46 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

In their radio ad I heard today, they exclaim that specialty and satellite TV get fees "paid for by you!".

But esentially, they are asking for the same ability to also bill viewers indirectly, on the same fee-for-carriage system, that will mean higher cable rates.

http://www.atv.ca/vi...television.aspx

Anyway, I think they ought to be able to.

But I think that because cable companies are basically working a monopoly in their geographic areas (esp. when multiple-unit dwellers can often not use satellite) that cable companies should be required to sell monthly channels on a one by one basis, not in various bundles. Digital boxes make this easy.

[G-Man]

Aren't local television providers supposed to get their revenues through ads as we are allowing them to use our airwaves for free? Or do they not broadcast anymore?

[yodsaker]

I'll let you know when I find something CTV did for me...

[collywobbles]

From j-source.ca (Original at:http://www.j-source....ail.php?id=3533)

CTV: operating profits and job losses
Home / J-Topics / The Business of Journalism /
March 19, 2009 - Posted by Kelly Toughill
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By
Kelly Toughill

CTV is crying the blues to the CRTC these days, but documents filed with federal securities regulators show the media company had a healthy operating profit last year.

The company that owns The Globe and Mail, the CTV network, a radio chain and a string of specialty networks has been laying off workers, shutting down programs and threatening to close local stations. CTVglobemedia executive vice president Paul Sparkes told the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that the company lost $100 million on conventional television last year.

But figures buried in the financial statements of Torstar show that CTVglobemedia had an operating profit of 9.7 per cent in 2008, before the cost of interest, taxes and non-cash items like impairment of goodwill. And a CRTC report says that CTV’s local news operations showed a “healthy overall profit” in 2008.

Conventional network television has suffered across the continent for several years as advertisers switched to the Internet and to specialty channels that target niche markets. In recent months conventional broadcast television has also been hammered by a recession that seen advertising budgets slashed around the globe.

CTVglobemedia does not file audited financial statements with securities regulators because it is privately owned.

CTVglobemedia spokesperson Bonnie Brownlee did not return calls from j-source.ca.

CTVglobemedia is owned by BCE Inc., the Woodbridge Company Ltd., the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and Torstar. A small summary of its financial report is included in the annual financial statements filed by Torstar. The Torstar report offers a glimpse into the overall health of CTVglobemedia, but does not separate out the performance of The Globe and Mail, the television network or other parts of the company.

According to Torstar’s audited statements, CTVglobemedia had a net loss of roughly $1 billion in 2008. But the loss was caused by a general decline in the perceived value of the company, not because operating expenses exceeded income. In fact, CTVglobemedia earned an operating profit of $214 million on revenues of $2.2 billion – a margin of 9.7 per cent.

The difference between the profit of $214 million and the loss of $1 billion are two accounting categories known as goodwill and intangible assets. Those categories measure things like the value of a broadcast license, the value of a customer list or the value of a brand. The income statements of media companies around the world have been hit by impairment of goodwill and intangible assets in recent years. The write-offs have fueled huge net losses at most media companies in the United States and Canada, and driven down stock prices of almost all media organizations.

Financial losses are key to CTV’s demand that cable companies begin paying fees to carry the basic network broadcast. The CRTC has rejected that idea, but may reconsider it later this year. The federal government has said that it wants to help private broadcasters weather what many consider a perfect economic storm in which the industry is trying to both restructure and simultaneously survive a major recession.

In the meantime, CTVglobemedia has started cutting in virtually every part of its operation. About 90 jobs were cut at
the Globe in January. In late February, CTV announced plans to abandon local stations in Wingham and Windsor. The next day it announced the company was killing 40 jobs at CTV’s CHUM Radio subsidiary. The cuts were immediate, with 23 positions left unfilled and 17 people out the door at nine stations across the country. The following Wednesday, CTV killed the local morning shows in Victoria, London and Barrie, and the 6 p.m., 11 p.m. and weekend newscast in Ottawa, ending 78 more jobs. One week later, CTV cut the early morning newscast in Montreal.



Kelly Toughill is an associate professor in the School of Journalism at the University of King's College, Halifax and a contributing editor for the J-Source Business of Journalism J-Topic.

[VicHockeyFan]

Lol, I did mean "inviting" in the title...

[Nparker]

...cable companies should be required to sell monthly channels on a one by one basis, not in various bundles. Digital boxes make this easy.

I have been asking for this for years, but to no avail. I'd happily do without most of the old guard network channels if I could freely choose all of the specialty channels I wanted. I especially hate being forced to take channels broadcasting in languages I do not speak.

[yodsaker]

If they could, I think most people would choose a different channel line-up than the ones the cableistas foist upon us.

[Bernard]

What would we lose if there was no A channel or CHEK in Victoria? Nothing much that I can tell. They are not producing any shows here, they are not offering any local content that I know of.

Close them down and get rid of them, they offer us nothing.

In any case I only watch online now, everything I want is available streaming or to download. I also do not have to watch many commercials when I do this. I can watch an hour network show in about 42 minutes.

[VicHockeyFan]

What would we lose if there was no A channel or CHEK in Victoria? Nothing much that I can tell. They are not producing any shows here, they are not offering any local content that I know of.

Close them down and get rid of them, they offer us nothing.

In any case I only watch online now, everything I want is available streaming or to download. I also do not have to watch many commercials when I do this. I can watch an hour network show in about 42 minutes.

I never watch them, and I'm a news hound. I have my info online without having to wait until 5pm or 6pm, then again for another 24 hours to see some video. When online news had no video, I guess they might have been worthwhile. I see nothing now worth keeping them for.

[victorian fan]

Oh no! I've been watching the 5/5:30 news probably since it's inception. How will my husband and I be able to discuss, shout or laugh at the news together?

[G-Man]

Shaw is probably the most local channel anyways.

[spanky123]

What would we lose if there was no A channel or CHEK in Victoria? Nothing much that I can tell. They are not producing any shows here, they are not offering any local content that I know of.

Close them down and get rid of them, they offer us nothing.

In any case I only watch online now, everything I want is available streaming or to download. I also do not have to watch many commercials when I do this. I can watch an hour network show in about 42 minutes.

Good point Bernard.

Haven't watched my cable for months. Everything is available online and I can stream it wherever I want at any time I want.

[Jacques Cadé]

This sounds like a version of the same problem newspapers are having: TV stations streaming news items for free online with none of the broadcast ads that pay for production of the content in the first place. It can't last.

[CharlieFoxtrot]

re: online news being free.

Could this be the thin edge of the wedge?:

http://www.brandrepu...payment-scheme/


They said the iTunes store would never work - I mean, who would buy a song for .99 when you can download it for free? Well, as of Feb 27th of this year, 4 billion tracks have been sold through that portal....

Just throwing that out there.

[Holden West]

Haven't watched my cable for months. Everything is available online and I can stream it wherever I want at any time I want.

...while sitting alone in front of your computer. There`s something to be said for the family having dinner while Tony Parsons dishes up the news.

[gumgum]

^Ah yes but there now are ways to stream your downloaded videos wirelessly to your TV very easily.

[Jill]

Although the quality in general of local news coverage on the two TV stations makes me cringe, I disagree that we'd be better off without them. A Channel, for example, gives exposure to local non-profits and community agencies, for example, that is extremely valuable. Those organizations couldn't begin to pay to advertise their fundraising events.

[VicHockeyFan]

Although the quality in general of local news coverage on the two TV stations makes me cringe, I disagree that we'd be better off without them. A Channel, for example, gives exposure to local non-profits and community agencies, for example, that is extremely valuable. Those organizations couldn't begin to pay to advertise their fundraising events.

Then they should fail.

[Chris J]

I like what David Simon, a former journalist with the Baltimore Sun, and the creator of The Wire tv series, had to say about the future of journalism on Democracy Now this week. His critique is of both the corporations that control the media, and the bloggers and 'citizen journalists'.

http://www.democracy...f_acclaimed_hbo

[Caramia]

That's BS VHF! First, the non-profit sector is NOT the private sector. Anyhow, lots of beloved community activities operate with sponsors... Should all sports teams also operate sponsor free? Or they should fail.

The difference between A-Channel and channels from the USA or Vancouver is that A-Channel spends it's sponsorship money HERE, in Victoria.

Jill's right! Thanks to local media sponsorship, the non-profit sector in Victoria can provide services like hot lunch programs, detox, mental health workers, youth mentoring programs... the list goes on. Government isn't paying for that - goodwill and community spirit is. And the local media is a big part of generating it. The thousands that the local media pours into the non profit sector is leveraged to create hundreds of thousands of dollars in services throughout the city.

These services in turn prevent hospital visits, police intervention, and the many other things you will pay for in your taxes.