OTTAWA - The head of CTV had a dire warning for MPs on Wednesday -- network television in Canada will disappear soon unless the government takes action to help.
Ivan Fecan told the House of Commons heritage committee that there must be regulatory reforms to boost revenue and reduce programming obligations.
But the president of cable provider Shaw Communications Inc. countered that private broadcasters are responsible for their own troubles and taxpayers shouldn't be forced to bail them out.
Fecan insisted CTV is not seeking a bailout. However, he said broadcasters must be able to charge cable TV providers for the right to carry their over-the-air signals -- known as fee-for-carriage.
Alternatively, he said, networks should be relieved of their obligation to provide specified amounts of local news and Canadian content. That would be a less desirable solution, Fecan added, since there's not much point in providing local television stations if there's little local content on it.
Without a solution, Fecan predicted there will be no future for conventional television.
"So what we are saying now to the regulator is: please give us new revenue sources or reduce the obligations or some mix of both. Otherwise, we don't believe there is a business there in the future.
"As a private broadcaster, we exist to make a profit based on the services we provide. If we don't see a way to make money, we cease to exist or exit that service."
In an interview later, Fecan said the doomsday scenario is imminent for some local TV stations, such as CTV's A Channel properties, but "it's not necessarily far away for CTV either."
Without local stations, he added, there will eventually be no network.
"Over time, you go out of business."
Fecan's dire warning was echoed by Peter Viner, president and CEO of Canwest Television.
"The crisis is real. The conventional television business model is broken and it's been broken for some time," he told the committee.
"Given the current state of local television, fee for carriage is not just a matter of fairness. It has become a matter of survival."
However, Shaw president Peter Bissonnette scoffed at such "Chicken Little" warnings and accused broadcasters of trying to pressure politicians into giving them a bailout.
Bissonnette told the committee that broadcasters got into financial trouble by going on corporate shopping sprees and buying expensive American shows and they now want regulatory changes that would amount to forcing consumers to bail them out.
"Broadcasters made business decisions to spend more than $700 million annually on American programming and, in one case (Canwest), amass a $4-billion debt from the purchase of non-Canadian TV stations and publishing properties," Bissonette said.
"They should be held accountable for these decisions."
Like other cable providers, Bissonnette said fee for carriage would force cable and satellite providers to pass on the extra cost to consumers, who would end up paying more without getting any additional service.
"The harm to consumers, the harm across the entire broadcasting system, and the harm to the Canadian economy would far outweigh any perceived benefits that would be enjoyed by broadcasters alone."
MPs on the committee expressed concern about the potential demise of local television but Bissonnette contended that someone else would fill the void if networks were to abandon local stations.
However, Fecan said CTV has offered to sell several of its money-losing stations for a nominal fee of $1. It's had no takers.
"That speaks volumes," he said.
Some committee members, who are examining the evolution of the television industry, seemed exasperated by the apocalyptic warnings, contradictory testimony and the inability of networks and cable providers to agree on a solution.
"I get the impression this is a type of blackmail," Liberal heritage critic Pablo Rodriguez complained at one point.
