CALGARY – Shaw Communications doesn’t take long to act.
In fact, says company president Peter Bissonnette, the decision to go after three CTV-owned stations made available to purchase for the low-low price of a dollar each was made on Wednesday, with an offer executed via a newspaper ad slated for today’s Globe and Mail, but scooped yesterday by Cartt.ca instead.
Within hours of hearing of the ad from Cartt.ca, CTV accepted and Shaw – after some due diligence and contracts we suppose – will own CKNX-TV in Wingham, Ont., CHWI-TV Windsor, Ont. And CKX-TV Brandon, Man., for three bucks. There don’t appear to be any regulatory reasons to stop the sale.
CTV CEO Ivan Fecan had told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage over a week ago that the company could find no buyers for the stations – not even for a dollar.
Bissonnette told Cartt.ca late Thursday he wanted to act right then in front of the MPs.
“When Ken and I and Jean were at the Standing Committee, we watched the CTV presentation beforehand and I saw Ivan sitting there like the cat that swallowed the canary as he talked about the television stations (when he made his $1 statement). And at that time I wanted to do it,” he said. “And then (CEO) Jim (Shaw) and I were chatting yesterday (Wednesday) and he said we should take them up on it and just buy those things.
“I wanted to do that at the Standing Committee, but knew I should probably ask beforehand.” Bissonnette appeared at the committee with government relations head Ken Stein and regulatory chief Jean Brazeau.
(In fact, CEO Shaw has made at least one similar offer to buy broadcasters before.)
When asked by Cartt.ca if Shaw would consider buying Canwest’s five-station E!/CH network, which is also for sale, Bissonnette said that’s not necessarily out of the question.
“Somebody already asked that question internally and if they want to sell them for a buck, we’d be interested,” he explained, then adding: “CH (Hamilton) is a perfect example of a local initiative where the local management who know the community are very confident they could actually make a go of it.”
“We’re big believers in what they believe they could do,” Bissonnette explained, in reference to where some of the employees want to take the Hamilton station (a story which Cartt.ca broke here, and followed up with here).
“We think we could do something in Hamilton but we’ll take things as they come.”
Bissonnette also noted that the lone OTA station it already owns – CJBN-TV in Kenora – is profitable. “We’re doing programming that has more appeal to the community – and not on a shoestring either. Viewership is way up,” insisted Bissonnette. That station came along with the purchase of Kenora cableco Norcom in 2006.
And since that station is an independent, it buys and airs programming from both CTV and Global, meaning it’s the only place on any dial where Global’s Prison Break leads into the CTV National News, as CJBN’s schedule does on Friday nights.
So, what will be on the stations Shaw is acquiring? Bissonnette can’t say yet but figures they can be made to earn a profit “with a little effort and creativity.” He also noted Shaw Cable knows what people like to watch since the company already does 9,000 hours of local content per year (albeit with many volunteer staffers), including junior hockey games that often earn better ratings than TSN, according to Bissonnette.
The full page ad today, however, did more than cause three stations to change hands.
Signed by CEO Jim Shaw, it warns Canadians that their broadcasters are seeking a bailout worth hundreds of millions of dollars. “They call this Fee for Carriage. Without mincing words, this is a tax. It is a direct tax on you and 10 million Canadian families who are cable or satellite TV subscribers,” reads the ad.
“These broadcasters are threatening to cut local newscasts, cut jobs and close television stations. They are holding you hostage demanding a tax on subscribers as the ransom. Fee for Carriage will result in a $6 a month increase in your cable or satellite bill. That’s $72 more per year,” it says.
The cable and satellite company’s missive notes that times are hard enough right now and Canadians deserve better than threats to close local news outlets unless consumers fork over “another tax rewarding broadcasters’ poor performance,” it reads.
While in Ottawa, Bissonnette said it appears the broadcasters have many MPs on their side in the fight for FFC, which he finds disconcerting. (Ed note: In fact, after spending this week in Ottawa, the top rumour now is that an opposition bill might be tabled which would call for immediate financial help for Canadian broadcasters.)
“When we were in Ottawa I was talking to some of the MPs who said ‘we have never had as strong, or as much of a full court press lobbying effort from CTV than we’re getting right now’,” said Bissonnette.
“It’s clear some of the MPs… are convinced (of the broadcasters’ positions).”
However, counters that advertisement: “At Shaw, our customers already support these two broadcasters (Canwest and CTV) in too many ways. We contributed over $400 million to support the production of Canadian television programming for their networks, including $70 million this year alone.”
Readers who have been following along this week at the CRTC hearing (not to mention many other prior hearings) will know that conventional broadcasters are insisting that the hundreds of millions which a new fee for carriage and an expanded Local Programming Improvement Fund would bring in are necessary for their very survival.
“Canadians should not pay for fixing broadcasters’ problems. They’ve spent billions of dollars acquiring foreign programs and media assets and now they say they’re broke? These private companies need to be held accountable for their decisions,” reads the ad. “They should spend less time lobbying for bailouts and more time managing their businesses.”
“We are in the local programming business and have been for 40 years,” added Bissonnette. “We think we do a good job and if anyone wants to abandon their licence in a community we serve, we know that we can fill that void. We know we do a great job in the communities that we serve.”
