GATINEAU – A complaint before the CRTC accuses a big Canadian TV broadcaster of behaving poorly by giving itself an undue preference by outright refusing to air advertising from a radio competitor.
The culprit? The CBC.
Leclerc Communication, which bought Quebec City radio stations CJEC-FM (WKND 91.9) and CFEL-FM (CKOI 102.1) from Cogeco when the latter acquired Corus Quebec stations in 2011, says that it has tried and failed to buy local advertising on Radio-Canada's Quebec City television station because of a policy the public broadcaster has to refuse advertising to competitors.
"We believe that it's imperative to promote WKND 91.9 on this network, because it reaches an audience whose profile is very similar to the one we're trying to target," Leclerc vice-president Nicolas Leclerc writes in a letter to the Commission dated December 11. The letter recounts contacts made, first with an advertising salesperson, then the regional director of ad sales, then the general manager of sales and finally the general manager of Radio-Canada television's revenue group, all of whom refused the company's request, citing corporation policy.
Meanwhile, Leclerc notes, Radio-Canada television has no such qualms about airing advertising for its sister radio networks, ICI Radio-Canada Première and Espace Musique. This, Leclerc argues, is clearly undue preference that Radio-Canada is giving itself, contrary to the CRTC's television regulations.
Radio-Canada public relations director Marc Pichette confirmed that the network is indeed refusing to sell ads to Leclerc, and refuses to sell ads to any service that competes with the public broadcaster.
Chris Ball, his counterpart for English services, confirmed that the same policy is applied for CBC, though "decisions are made on a case-by-case basis as to whether an ad is deemed competitive."
The CBC's advertising standards policy, approved by its board of directors, declares as "unacceptable" any "advertisements for services considered competitive with CBC/Radio-Canada services."
Pichette said this policy, which has been in place "for a long time", is not a case of undue preference. "The fact that a Radio-Canada television station in Quebec City broadcasts self-promotion of ICI Radio-Canada Première or Espace Musique does not lead to the conclusion that Leclerc Communication suffered an undue disadvantage,"
Pichette wrote to Cartt.ca. "We believe that Leclerc's complaint is without foundation and we will submit our arguments to this effect in accordance with CRTC procedures." Radio-Canada's argument appears to be that because it treats all its competitors the same, it is not giving undue preference to any one of them.
"We believe that this position is not acceptable, because it flagrantly contravenes Article 15 of the 1987 Television Broadcasting Regulations," Leclerc writes in its complaint. "ICI Radio-Canada Télé gives to its own radio stations an undue preference, which is strictly forbidden."
The regulations state that a licensee cannot give undue preference to anyone, including itself.
The CBC's advertising standards policy is not imposed on the corporation by the CRTC, with the exception of its rules on advertising to children. Its rules are set by its board of directors.
Leclerc wants those rules to change, partly for the CBC's own good. "By taking this position, the public broadcaster denies itself substantial advertising revenue at the same time as major budget cuts affect it directly," Leclerc writes.
The CRTC is accepting comments on Leclerc's complaint until March 6.
