Form of media in Canada
Community television in Canada
is a form of media that carries programming of local community interest produced by a
cable television
company and by independent community groups and distributed by a local cable company.
A community channel is a form of
community television
, much like
public-access television
cable TV
in the United States and other forms of citizen-produced content. The provision of a community channel is required by
CRTC
regulations governing the licensing of cable companies. Cable companies are required to allocate a small percentage of cable subscription revenues for the provision of a community channel. As of 2009, this amounted to over $116 million annually in Canada.
[1]
The community channel is viewed as a public trust that the cable companies manage on behalf of the Canadian public.
In 2016, the CRTC enacted rules allowing television providers in metropolitan markets (population of 1 million or higher) to allocate the required investment to the
local news
departments of a co-owned terrestrial television station instead, in lieu of operating a community channel. In the wake of the changes,
Rogers Cable
and
Shaw Cable
began to wind down their community channels in larger regions to take advantage of this policy. Community television services remain mandatory among television providers in smaller markets (or if not co-owned by a local owner of broadcast stations).
History
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In Canada,
citizen media
has roots going back to 1922 when filmmaker
Robert Flaherty
brought in an
Inuit
hunter to participate in
Nanook of the North
. In the 1960s this film was cited as an inspiration by a group of filmmakers associated with the
National Film Board of Canada
, whose
Challenge for Change
project was part of Canada's
War on Poverty
. In 1967 Challenge for Change contributed to a prototype studio where people were free to help shape community media. More public access experiments followed. The
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
required cable companies to provide public access on July 16, 1971.
In 1997, the CRTC deregulated community television in Canada, causing a protracted period of political tension between cable companies and community groups. After complaints to the CRTC from the Canadian public, a policy review process was initiated, culminating in CRTC Decision 2002-61, a reinvigoration of the participatory elements of the community channel. Under 2002-61, community channels can be run by independent community groups, and up to one-half of the channel must be made available for independent community producers.
In 2016, the CRTC enacted a policy stating that a television provider which also owns television stations within a metropolitan market they serve (defined as having a population higher than 1 million) can re-allocate funding normally devoted to community television to support the news departments of their local broadcast television stations.
[2]
Subsequently, Shaw Communications announced in April 2017 that it would wind down its
Shaw TV
community channels in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver on August 15, 2017, and shift their funding allotments to the
Global
stations (owned by sister company
Corus Entertainment
) in each market.
[3]
Rogers Cable similarly announced that it would cut back on its Rogers TV services in the
Greater Toronto Area
for similar reasons, shutting down four channels (including Brampton, Richmond Hill, Mississauga, and Toronto) and cutting staff at others (thus transferring the funding to
Citytv
).
[4]
Branding
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Large companies may brand all of their community channels similarly ? for example, all community channels operated by
Rogers Cable
are branded as
Rogers TV
, and
Cogeco Cable
's channels are branded as
YourTV
. Such systems may also share some of their more general interest programming. For example, the Toronto-produced
movie review
series
Reel to Real
aired on all Rogers Television channels throughout Ontario. Prior to the Telecable system in
Saskatoon
being taken over by
Shaw Communications
, its designated community-access channel was branded Telecable 10.
In markets served by more than one cable company, the cable companies may also produce a single community channel through shared ownership ?
Cable 14
in
Hamilton
is a notable example of this.
More rarely, a cable company may offer more than one community channel. For instance, in
Ottawa
and some communities in
New Brunswick
, distinct channels serve the
anglophone
and
francophone
communities, while in
Vancouver
,
Shaw Cable
produces a
multicultural programming channel
in addition to the primary community channel.
Programming
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Community channels commonly broadcast a mix of public access television and community service programming such as
city council
meetings,
sports
broadcasts or local
talk shows
. Under CRTC policy 2002-61, up to one half of the air time of the community channel must be made available to independent community producers. Some community channels produce and show full programs, while others predominantly adopt the format of a local
news
channel with a constant rotation of news, public affairs and human interest reports. When not broadcasting live programming, a community channel typically displays a bulletin board of community event listings.
Cable companies sometimes collaborate with volunteer committees to produce programming of community interest. Through their community programming initiatives, community channels have often been leaders in media diversity in Canada ? for example, community channel programs such as
Coming Out
,
Gay News and Views
and
10% QTV
were the first Canadian television programs targeted to
LGBT
audiences in Canada.
Community channels also frequently broadcast local minor or junior league sporting events, such as
OHL
,
QMJHL
or
WHL
hockey games. In provinces which do not operate a dedicated
legislature broadcaster
channel, community channels may also air some proceedings of the provincial
Legislative Assembly
.
While Canadian community channels are expected to make efforts to solicit program proposals from the public, nowadays despite the many requests for airtime it is relatively uncommon (compared to American
public-access television
cable TV
channels) for a proposal from an individual member of the public to make air. Community groups and cable companies disagree as to the best way to manage the public-access television channel assets. Many cable companies develop system-wide formats which fill up much of a local channel's schedule – for instance, several
Rogers Television
channels air programs entitled
Daytime
,
First Local
, or
(City/Region) Living
. Community groups want access to airtime for their independently produced programs.
In February 2015, the CRTC reprimanded
Videotron
? a major cable provider serving Quebec ? for not producing enough programming of local interest for its Montreal community channel
MAtv
. It cited arguments by non-profit group ICTV, including networking of programming between MAtv outlets across the provider's footprint, and insufficient community involvement in the production of its programming (including a number of programs produced by an in-house team of professional staff, and rejecting a number of programs by citing insufficient production capacity ? a claim the CRTC felt was unsubstantiated). The CRTC ordered MAtv to establish a community advisory board.
[6]
[7]
Bell Fibe's
TV1
has also invested in some scripted comedy and drama programming by independent local producers, including the series
Pink Is In
,
Vollies
and
Sunshine City
.
A notable community channel success story is
Tom Green
, whose guerilla gross-out comedy first appeared on Rogers Television in Ottawa. Some other personalities who have been associated with community channel programming include
Catherine Clark
,
Jacqueline Hennessy
and
Dale Goldhawk
.
Terrestrial television
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The term
community channel
may also refer to a conventional broadcast station ? such as,
CFTV-DT
in
Leamington, Ontario
,
CFSO-TV
in
Cardston, Alberta
,
CHCO-TV
in
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
, and
CIMC-TV
in
Arichat, Nova Scotia
? owned and operated by a local non-profit organization to serve a similar function. Terrestrial community stations are offered only where a local group has presented a viable business plan to the CRTC and been awarded a license ? unlike cable community channels, it is not mandatory that a terrestrial community channel be made available in any given market. Cable companies may also apply to the CRTC for relief of carriage responsibilities on the basic cable tier, such as in the case of CFTV, which is carried on digital basic cable.
One of the most famous attempts to launch a terrestrial community station in Canada,
Star Ray TV
, became notable when its owner began operating it as a
pirate television
station after failing to secure a CRTC license.
On occasion, a cable community channel may itself be awarded a license to broadcast terrestrially in addition to its cable television carriage. Examples include
NAC TV
in
Neepawa, Manitoba
and
Tele-Mag
in
Quebec City
. This occurs most frequently in smaller communities that have no commercial media service of their own.
References
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