Source : Canadian Press

GATINEAU, Que. _ Actors, directors, writers and producers described Canadian private broadcasters as greedy capitalists who care little about Canadian programming, as week-long hearings on the future of domestic television programming began Monday.

"Our problem in this country is the broadcasters who have been demonstrating a slavish devotion to lowest common denominator U.S. shows and simulcast them at bargain-basement prices," said Richard Hardacre, president of ACTRA, the Canadian writer's guild.

The comments came at a news conference in conjunction with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearings, which are examining recommendations to change the way Canadian-produced television and films are financed.

The federal regulator will be hearing arguments throughout the week on a proposal that would divide the $288 million fund essentially into two streams _ one for commercial shows paid for by private broadcasters, and another supported by the government to produce culturally significant programming.

But Hardacre, and representatives of Canadian program producers, writers, and directors _ all who testified Monday _ rejected the need for the changes, saying they are unnecessary and would harm Canadian content on television.

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters, which represents private TV and radio operators, said it would have no comment on Hardacre's statements.

The controversy over funding began in December 2006 when Jim Shaw, CEO of cable TV operator Shaw Communications Inc., soon joined by Quebecor's Videotron, temporarily suspended sending their portion of contributions to the Canadian Television Fund, complaining that the fund was financing shows that few watched.

The regulator reacted by forming a task force to look into the issue and called hearings to settle the matter.

But the hearings got off to a rocky start Monday when Shaw, one of the prime movers of what has been called a crisis in Canadian TV programming, said he would not even show up to testify because the regulator's chairman, Konrad von Finckenstein, had turned over the lead for the public hearings to a subordinate, commissioner Rita Cugini.

A CRTC spokesman said the panel was chosen for its broadcasting expertise and that all commissioners would cast a vote on the final decision.

Shaw's declaration hung over the hearings Monday and while many participants, who were arguing in favour of the current system, tersely refused to comment, Hardacre lit into Shaw.

"Mr. Jim Shaw refuses to follow the rules after he has forced these hearings in the first place. He brags today he will not even deign to show up," said Hardacre. "He's behaving like an arsonist, splashing accelerants around our industry."

Messages seeking comment were left at Shaw headquarters in Calgary but there was no immediate reply.

Hardacre's strong words were matched in sentiment, if not with the same incendiary fervour, by others who testified Monday.

"Where's the business case" that shows Canadian programming is not successful, asked Maureen Parker of the Writers Guild of Canada. She noted that cable and satellite operators, who contribute five per cent of earnings to the fund, derive that amount from charges to subscribers.

"We need to remember this is public money," not broadcasters' money, she said.

Inside the hearing room, the Canadian Television Fund argued that, despite what Shaw and Videotron contend, Canadian programming is at its height of popularity.

Canadian shows such as "Degrassi," "Da Vinci's Inquest," "Little Mosque on the Prairie" and recent entrants such as "Flashpoint," "The Listener," "The Border" and "Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin," which are being picked up by major networks in the United States, would not have been possible without leverage funding from the fund, said CTF president Valerie Creighton.

"When you consider that our programs are on three of the major U.S. networks, that's phenomenal, that's got to be a first for Canadian programming," she said.

The CTF put on a full-court press in defence of the current system, inviting Canadian actors such as Wendy Crewson and Peter Outerbridge to the hearings. As well, a group of actors planned an event with MPs on Parliament Hill on Monday evening.

Creighton told the CRTC panel that dual-stream funding had been tried before by the fund, but that it proved inefficient, adding that designating a program as commercial or cultural would often be arbitrary.

Citing "Little Mosque" and "Sophie," she wondered whether the popular shows would be considered commercial, hence financed by private sector broadcasters, or culturally significant, coming under the funding stream of the federal government's Heritage department.

"When a producer and a broadcaster considers a project, they don't think is this cultural or commercial. They talk about making a great program that Canadians will want to watch," she said.

The first day of hearings was dominated by supporters of the fund _ which included the CBC and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters _ while Videotron and Shaw, if it makes a presentation, are slated to testify on Thursday.

The Canadian Film and Television Production Association, backed by the actors, writers and director's groups, released results of a poll they commissioned from Harris/Decima that they said showed a large majority of Canadians back home-grown programming and believe the government and the cable and satellite distributors should be funding them.

"In all honesty, the fund is not broken and we caution you not to be swayed by misleading comments about the performance and objectives of the fund," said Guy Mayson, head of the producers' association.

In its presentation, the CBC also backed the fund and said splitting it into two streams jeopardizes the 37 per cent that goes to the public broadcaster, since its shows would likely come out of the slightly smaller government stream for which there is no guarantee.

"The fund remains the best vehicle to promote Canadian programming, and ensures Canadians are able to see high-quality independent productions on television in prime time," said Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC's English services. "The CTF has demonstrated that it can adapt to a changing market."

Stursberg, and Sylvain Lafrance, executive vice-president of French services, warned the broadcast regulator that reduced access to the fund for the public broadcaster would hurt Canadian programming.

"CBC/Radio-Canada's access to the CTF builds audiences and provides a diversity of innovative programming choices," Lafrance said. "If our access to CTF funding were reduced, Canadians would have fewer opportunities to see Canadian programs at times when they are watching television in the greatest numbers."

© Canadian Press

Related Documents:

July 27, 2007 - Submission to the CRTC on the CTF Task Force Report
FRIENDS comments on proposals from a CRTC Task Force on the governance and operation of the Canadian Television Fund.