Source : Canadian Press

CALGARY _ The president of Shaw Communications Inc. says he'll be giving the federal broadcast regulator an earful next month when it holds hearings into the future of the Canadian Television Fund.

"We'll be at that hearing. Have no doubt. I'll be there," Jim Shaw told reporters after his company's annual general meeting in Calgary on Thursday.

Shaw has been one of the most outspoken critics of the $288 million federal agency, which draws its funding from Ottawa and private telecommunications companies.

Cable and satellite providers are required to pitch five per cent of their yearly revenues toward original Canadian programming, with most of that going to the CTF. Shaw is one of the biggest contributors.

Quipping that Shaw Cable's holiday "Firelog" channel gets more viewers than CTF-backed shows like "Trailer Park Boys" and "Little Mosque on the Prairie," Shaw said he wants the fund to change the way does business.

Shaw and fellow media giant Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.A, TSX:QBR.B), have both said repeatedly that they think the fund has squandered their money by backing unpopular shows.

Last winter, Shaw and Quebecor subsidiary Videotron suspended their monthly payments to the fund in protest and demanded Ottawa launch a formal review into the CTF. They have long been demanding a greater say in how the money is spent.

The Canadian Radio-televison and Telecommunications Commission subsequently formed a task force to look into the issue. At the task force's recommendation, a formal CRTC review into the CTF is set to begin Feb. 4.

"We think the thing's broken and has no accountability," he said.

"The people that sit on the board aren't the people that get the money, which I think is totally wrong."

The CTF said it has invested more than $2.5 billion in Canadian television since it was founded in 1995 and cultivated thousands of jobs in the sector.

"The Canadian Television Fund welcomes the CRTC public hearing process and the opportunity for comment from a range of stakeholders in the television production and broadcast industries, as well as other interested parties," CTF president Valerie Creighton said in an e-mail statement.

While Shaw had a lot to say about the CRTC's hearings into the CTF, he was mum on whether his company will expand into the wireless business.

The federal government is set to hold an auction for a portion of its wireless spectrum at the end of May, potentially opening up the sector to a slew of new providers.

"We've been silent on our position because we haven't decided yet. I think the way to look at it is that we're not saying no, but we're not saying yes either," Shaw said.

Shaw Communications, Canada's second-largest cable operator, is set to disclose its first-quarter results Friday morning.

For the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007, Shaw brought in revenues of $2.77 billion, up 13 per cent from a year ago.

Shaw shares closed up nearly two per cent, or 40 cents, on the Toronto Stock Exchange to $22.90 Thursday.

© Canadian Press