is a distinct market in Québec, as programming strategies are different as well as the shows themselves.
“The fact that Bell Media has assets outside of Québec has no bearing on our actions in the Québec market,” she asserted. “In Québec, the most popular programs are those produced in French. American programs only complement our schedule,” she added.
She brought up how Péladeau had mentioned Wednesday that Game of Thrones was an example of the difficulty a Québec specific broadcaster faced in trying to acquire foreign rights. “Ironically, she said, Game of Thrones is currently being shown on Addik TV a Québecor specialty channel – and they have bought the rights for next season.”
Bell has promised to provide some complementary information by February 20th, and a relatively speedy decision (before summer) is expected.
