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In a submission to the CRTC, Unifor is calling on the commission to require broadcasters to dedicate more of the tangible benefits from any merger or takeover to enhancing local programming.
“Local programming (whether television or radio), acts as a bridge between citizens and community life. Local news programming, specifically, offers an important window into local affairs and essential to a vibrant local democracy, community and culture,” the submission reads.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is reviewing its policies for how the tangible benefits from a merger or takeover in the broadcast industry are allocated. Unifor is calling for more of those benefits to be used to support local programming, both news and locally produced non-news shows.
Tangible benefits are payments, often running into the millions, levied by the CRTC on corporate giants such as Bell, Rogers and Shaw when they buy up smaller media companies. Until now, the money has mostly gone into the production of nationally broadcast films.
The absence of a strong local programming policy has had a big economic and employment impact on the industry, including an estimated 1,854 lost jobs over the past six years. The job losses began to stabilize with creation of the Local Programming Improvement Fund in 2010, but that is scheduled to be phased out by August 31, 2014.
Beyond the question of tangible benefits, the Unifor submission points to planned CTRC public consultations on the state of local news and non-news programming.
“Unifor looks forward to engaging with the commission on this matter, re-emphasizing the need for a vibrant local television industry, as well as a reliable and sustainable funding model,” the submission says.
Those hearings will be key to finding a workable future for Canada’s important broadcast industry, the submissions says. The commission needs to use the consultations to get a clear picture of the state of local television in Canada, and to give Canadians a chance to comment on the industry so policies can be developed to strengthen local programming, the submission says.
The full submission is available at: submission_crtc_2013-558_en.pdf
