AN AI RADIO TV NEWS FEATURE -

Bell Wants Local News Requirements Waived. Here’s What That Could Mean

A new ask from Bell, if granted by the CRTC, would see many local news requirements for its broadcast stations dropped.

The Toronto Star,
By Kieran Leavitt,
Staff Reporter
Date line - Friday June 23, 2023

BCE Inc. has asked that local news requirements set out under federal broadcasting rules be eliminated for the company’s stations across the country, calling into question the future of its local coverage.

In an application to the CRTC filed June 14, Bell Media requested that the telecommunications regulator drop requirements for spending on local news and regarding the number of hours per week that stations are required to broadcast locally-reflective news in major and smaller markets.

The application was filed the same day Bell announced it is cutting 1,300 positions, shutting or selling nine radio stations and closing two foreign bureaus amid plans to “significantly adapt” how it delivers the news in the face of rising financial pressures.

Many media companies across the country continue to struggle under widespread layoffs and financial headwinds. The news emerges a day after a bill in Ottawa passed in the senate that the government hopes will financially level the advertising playing field with big tech companies such as Meta and Google.

In its filing, Bell noted its 35 local television stations, branded as CTV, CTV Two and Noovo, plus three discretionary television news services — CP24, CTV News Channel and BNN Bloomberg — are under financial strain. It requested the elimination of a requirement for English-language television stations in metropolitan markets to broadcast at least 14 hours of local programming a week. In Quebec, Bell also asked the regulator to do away with its obligations to broadcast at least five hours of local programming per week at its Montreal station.

It also requested that its stations in major markets — such as Toronto or Vancouver — no longer be required to broadcast at least six hours of weekly locally-reflective news. For non-major market stations, it wants the three-hour requirement to be brought down.

It also asked the regulator to waive the requirement for the company to devote 11 per cent of the previous year’s gross revenues to the acquisition of or investment in locally-reflective news.

“The requested relief we are seeking would allow us to better manage our regulatory obligations through the evolving competitive landscape of the Canadian broadcasting industry in the face of competition from digital media broadcasting undertakings,” the application stated.

Last week’s layoffs included a six per cent cut at Bell Media.

Dwayne Winseck, a professor at Carleton University’s school of journalism and communications, said it was an “aggressive” move by Bell, and one that, if successful, could spell trouble for local journalism.

The ask, coupled with last week’s cuts and in the context of the two new bills — Bill C-18, the Online News Act, and Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, two laws the government hopes will help media companies in Canada — marks a “greedy Gretchen” move by the company, Winseck said.

“You might as well go for the moon and the stars and see what you get.” While the broadcast television stations in BCE Inc.’s operations may not be profitable, Winseck noted, the company has very profitable parts, especially on its telecommunications side.

“They’re cherry-picking elements to make their case,” he said.

The filing noted Bell Media’s average annual news operating loss totalled $28.4 million between 2016 and 2019, a figure that jumped to $40 million last year as web giants scooped up the Canadian advertising market.

“The reality is that the commercial model of news has never been tenable,” said Winseck.

“It’s always had to be subsidized or cross-subsidized by profits from some other area of the media division or the company more generally.”

In a second application filed by Bell on June 14, the company also requested that the CRTC reduce its obligation for Canadian content spending on English-language television stations from 30 per cent of the previous year’s revenues to 20 per cent.

It also asked to reduce the amount its English-language television stations must spend per year on programs of national interest from 7.5 per cent of the previous year’s revenues to five per cent. Should Bell get all or some of what it’s asking for, Winseck said he doesn’t think it will be a positive thing for local news coverage.

“We see these stations increasingly detached from their local conditions of operation,” he said.

Bell said the CRTC’s implementation of the Online Streaming Act has the potential to provide relief to media companies through compensation from online streaming giants, but it cannot afford to wait for the outcome of the regulator’s consultations on the legislation.

It reiterated many of the concerns expressed last week by Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson about the legislation, which received royal assent in April and is now in a consultation phase.

Malcolmson said the core issue for Bell is that popular U.S. content isn’t available to Canadian broadcasters because American platforms are offering it directly to consumers on their in-house streaming services. He urged policymakers to mandate assurances that would allow Canadian broadcasters to pay American companies in order to air that content.

“Notably, absent this relief, we will be required to continue operating these stations in an environment of significant regulatory uncertainty while the Commission works to implement Bill C-11’s policy directives,” the application stated.