QUEBEC CITY – Since Friday night, when Quebec’s floundering broadcast station TQS began stripping its news operations, the TV network has been ignoring its obligation to produce a certain number of hours of news programming, as set out in its CRTC licence.
That doesn’t sit well with CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein.
“We have a lot of problems with your application,” von Finckenstein said Monday at the opening of hearings in Montreal into TQS’s pitch for a new licence containing no news programming obligation at all. “You’re asking us to make an exception, one that would be in violation of our policy.”
It wasn’t a good start for the brothers Rémillard, Maxime and Julien, who are trying to get the CRTC to toss away the existing TQS licence and give them a new one, good until 2015.
The brothers own Remstar, the Montreal-based film and television production company that won a bidding war in March to purchase TQS from Cogeco and CTVglobemedia. TQS received court protection from creditors in December so it would have time to find new owners.
Creditors gave their approval last month, based on Remstar’s re-structuring plan. But that plan also requires CRTC approval.
Now, after a second day of hearings in Quebec City Tuesday, the Rémillards’ must be worrying about their chances.
It was not a surprise that the Remstar “no news” plan, which will eliminate more than 270 journalism jobs by September in five cities, was blasted by an assortment of political figures, journalist organizations, and employee unions. But the three commissioners – von Finckenstein, Michel Arpin, and former Radio-Canada TV journalist Michel Morin – proved to be tough in their cross-examination and withering in some of their comments.
After telling Maxime Rémillard about a 1995 CRTC ruling, which spelled out that “the production of local news and information constitutes the primary vehicle for local stations to achieve” certain objectives of the Broadcasting Act, von Finckenstein asked how he could reconcile that ruling with Remstar’s proposal.
Rémillard said that while TQS would no longer provide news, it would have public affairs analysis and citizen-produced information and opinions that would continue to reflect Quebec’s regions. He said this is a way “to democratize information”.
Quebec media critics say the formula is a combination of You Tube meets Larry King Live.
Von Finckenstein put it this way: “In fact, you want us to adopt a new definition of traditional television…I don’t know if you’re aware of it or not, but this year we rejected an application from HDTV Network because it lacked local content. We approved Rogers’ purchase of CityTV on the condition that it reinstitute news in Vancouver, which had been discontinued.
“That means that we have been clear. News is an integral part of broadcasting stations. Given that, how can we justify giving you a licence when you contemplate not having any news?” von Finckenstein asked.
Rémillard, backed up by TQS vice-president Serge Bellerose, said the goal is to save a network that is “clinically dead”. News operations, he said, were bleeding the network, and to continue operating TQS under the same model would mean ever-increasing debt.
Last year, TQS lost $18 million, pushing its accumulated losses to about $71 million.
“We could keep doing news with a lot fewer resources,” Bellerose said. “Obviously, they would be news programs of lesser quality, they’d be much less attractive, and they would reinforce the trend towards eroding audiences…and consequently, less revenue.”
Ratings for TQS’s news shows have fallen 40% in four years, Rémillard said, and to stabilize that would mean even heavier losses.
“I know we’ve made unpopular choices. But we gave ourselves the mandate and objective to save this broadcaster, to make it prosperous, and also to adapt to the new viewing habits of people,” he said.
Later, von Finckenstein tried to give Rémillard some help.
“Let’s be honest. We have a lot of problems with your programming, that’s been obvious from my questions….What would you do if we said, yes, you can have your licence, but on the condition that you maintain news programming? Is there a Plan B that you have in that event?”
The answer was no.
Then CRTC vice-chair Michel Arpin asked if Remstar had done any market studies that might back up its programming choice.
No, said Rémillard, but the “financial numbers cried out the truth so clearly that we had to take these decisions”.
Remstar’s own finances also came under scrutiny, with Arpin suggesting he was not yet satisfied with the financial statements available. He pushed Rémillard to acknowledge that while the company is making certain monetary guarantees, it has landed TQS for a mere $10.
He told Rémillard to file more detailed statements. “If you don’t,” Arpin said, “we’ll refuse your licence application.”
The CRTC’s decision is expected by early summer.
