CTV's got a licence to let us down by Antonia Zerbisias

You know, if the CTV programmers who rule Canada's airwaves were as clever as they seem, they'd quit whining about CTV Newsnet not being allowed to run talk shows and other "long-form" programming and stake out that turf on their moribund channel, talktv.

But no.

Ever since Nov. 18, when Fox News won access to the digital dial, CTV has been arguing for "fair competition" in the news channel game. It did so first with a news release, then by buying full-page ads in The Hill Times, the paper of Parliamentarians and the press pack that sniffs around them.

"The issue is fairness," said CTV News president Robert Hurst in a statement last month. "This makes Fox News the sixth American television news service to be approved for broadcast in Canada - without any format restrictions."

(Note that CTV did not directly intervene against Fox News. But, as a member of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, which did protest, it did not exactly roll out the red carpet.)

"CTV Newsnet continues to be the only English-language television news service which must operate under severely restrictive conditions," Hurst complained, referring to his once-revolutionary headline "wheel," a format that essentially forces him to present news, weather and sports every 15 minutes.

But that's the way CTV structured the channel in 1996 when it beat a competing joint bid by CBC and Southam News (since acquired by CanWest Global) for a headline service.

And yet, no sooner did Newsnet launch than CTV started kicking and screaming about the format. It eventually won permission to break in 25 times a week for live and other forms of news, as long as it inserts two minutes of headlines every quarter-hour.

But, lest anyone forget, back in 1996, the promise from CTV was that Newsnet would never, ever do anything but headlines. And, oh yeah: It wouldn't cost subscribers a cent.

Times do change.

Now Newsnet's maximum wholesale rate - i.e. what it charges cable and satellite distributors - is 19.5 cents per subscriber per month.

As for the headline wheel, this past August, six months after its licence was renewed until 2010, CTV returned to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) seeking approval to drop its headline format.

"The net result of our application would be more original Canadian news coverage," said Hurst last month. "And in the free market of ideas - the type of free market that the CRTC has endorsed in ushering in Fox News, with its unabashed point of view - more news, with a more Canadian perspective, would be a very good thing."

But really, considering CTV's track record with talktv, how long would that last?

Consider that talktv was licensed in 1996 as a service "devoted to talk programming providing viewers with the opportunity to participate through telephone, fax or Internet, as well as live television hook-ups, in discussion and debate about topics and issues that interest and affect all Canadians."

Which it was throughout its first licence term, notably with its flagship six-hour yakathon the chatroom, as well as daily interview hour with Pamela Wallin.

While the chatroom was not exactly the weightiest show on TV, it was innovative, and helped launch, for better or worse, the careers of Ben Mulroney, now on CTV's E-talk Daily and Canadian Idol, Seamus O'Regan, cohost of CTV's Canada AM and MuchMusic's Jennifer Hollett.

But, two years ago, when talktv won a licence renewal (which came with a rate increase) the show stopped production. Now talktv is a dead end for chatroom reruns and recycled CTV programs, past and present, including Vicki Gabereau and Camilla.

So, if CTV wants to do open-line news shows, or have Mike Duffy host political talkfests, why not put them on talktv?

It was local culture blogger Marc Weisblott (www.betterlivingcentre.ca) who caught on to the false promise of the service, which costs subscribers up to seven cents a month wholesale. That adds up to at least $4 million a year, a sum that, in Weisblott's words, "would go a long way" towards creating new media jobs in this country.

As he told me yesterday, "You're well aware of the hassles and heartbreak of trying to get something media-related going in this country."

Which is why he complained to the CRTC.

Yesterday, he received an e-mail from talktv general manager Ed Robinson, who blew him off in three sentences: "We reiterate that we are aware of our conditions of licence and we are fulfilling those obligations."

But are they? Really?

AND NOW THE CBC NEWS: Watch for a re-jig of CBC Newsworld's schedule Jan. 17 when CBC News: The Hour debuts Monday to Thursday at 8. Hosted by ex-MuchMusic man George Stroumboulopoulos, it will lead off four nights of news and documentaries.

Fridays will be devoted to fluffier fare, such as The Antiques Road Show. And, speaking of headlines, look for a cut in the newscasts at the top of the hour.

© Toronto Star