Trial of the last century: inheriting the windbags at the CRTC

Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, has a demeanor that lives up to the shadow cast by his name. “I am very frustrated by this confrontational approach,” he slowly sighed, during first day of hearings about whether cable and satellite companies should be paying for the right to carry over-the-air signals. What they’re really fighting about is the diminished value of American prime-time hits — originating locally via Buffalo stations that signed on years before the simulcasting Toronto ones. Would the same CRTC that takes flack each year for substituting imported Super Bowl commercials with domestic spots win favour by approving a fee for shows available via rabbit ears? Maybe, given how viewers of local news have been hypnotized into believing their friendly neighbourhood anchorman will be decomposing even faster than that newspaper on the doorstep. But the hearings that started this week in Gatineau should generally be regarded the twilight of a generation of media elites.

Concurrently, a group of actors held a rally on Parliament Hill, making sure their voices are also heard: “If the CRTC gets this wrong, our industry will be crushed.” But how does this get sorted out when even the most schooled industry watchers are confused by what they hear? Flashpoint, touted last year by CTV as a best example of the new model — a Canadian show that Americans were paying for the privilege to “reverse-simulcast” — turns out to generate no direct income for the network.

Rogers Communications, with a stake in both sides of this debate after their acquisition of Citytv stations across the country, are arguing against the bailout. Breakfast Television, a concept they bought on the cheap in a CRTC-ordered fire sale, was touted as an example of making local content pay dividends — the kind of mindless chit-chat synonymous with TV drivel since the 1950s.

Rebuffed by the cable companies was a compromise proposed by the CBC: offer a “skinny basic” package for those fixed-income old folks not inclined to upgrade anything, which essentially means re-routing fees the CRTC allowed to be hidden into monthly bills — for the likes of the W Network, licensed on the grounds that it would provide feminist balance, now Canada’s primary source of Friends reruns. Richard Stursberg went to bat this morning on behalf of the public broadcaster: “When revenues fell off, they fell off a cliff, and we could not bail the boat fast enough.” If only the public found this war as compelling as Battle of the Blades — although you can always turn to Twitter to count how many more times Konrad von Finckenstein is spotted burying his head in his hands.