CRTC seen granting CTV more flexibility by Heather Scoffield and Keith Damsell
Source : Globe & Mail
Nov 23, 2001
by Heather Scoffield and Keith Damsell
OTTAWA, TORONTO – The federal broadcast regulator is expected to give television network CTV Inc. most of the flexibility the broadcaster has asked for in order to make its Newsnet news service more profitable.
In a decision to be released today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will allow Newsnet and its French-language affiliate to air live events at length, with no interruptions, up to 25 times a week under "exceptional circumstances."
However, under normal circumstances, Newsnet will have to break into live coverage by broadcasting headline news for at least two minutes during every 15-minute segment, says a copy of the decision, obtained by The Globe and Mail.
That's down from five minutes as required in the past by the CRTC, but more than the one minute proposed by CTV.
It means the CRTC has largely agreed to the flexibility proposed by CTV, but made the conditions a bit more difficult than those proposed by the broadcaster. It also means that arguments put forward last spring by Newsnet's rival, CBC Newsworld, have not all held up.
"The commission has sought to reconcile its policy objectives of complementarity and diversity among specialty services with the licensees' concern for their ability to provide credible news services, and the public's need and demand for convenient and reliable access to news, as provided by Newsnet and Le Canal Nouvelles," the CRTC decision says.
The decision was not unanimous, however. Four commissioners out of 12 dissented, each arguing micromanaging news coverage creates a difficult and unnecessary regulatory burden for Newsnet.
"By fine-tuning the status quo in an attempt to maintain an artificially structured difference between Newsworld and Newsnet, it [the CRTC] has missed the opportunity to strengthen and improve Canada's second specialty news service," said commissioner Stuart Langford.
In June, the commission said it planned to change the terms of Newsnet's licence, arguing the channel was breaking the rules and airing too much live news.
Newsnet and its French-language affiliate LCN are licensed to provide breaking news as long as headline news is presented every 15-minute block. The CRTC wanted to forbid the two services from carrying live events except in exceptional circumstances and then for no longer than 15 minutes at a time.
The CRTC's position followed repeated complaints from the CBC television network. The public broadcaster claimed that Newsnet was breaching the terms of its licence, drawing viewers and advertising dollars away from its rival service, Newsworld.
But the proposed change of licence prompted a flood of letters to the CRTC. This summer, a long list of more than 400 politicians, journalists, academics, TV viewers and business executives wrote interventions to the commission supporting CTV's right to provide live coverage when warranted. Reporter Mike Duffy was the focus of many letters, with many viewers fearing the veteran news correspondent may lose his job.
About a dozen groups supported the CRTC's proposal, including the Canadian Conference of the Arts and lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
CTV argued the changes would render its news service second-rate and unprofitable. In addition, the network said media research concluded NewsNet and Newsworld schedules differed by more than 95 per cent.
The network offered its own solution, proposing its news service interrupt live, breaking news every 15 minutes for a minimum one-minute headline news update.
