003-100 Arthur Street Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3h 13B 204.927.5890 Onscreenmanitoba.com On Screen Manitoba Presentation to the CRTC – Thursday September 13, 2012 Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2012-370 regarding the acquisition of Astral Media Inc by BCE Inc. Palais des congr è s de Montr é al, Room 518 ABC - 1001 place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Montr é al, Qu é . Monsieur le pr é sident, membres du Conseil, et membres du personnel. Je m ’ appelle Nicole Matiation. Je suis la directrice g é n é rale de On Screen Manitoba et j ’ ai avec moi Monsieur Louis Paquin, producteur ind é pendant au Manitoba et membre du C.A. de On Screen Manitoba. Je vous remercie de nous accorder l ’ opportunit é de pr é senter nos commentaires sur l ’ acquisition d ’ Astral m é dia (Astral par BCE Inc (Bell). Comme vous le savez, On Screen Manitoba est l ’ association professionnelle de l ’ ensemble de l ’ industrie de production des m é dias de l ’é cran dans notre province. Nos membres comprennent des sc é naristes, des r é alisateurs, des producteurs, des guildes,
des syndicats, des fournisseurs de services, des festivals de films et autres organismes et individus ayant un int é r ê t dans ce secteur au Manitoba. Parmi nos membres se trouvent des individus des milieux anglophone, francophone et autochtone. On Screen Manitoba is concerned by the level of concentration of ownership this transaction represents and it urges the Commission to consider appropriate conditions of licence (COLs) to mitigate this should the transaction be approved. We believe that the COLs concerning this transaction should uphold the Canadian Broadcasting Act – COLs that ensure diversity of voice in terms of both market share and content, and that ensure production employment opportunities for Canadians in all regions of Canada in both official languages. OSM croit que les producteurs ind é pendants en r é gion, anglophones comme francophones, jouent un r ô le cl é dans la production d ’é missions de qualit é et qu ’ ils contribuent de fa ç on significative à la diversit é de la programmation en onde. While On Screen Manitoba is concerned by the level of concentration of ownership that the Bell purchase of Astral represents, we are pleased to note that Bell has increased its benefits package by $41 million bringing the total tangible benefits amount to $241.3 Million. We note also that Bell has suggested a 7-year licence term, which represents an improvement over the ten-year term originally proposed. On Screen Manitoba recognizes that in its proposal regarding the acquisition of Astral, Bell seeks to demonstrate a commitment to support Canadian creators. On Screen Manitoba also notes that both Bell and Astral have entered into the Terms of Trade Agreement and welcomes Bell’s commitment to uphold the Terms of Trade Agreement and the Program of National Interest (PNI) levels established for each group during the recent group licence renewals. 2/7
Our particular concern in regard to the English-language portion of this transaction is the loss of an independent buyer of Canadian content. One that is highly valued for its commitment to independent Canadian programming in all genres and in particular in terms of feature film and children’s formats. We are encouraged by Bell’s stated commitment to maintain the Harold Greenberg Fund and its programs; and we note that Bell has a strong track record in supporting Independent Canadian production through the Bell Fund. The Canadian broadcast system has seen the periodic influx of funding as a result of tangible benefits packages in the past and in its initial submission, Bell cited the need to manage these highs and low of available funding by extending the period for the licence renewal (originally ten years now suggested to be 7). It is our belief that a more efficient means of addressing the highs and lows of funding for original content in the Canadian Broadcast system would be through the investment of tangible benefits in independent, third party managed production funds with proven track records such as the Independent Production Fund. We believe that enhancing a third party managed fund would result in a higher level of diverse original Canadian content as these funds support independent production in both English and French in all regions of Canada. We also wish to emphasize that all tangible benefits disbursements should be incremental throughout the licence agreement period. On Screen Manitoba urges the Commission to impose an annual, transparent reporting requirement on Bell as a condition of licence (COL). Through this reporting process Bell should be expected to demonstrate its commitment to becoming a truly national broadcaster that supports independent Canadian production by clearly demonstrating that benefits flowing from both the recent CTV transaction and the current Astral transaction, are resulting in the acquisition and commissioning of incremental independently-produced Canadian programming in all regions and in both official languages. 3/7
On Screen Manitoba joins many others in urging the Commission to reject Bell’s proposed use of tangible benefits to make non-incremental, non-broadcast capital improvements. Other proposed uses of tangible benefits might fit a social benefits model and should not be considered as on screen benefits. The Commission’s standard obligation is to direct a minimum of 85% of tangible benefits to the commissioning and acquisition of original independent Canadian content and we see no reason to meet less than the minimum standard in this case. On Screen Manitoba agrees with others that on screen benefits should accrue primarily to independent Canadian feature film production and new Canadian programs for children and youth. These two areas represent the focus of Astral’s programming and the Commission requires that benefits resulting from a transfer of ownership must “yield significant and unequivocal benefits to the communities they serve.” These are also two of the programming categories that have seen significant decline according to the CMPA’s most recent annual state of the industry report Profile 2011 . While a number of large ownership transactions have occurred recently, none have resulted in a direct benefit to independent feature film and children and youth production. The purchase of Astral represents a special opportunity to ensure robust support for these two areas of production. On Screen Manitoba understands that there are several approaches to determining a “fair” approach to allocating tangible benefits to Anglophone and Francophone production. Telefilm and the CMF propose a 2/3 to 1/3 respectively for English language and French language programming others propose a 60/40 split. On Screen Manitoba would support tangible benefits split along either of these lines up to a 50/50 split in recognition of Astral’s historic ties to Québec and francophone production but we do not believe that a Montreal-based all news service is a good use of francophone tangible benefits. On Screen Manitoba is a fervent defendant of local programming, but only if its extends to all genres and includes independent producers living in all regions of Canada. 4/7
Speaking frankly, for a moment, as a bilingual viewer/consumer, if you like, living in a “regional centre”, I remain unconvinced of the need and indeed the value of another news service based in a major metropolis. What I find to be in short supply are big picture stories, whether factual or fiction produced from the perspective of my region. On Screen Manitoba firmly believes that the independent producers who choose to live and work outside of major metropolis can produce programs of national interest that will meet every requirement of quality and efficiency; however, our producers face a geographic handicap and lack to regular access to programming executives. Preliminary results of a study we commissioned, and look forward to sharing in full once it is completed, appear to confirm a pattern of chronic under-spending by public funders, which in turn suggests a pattern of fewer and/or smaller budget license agreements with broadcasters (whether public or private). We believe that this pattern could be mitigated through strong action by the CRTC. While in Manitoba and other provinces, we might prefer regionally based commissioning editors, we are most concerned with establishing conditions of licence for both Anglophone and Francophone productions that would require: • Bell to demonstrate incremental spending on the development and production of independent Canadian content in all regions of Canada; and, • The creation of a pre-development fund to be managed by an existing 3 rd party fund such as the Independent Production Fund. In fact, the Bell Fund itself provides a potential model for an effective development fund. " Since the inception of the Development Program in 2001, 210 digital media projects have been awarded grants of over $7.4 M. The Development Program relies on interest generated by the BCE/ CTV Benefits endowment as well as BDU contributions." p. 13 Bell Fund 2011 Annual Report. En ce qui concerne le marché francophone spécifiquement, On Screen Manitoba constate que les producteurs indépendants francophones hors Québec et vivant dans 5/7
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