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IS THE TUNE CHANGING AT THE CRTC? Gord Marratto The consolidation rage of a few years ago seems to have died down in the new millennium. Most small market broadcasters have either been romanced by the multi-outlet broadcasting groups or their markets don’t interest the big boys. Gone are the days when stand-alones or small groups were receiving constant offers to have their stations added like stick-pins to the corporate maps of Canada.
Recently, other than Rogers Broadcasting being awarded their first new licenses ever in the Maritimes and Newcap winning Fredericton, it’s the smaller independents that are gaining the favour of the CRTC. Certainly, there are a few repeater-sized markets in the Prairies that big companies can still acquire without competition but when more than one applicant steps up to the trough, you can put your money on the little guy.
There has been plenty of evidence over the past few years to illustrate just what’s wrong with big broadcasters being in small markets. Often, there is little or no community benefit because the station is totally unplugged from local happenings. In some cases, the station is even inaccessible to the local citizens because the big company operates the station as a robot from another larger centre. When major emergencies are happening in these communities, the stations can’t reflect the event or warn citizens because they are unmanned.
For example, one of the big broadcasters found they could reap a much greater harvest by slowly moving their broadcasting thrust from 2 smaller cities to 2 nearby larger ones. Despite the cries of foul from local politicians and the public, they continued raking in the big city bucks at the expense of the markets they were licensed to serve. They claimed that they were operating legally but try to tell that to the people in their home markets.
This is not a general criticism of all multi-outlet broadcasters. Clearly, companies like Standard with their wonderful charitable projects and Rogers with many active community initiatives are very responsible broadcasters. I suspect that all broadcasters, large and small have high ideals and set high standards for performance. I wonder though if the smaller markets would be favoured by treatment from the “top guns” of the company. Can the brass in Toronto actually relate to the peculiarities of Fort Noseworthy, MB?
It seemed for a few years that making huge commitments to Canadian talent would automatically gain licenses for the broadcasting chains, but now the CRTC seems to be sending a loud message to the industry… the advantage goes to the dedicated people with roots in the area. Small market broadcasters usually become much more intimate with their “constituents” and know how to better reflect the community’s needs. They are accessible and likelier to respond to their listeners because the corporate decision-makers are local. They also know that being responsible for their actions is part of the lifeline of the business. The local broadcaster knows that he doesn’t have the big, nearby city’s business to rely on.
So march forward small market broadcasters. They’re playing a different tune in Ottawa these days. Your efforts and advantages are being recognized by the CRTC. Chairman Dalfen has frequently cited The Broadcasting Act in recent speeches, reminding the industry of the importance of the small broadcaster, who, during this era of large publicly-traded broadcasting companies will be the one that fundamentally contributes to the growth and strengthening of Canada’s broadcast system. |
