OTTAWA – Over the past number of weeks, Canada’s independent broadcasters have been alerting CRTC staff and commissioners that the big, vertically integrated BDUs are all but ignoring the Commission’s brand new Code of Conduct, which was released with its new policy on Vertical Integration on September 21.
Ignoring that code is a big mistake, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein told Cartt.ca during an interview Tuesday.
Even though on October 14th, with the ink still drying on the original, the Regulator modified it (changing the instances where it said “shall” to “should”), von Finckenstein says he expects the industry to obey it. “Should” is a weaker word, which we pointed out when reporting on the change, and some in the industry saw that as a win for the big companies.
The change in wording, von Finckenstein assured us, does not at all mean the Commission has softened its belief that the industry players must abide by the new code of commercial practices during negotiations. When asked about the independent broadcasters’ complaints (none of whom want to go on the record with us about it yet, fearing reprisals from the large BDUs) von Finckenstein had this to say: “I understand that some people are putting meaning into changing the ‘shall’ to ‘should’. We did it for grammatical consistencies,” he explained. “That does not mean that we don’t expect people to abide by it and does not mean that we won’t judge them by it.”
And if the big companies ignore the code anyway? “They will have a very ugly surprise if they take that attitude… If anybody interprets this as meaning we are less firmly committed to the Code of Conduct, they are absolutely incorrect,” said von Finckenstein.
Said one independent broadcaster who runs a suite of channels but who did not want to be identified, for the reason mentioned above: “Mostly, (the BDUs are) completely ignoring the code. I don’t think this code has done enough for us and I think we have to raise the issues again, about vertical integration, about diversity of voices in broadcasting. Do we really want three companies running everything, because that’s where it’s going,” he said.
The independent broadcasters have met with the Commission staff and commissioners as often as they can over the past weeks as their negotiations with the vertically integrated BDUs soured. They also spent time on the floor this week at the International Institute of Communications conference in Ottawa with commissioners to plead their case, telling them BDUs are demanding concessions on rates and packaging, among other issues, and disregarding the new policy. “I told them everything and their jaws half dropped. I told them everything that was going on. It’s crazy how aggressively the BDUs are trying to squeeze the little guy, despite the Code of Content and everything else,” said the independent broadcaster.
“And by the way, it’s an economic incentive problem, it’s not a people problem. These are all fantastic folks and we go to lunch all the time; we’re all friends. But when their boss’s boss’s boss is saying ‘hit these numbers next quarter,’ and the price for TSN is going up, and the CRTC decision doesn’t have a lot of teeth, it’s easy, they have to get it from somewhere. So I totally understand it, but my pitch to CRTC is just this Code of Conduct is a waste of paper. You either make it regulation or don’t bother.”
Von Finckenstein asserted that whatever you want to call the code or define the words “shall” and “should”, the big companies should listen to him now: “We are firmly committed to it. It is in place, we expect people to abide by it and we will judge their behaviour and complaints by that code of conduct.
“It is there in order to regulate the behaviour between BDUs and small independent (broadcasters), or the behaviour between large programmers and small BDUs, whichever way it goes. There is a clear set of expectations. Abide by it. You do it at your own risk if you don’t.,” he added.
“Fair warning. You will regret it if you don’t abide by the code."
