Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press Sunday (Newspaper) - September 20, 1998, Winnipeg, Manitoba National report Canadas senators Are fighting Back and the Redman is just the beginning /b2 opinion the republicans have held a Mirror to Clinton a sexual improprieties but it reflects an image that they simply can to Hyde from /b4 slice of life an Early morning plunge in the Lake is a sensual Delight a especially when there a a Good possibility it will be last of the summer /b5 Winnipeg free press b h editor Buzz Currie / 697-7285 19 the week in review Anorth end fire in a Home owned by a Winnipeg firefighter claims the lives of two Young children kids aged 4 to 9 Are suspected in a $300,000 downtown Blaze and seat sales galore follow the return to work of air Canada pilots. A see Story Page b2 its not your fault hey All you parents who fret about Quality time with your children a relax put your feet up. You done to really have All that much influence Over How your kids turn out. At least that a what the author of the nurture Assumption is claiming. But not everyone is taking her views sitting Down. A see Story Page b3 Ottawa a there a a test pattern coming to Canadian television this week that your Remote control wont be Able to Channel surf around. For the first time in almost 20 years the Federal broadcast regulator is putting its entire television policy Book up for review. The very future of what gets beamed into your living room a everything from closed captioning requirements to violence codes to the arrival of digital to a will be the subject of scrutiny. By Paul Samyn National reporter but the prime time feature of the Canadian radio television and telecommunications commission hearings will be an intense debate about Canadian Content. Will the country a broadcasters be forced to provide More Home grown shows like traders or will the crts be Content with ample Servings of . Exports like Simpsons and or the discussion about How much Canadian programming you see and when you see it is an Issue that pulls on the cultural heart ily can the crts change a system that puts Homer Simpson on Winnipeg to screens 27 times a week should it strings of the country a nationalists and the purse strings of its broadcasters. Groups like friends of Canadian broadcasting Are calling on the crts to Force broadcasters to invest More in Canadian Content and make sure that More of that requirement is local programming. A a broadcast licence Isnit a right its a privilege a Ian Morrison spokesman for friends of Canadian broadcasting says. In Exchange for that privilege Morrison is calling on the crts to require broadcasters to spend one in three of their Revenue dollars on Canadian programming. A Canadian Content from a business Point of View is the Cost of doing business a Morrison said. A companies Are always looking for ways to reduce their business costs and these hearings will come Down to a question of whether Bay Street or the crts will be supervising these Canadas private broadcasters say they have no problem with the requirement that at least 60 per cent of their programming be Canadian. But at these hearings they want the crts to tune its regulations to reflect the new realities of television. Gone Are the Days when there were but three channels to chose from. Today we talk about a 500-Channel universe and All the competitive pressures that come with that. A a it san Opportunity for the crts to modernize their polices rules and regulations a Loren Mawhinney gloats vice president of Canadian productions said. A we Are looking for a Way for broadcasters to have the flexibility and the Freedom to create better and More successful in Short the new Buzz word for these hearings from the likes of global is Quality not Quantity. The crts they suggest get Hung up on Canadian programming quotas but instead focus on the numbers of canadians watching Homegrown shows. A we would suggest that it does not matter How much or How Little is spent on Canadian programming if that programming is not viewed by canadians a the objectives of the broadcasting act cannot be successfully met unless the broadcasting system provides an enduring and relevant contribution to the lives of canadians a global says in its crts spending and viewing Are two problems for broadcasters when it comes to Canadian programming. Producing Canadian Content Isnit cheap and it rarely delivers he number of eyeballs needed to reap advertising dollars to recoup production costs. For instance it costs global about $200,000 for each episode of traders. But even though its a gemini award winning show traders Only reaps about $125,000 in Revenue. By comparison a typical one hour . Drama costs a broadcaster approximately $80,000 and generates $200,000 in Revenue. That imbalance has resulted in a longstanding practice of having . Shows subsidize the costs of broadcasters fulfilling their Canadian Content obligations. Essentially showing the Simpsons helps finance traders. But the Canadian association of broadcasters is asking the crts to pay More attention to their Bottom lines. A your View of Canadian programming is that All programs on private sector television have to generate a but the return people such As Morrison would like to see is Canadian programming in prime time. Morrison complains private broadcasters tend to View Canadian Content much like kids View Broccoli a to be eaten Only under duress. In other words serve Canadian Content when no one is watching and then Load up with the High profit Low Cost . Shows during prime time hours. For instance in Winnipeg global and cry combined aired Only 17 hours of Canadian Content during prime time per week last Winter. That total represented just 16.1 per cent of their combined prime time programming. Interestingly enough you could watch Simpsons 27 times a week in Winnipeg including five times a week on the National broadcaster Csc. But there a a local component to Canadian Content a component the crts has allowed to fall. For example even the Csc and its commitment to Canadian prime time programming Only had one locally produced show in its Winnipeg lineup its a living. A continued on Page b2 ;