CBC proposes new fund to boost local TV news coverage

A new fund should be created to act as an incentive for TV broadcasters to produce more than a basicthreshold of local news programming, the CBC told the CRTCFriday.

The Local News Incentive Fund (LNIF) would provide "incentive funding" to broadcasters who spend money to produce local news programs above and beyond arequired minimum level, CBC said in its presentation to the broadcast regulator.

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The CBC's proposal calls for the initiativeto be funded by broadcasting revenues from cableandsatellite companies.

Themoney would be raised by redirectingcontributions thatcable andsatellite companies currently make to support local programming.

The proposed contribution level would be one per cent of broadcast revenues for cable companies and 0.4 per centfor satellite companies.

The CBC estimates that such a formula would raise $68 million, with the fund administered by the Canadian Media Fund or a similar body. It would fund news, analysis and information programming.

The fundcould be accessed by all over-the-air TV stations serving small markets (less than 300,000 people) and by all private independent over-the-air TV stations serving medium-sized markets (between 300,000 and one million).

Competing proposals for a new fund

About 65 stations would be in this initial group, the CBC says.

The CRTC itself has proposed a new fund to support local news and information programming.

Rogers has proposed a slightly different model, a Local News and Information Fund, valued at about $33 million. Each distributor would be required to reallocate 0.5 per cent of its current contribution to the LNIF.

Under the Rogers plan, stations would be allocated money in proportion to their share of local ad revenues.

But smaller community channels and some small cable operators such as Eastlink have expressed concern about any change in the regulatory framework, fearing they would be left out as larger cable operators grab a lion'sshare of the funding for their own community channels.

Economic model for local TV 'broken'

The CRTC has been holding public hearings in Gatineau, Que., thisweek about the future viability of local TV programming. The federal broadcast regulator has identified manychallenges faced by local television operationsas viewers migratein greater numbers to online services.

"As you have heard from many witnesses this week, the economic model for local television is broken," Heather Conway,CBC's executive vice-president, English Services, told the CRTC in her opening remarks. "But CBC/Radio-Canada must continue to find ways to meet our audiences' needs and mandate.

"As we strengthen our digital platforms, we are also enhancing our local content, providing Canadians with more local news more often," Conway said.

Digital and local coverage are both key to the future of the public broadcaster, she said.

In 2008, the CRTC created a local programming improvement fundto help television broadcasters in non-metropolitan markets maintain and improve local programming. It was funded by cable and satellite firms. But the CRTCdid away with the fund in 2014.

The CBC had been drawing about $40 million annually from the $100-million fund.