CRTC hands win to Rogers, OMNI
Declares need for ethnic programs
Canada’s broadcast regulator has determined that all basic TV packages must include national, multilingual OMNI newscasts for the next three years, a decision that will bring millions to Rogers Communications Inc. to revive — at least temporarily — the multicultural service it cut two years ago.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on Monday granted Rogers Media Inc.’s request for mandatory distribution for OMNI Regional, which will produce four daily, national, 30-minute newscasts in Italian, Mandarin, Cantonese and Punjabi. OMNI’s multilingual newscasts stopped original reporting in May 2015 to cut costs.
Rogers will get 12 cents per subscriber per month – about $15 million given the approximately 11 million TV subscribers in Canada – to produce the programs that were canned due to financial struggles, much to the dismay of multiple communities. The special status indicates there’s an “extraordinary need” for the service, which enables people to access news and information in their languages, according to the CRTC.
But the CRTC granted Rogers the licence for only three years instead of the typical five due to deficiencies in Rogers’ application, including that the service isn’t a sufficient reflection of Canada’s third-language communities and that its finances don’t seem sustainable even with mandatory distribution. Both ethnic and English broadcasters took issue with Rogers’ application, arguing it didn’t meet the definition of mandatory distribution.
Yet the CRTC determined there is an immediate need for Canada’s ethnically diverse communities to have access to made-in-Canada multilingual programming without having to pay for additional packages. It’s just not sold on Rogers as the best broadcaster for the job.
If Rogers wants to keep the mandatory carriage, it will have to compete for it.
The CRTC issued an open call for applications from any party that wishes to operate a national, multi-ethnic television service. It expects Rogers will apply by the August deadline.
“However, our standards for nationwide mandatory distribution are high,” CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a statement after markets closed
“Rogers will have to remedy the shortcomings of their OMNI service and compete with other applicants to have the privilege of reaching Canadians across the country.”
The CRTC also announced that it renewed the licences for the large French- and English-language television groups Rogers, Bell, Corus, Group TVA and Groupe V for five-years effective September.