CRTC CONCERNED ABOUT 'DIVERSITY OF VOICES' Regulator to hold hearings in the wake of several big media company mergers Simon Tuck – Globe and Mail Konrad von Finckenstein says it's time for a review of media concentration in Canada, following three big, rapid-fire acquisitions that have altered the industry's landscape.
The new head of the CRTC announced yesterday that the federal broadcast regulator will launch a review later this year to determine whether Canada's media still have enough "diversity of voices."
But Mr. von Finckenstein said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has also changed its mind, in that its broad look at the industry will be done separately from its review of CTVglobemedia Inc.'s proposed $1.4-billion takeover of CHUM Ltd. The CRTC review of that deal will begin April 30.
The three deals have dramatically altered the shape of Canada's media industry. In addition to the CHUM acquisition, CanWest MediaWorks Inc. and Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. have joined forces, as have Astral Media Inc. and Standard Radio Inc. "There's a new reality," Mr. von Finckenstein, former head of the federal Competition Bureau, said in an interview.
He also said the three recent deals could be followed by more consolidation, so the regulator needs new policy guidelines in place.
The CRTC also said that the three combinations and any subsequent acquisitions made before new guidelines are produced will be examined under the rules in place at the time of the deals. A notice will be issued in the coming days, the commission said, with a public hearing scheduled for the fall. Revised guidelines are scheduled to be released toward the end of the year.
While media companies say they need to consolidate to compete against the Internet and a range of new digital-era media, the commission's announcement is a good sign, said Ian Morrison, spokesman for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, an advocacy group for domestic content. It shows the CRTC is concerned about the question of Canadian voices, he said.
The three mega-deals have also created an interesting political question. The federal Conservative government has told the CRTC to get out of the way of market forces as much as possible, while some opposition politicians and a recent Senate report have raised questions about excessive media concentration.
But that report, conducted by the Senate's standing committee on transport and communications, also suggested that the CRTC should step aside and let the Competition Bureau play the dominant role in reviewing media ownership deals. The job is divided between the two government bodies.
Senator Joan Fraser, a former newspaper executive and the committee's former chairwoman, said yesterday said she was encouraged by the CRTC announcement and that she particularly hopes that the need for sufficient editorial voices plays a strong role in the commission's review.
The CRTC must examine three billion-dollar broadcasting takeovers within months of each other.
The regulator initially said that "considering the size and nature" of the companies involved in the CHUM deal, it would throw open those hearings to a larger discussion about the rules governing media mergers.
However, now it has determined separate hearings are needed on the broader consolidation issue.
The CHUM deal raises questions of ownership concentration, since the owners of CTV would be buying CITY-TV stations in several markets where it already operates.
Meanwhile, CanWest Global Communications Corp.'s $2.3-billion purchase of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. involves questions of foreign ownership, since the Winnipeg broadcaster has partnered with New York investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to finance most of the deal.
The proposed takeover of Standard Broadcasting Corp. Ltd. by Astral Media Inc. for $1.2-billion faces fewer regulatory hurdles, but is part of a growing stack of files on the CRTC's desk this year. |