Source : Cablecaster

OTTAWA - Canadians oppose the federal government's decision to reduce foreign investment limits in telecommunications and take a dim view on corporate media ownership, says a Vector Research poll conducted in December for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union.

"By three to one in the poll conducted in December for the CEP, the public opposes letting foreign companies own more of Canada's telephone and broadcasting industries," reads the report.

"Women, Canadians over 50 years old, and people in small communities (under 100,000 population) are more likely than average Canadians to oppose letting foreign owners buy more broadcast and telephone services.

"Respondents were told that some people believe more foreign ownership would lead to job losses in the telephone and broadcasting industries and less Canadian content on our TV and radio programs. Interviewers also said that others claim that more foreign ownership would help small companies get investment money to expand and compete with big media companies," it says.

Below are some the questions and the responses:

Q. As you may know the federal government limits foreign ownership in Canada's television and radio stations and telephone companies and recently said it favours permitting foreign companies to increase their level of ownership in the telephone and broadcasting industries. Some say more foreign ownership would lead to job losses in the telephone and broadcasting industries and less Canadian content on our TV and radio programs. And some say more foreign ownership would help small companies get investment money to expand and compete with the big media companies while Canadian content rules would still be enforced by the government. (Questions were asked in random order.)

Do you favour or oppose letting foreign companies own more of Canada's telephone companies?
Oppose: 68%
Favour: 25%
Depends: 3%

Do you favour or oppose letting foreign companies own more of Canada's broadcasting companies?
Oppose: 68%
Favour: 24%
Depends: 4%

"Opposition to greater foreign ownership in telecommunications and broadcasting is highest in British Columbia (where 72% are against the idea). Support for more foreign ownership is highest in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where 28% are in favour of more foreign ownership in broadcasting," says the report.

"Half of Canadians sampled… say the government should not allow cross-media ownership or convergence," continues the report. "Respondents were told cross-media ownership involves, for example, corporations' controling a television network and newspapers or a telephone company and radio stations.

"Nationally 50% say the govenrment should not allow cross-media ownership while 39% say the government should allow it. Another 4% said it depends while 7% offered no opinon.

"Women and residents in Québec and B.C. are more inclined than other people to say the government should not allow corporations to own TV networks and newspapers. Young people are less inclined to oppose cross-media ownership.

Below is the text of what was asked:
Some corporations, such as Bell Canada Enterprises, CanWest Global, Quebecor and Rogers Communications, own newspapers, telephone companies, television, radio and Internet services, a situation called cross-media ownership or convergence. Do you think the government should or should not allow corporations to control, for example, a television network and newspapers, or a telephone company and radio stations?
Should allow: 39%
Should not allow: 50%
Depends: 4%

"If the government allows the same corporation to own newspapers, telephone companies, television, radio and Internet services in the same community, Canadians on average say the company should be limited to 37% of a local media market," says the report.

The CEP/Vector poll found the most frequently named percentages are in the 41% to 50% range. Around one in five people (23%) name a percentage in that range. Nearly one in five (17%) name a market share under 20% in the scenario of one corporation owning newspapers, telephone companies, television, radio and Internet services in the same market.

"Younger people are a little more generous than people over 30 toward the hypothetical corporation owning newspapers, telephone companies, television, radio and Internet services in the same community. This is consistent with younger Canadians' more lenient attitudes toward cross-media ownership and foreign ownership of the nation's phone and broadcast industries," reads the report.

Respondents were asked:
Some people worry that when a corporation controls newspapers, radio and TV stations in the same community or market that there will be fewer choices for the public. Others say there is no danger because the corporation will have to provide different points of view to keep the public happy. If the government allows the same corporation to own newspapers, telephone companies, television, radio and Internet services in the same community, what percentage of a local market should the corporation be allowed to control?
Zero: 6%
1-20 percent: 17%
41-50 percent: 23%
No answer: 14%
Average: 37.4%

"Canadians in smaller communities could be expected to be more wary of cross-media ownership and convergence, which could limit the range of opinions and voices in local media. But in smaller communities people seem less concerned about cross-media ownership and media concentration," continues the report.

"In small towns, however, people are more worried than residents in big cities about foreign ownership of phone companies and broadcast media. For instance in communities with more than half a million people 55% would vote for the federal candidate opposing further foreign ownership of the media. In communities with populations of 10,000 to 100,000, 67% would support an anti-foreign-ownership federal candidate.

"People in smaller towns would give a comparatively larger share of the local market to a cross-media ownership corporation (38.9%) than people in big cities would give (36.2%)," it says.

The findings in this study are based on telephone interviews conducted between December 4 through December 10, 2003, with 2,002 adults throughout the country.

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