Fagstein » community-television http://blog.fagstein.com Can you think of a better name? Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:54:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Community lacking in community TV http://blog.fagstein.com/2010/04/14/community-television/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2010/04/14/community-television/#comments Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:47:50 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/?p=8875

The CRTC will be holding a hearing this month about community television, and at least one group is hoping they will close loopholes (or even just curb abuses that aren't even loopholes) that allow cable companies to use these channels as promotional arms.

The CRTC requires cable companies to devote 5% of their gross revenues to Canadian programming. Of that, 2% must go to a community channel, kind of like those "cable access channels" we hear about in the U.S.

Even though it's a very small fraction of their money, the cable companies decided they would put it to good use. Instead of just giving it over to an independent community broadcaster, they'd run their own community networks. Rogers uses the moniker RogersTV. With Videotron, it's VOX. Shaw TV, TVCogeco, you get the idea.

The problem with having the cable companies in control is that this can lead to abuses. Rogers is being accused of having too much advertising. Others of not keeping proper records (which, admittedly, is a chronic problem for many low-budget broadcasters).

But the biggest problem seems to be that the programming itself isn't fulfilling its mandate:

The CRTC audits found that Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw, and Persona all classified staff-produced news and other programming-even MTV promos in one instance-as "access programming". Some Eastlink systems reported no access programming at all.

"The CRTC's data show that Canada's 'community' channels have become promotional tools for cable companies," said Catherine Edwards, spokesperson for CACTUS.

A look at VOX, Videotron's community channel, and you can see what they mean. A show devoted to TVA's Star Académie. A show put together by a (former) Quebecor-owned weekly newspaper. Quebecor personalities are all over the schedule.

Sure, there's the "Mise à jour [city name here]", and the half hour where they show traffic cameras. But I don't see much access here, nor do they make obvious how someone could get involved.

Perhaps the era of community television is over. We no longer need cable access when we have Internet access. People can just put their videos on YouTube. (Ratings certainly suggest that, with market shares of 0.1 and 0.2%.)

But until the CRTC makes that determination, cable companies should start playing by the rules - the spirit as well as the letter.

UPDATE (May 15): La Presse's Marc Cassivi also thinks Vox isn't doing what it should as far as community programming.

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]]> http://blog.fagstein.com/2010/04/14/community-television/feed/ 1 A Montreal cable access channel? http://blog.fagstein.com/2007/09/19/a-montreal-cable-access-channel/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2007/09/19/a-montreal-cable-access-channel/#comments Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:58:11 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/2007/09/19/a-montreal-cable-access-channel/ The CRTC is currently accepting public comments in advance of hearings to be held on new broadcasting applications. Among them is an interesting proposal for a new television station out of Montreal.

Télévision communautaire Frontenac is an organization of about a half-dozen people who live within three or four blocks of the Frontenac metro station. They want to put together a low-budget cable access channel specifically for their neighbourhood (but also the city).

The application (ZIP file with PDFs) is for a French-language Category 1 specialty channel community specialty channel for Bell Canada's ExpressVu satellite service, which is nationwide and doesn't provide community channels. (UPDATED: See comment below for more details.) Videotron, the local cable provider, has a similar service in Canal Vox, which it runs.

The station's plan is to broadcast 25 hours a week, with 60% locally-produced community programming, of which 1 hour every week is new. Naturally, because of the bare-bonedness of the operation, it would not provide luxuries like closed-captioning or descriptive audio.

Montreal currently has a few other low-budget non-profit over-the-air channels, though none seem to conflict directly with the proposal:

  • CFTU-TV 29 (Canal Savoir), an education channel run and produced by Quebec's universities
  • CIVM-TV 17 (Télé-Québec), a provincially-owned network with a variety of shows but with emphasis on educational programming for children
  • CJNT-TV 62 (CJNT Montreal/E!), a CanWest-owned multicultural station that fills its remaining schedule with much-needed celebrity gossip shows and second-rate U.S. network programming simulcasts.

The hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30 in B.C. Though it's mainly about which of a dozen applicants will get a lucrative FM radio channel in Kelowna, there are a few other interesting television applications:

  • Vanessa, a French-language adult pay TV service with emphasis on ... oh forget the euphemisms. It's porn.
  • Movie Trailer TV, a really stupid idea for a channel of movie trailers and making-of documentaries.
  • Short Form TV, from the same folks as Movie Trailer TV, and whose sole programming restriction is that its content is short in length.
  • The Christian Network, which is self-explanatory but would seem to overlap significantly with the multifaith Vision TV.
  • Arya Persian TV, which doesn't yet meet CRTC requirements.

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