On the Sun Media Corp and Mandatory Carriage

The globe and Mail reports that the Sun Media Corp has applied to the CRTC for mandatory distribution. The application maybe found here, the relevant portion is

10.   TVA Group Inc. and Sun Media Corporation, partners in a general partnership carrying on business as Sun News General Partnership

Across Canada

Application 2012-0687-1

Application by TVA Group Inc. and Sun Media Corporation, partners in a general partnership carrying on business as Sun News General Partnership, for mandatory distribution on the digital and analog basic service pursuant to an order issued under section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act of the national English-language specialty national news Category C service Sun TV News.

The Commission notes that the programming of this service is devoted to English- and French-language mainstream national news and information programming. The applicant also provides updated news reports every 120 minutes, as required by Conditions of licence for competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream sports and national news – Implementation of the Accessibility Policy and other matters, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-562-1, 18 June 2010.

The licensee states that it meets all the criteria set out in paragraph 11 of Criteria for assessing applications for mandatory distribution of its service on the digital basic service, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-629, 27 August 2010 and proposes that its service be offered for a per subscriber monthly wholesale rate of $0.09 in the French-language market and $0.18 in the English-language market.

Licensee’s address:

1600 Maisonneuve Boulevard East

Montréal, Quebec

H2L 4P2

Fax: 514-380-4664

Email: reglementaires@quebecor.com

Website to view application: http://www.quebecor.com/en/reg-affairs

Currently there are ten broadcasters that are mandatory carriage:

• CBC News Network (in French-language markets): $0.15
• Réseau de l’information (RDI) (in English-language markets): $0.10
• Avis de recherche (in French-language markets): $0.06
• Weather Network/Météomedia: $0.23
• TVA: offered without a wholesale rate
• Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN): $0.25
• Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC): $0.10
• AMI audio, formerly known as VoicePrint: $0.04
• Accessible Media: $0.20
• Canal M, formerly known as La Magnétothèque: $0.02

What mandatory carriage is and the reason behind it can be found here. The idea is that basic cable programming should contain certain elements. It is in section 10 that you find what those elements are and what Sun Media must demonstrate they provide in order to qualify for mandatory distribution. The CRTC provides a list of what a broadcaster should be bringing to the table; this is I imagine not complete; allowing the CRTC some flexibility. 

Does Sun media Corp deliver on any of these elements? The first listed is: 

serves to safeguard, enrich and strengthen the cultural, political, social and economic fabric of Canada;

That covers a broad swath. It certainly enriches and strengthens the political fabric of Canada; simply by providing another political voice; it is a conservative opinion network, I mean they offer pointed political critique of everything  "Centre and left thereof" the quality of the critique varies. So it qualifies on that score.They do provide work to Canadians and so probably get a plus for that. I am less convinced of its contribution socially or culturally to the fabric of Canada. I think they don't measure up on the first criteria. 

is varied and comprehensive, providing a balance of information and entertainment programming at an affordable cost;

Sun new network schedule is a mix of news and opinion. The opinion shows are the bread and butter of this station and the job of the "newsier" sections of the daily broadcast are to feed the viewer into meaty portion of the evening commentary. This station is not varied. They are 24 hour a day conservative. Their is no entertainment programming to speak of it's pretty much news and politics. Whether its affordable, well they wouldn't be asking for mandatory distribution if it was.

is drawn from local, regional, national and international sources;

They nail this one pretty hard, but again it's narrow news and politics.

includes educational and community programs; and

I can't recall seeing any of that sort of thing when i tuned in; but it's been awhile maybe they have added content. Though a quick look at the schedule doesn't reveal anything.

reflects and contributes to Canada’s linguistic duality and ethno-cultural diversity, including the special place of Aboriginal peoples in Canadian society.

I think on this one they may be in trouble. Most of what is mentioned above are often the subject of the Suns News critiques. It's this kind of social-feel-good stuff that many of the big names on this show cut there teeth on. The Suns raison d'être is to rebut that whole sentence, it is unlikely they will get a pass on that one and quite possible one of the things that will sink the application.

The Sun Media Corp is going to have a hard time justifying their case for mandatory carriage based on the above formula. The ten stations that already have it bear absolutely no resemblance to Sun Media Corp but some to each other. But as stated earlier it is some of what is looked for, but not all, the CRTC has flexibility. I would be surprised if they were granted mandatory carriage but not of the earth shattering variety. 

The Sun Media Corp is losing lots of Money. They have a business model that doesn't seem to work. It would seem that the thirst for hard hitting conservative news wasn't as great as anticipated. Low audience numbers,makes it hard to attract advertisers and it's the advertisers that pay the bills. A successful application will make that fact irrelevant. It will either lessen the loss a lot or turn the red ink to black. Mandatory Carriage means they get paid whether the basic cable subscriber watches or not. I don't know if this means every one's bill goes up the 9 or 18 cents they are asking for or whether the cable provider eats it; my money is not on the latter. 

It is funny that a conservative entity that one might conclude as having free market capitalistic sympathies would go and apply for what is essentially a monopoly. The market is speaking and telling you that maybe they don't like your product, normally that means you change the product. Or maybe you just make the choice irrelevant.