Suspended payments put TV industry in jeopardy: CTF chair

The Canadian Television Fund, which gives financial support to many of the country's best known TV shows, shot back Wednesday at two cable companiesthat have recently suspended their contributions to the funding body.

The decision by Shaw Communications and Vidéotron Ltee. to stop making monthly payments could put the domestic television industry in jeopardy and affect funding ofthis year's upcoming television productions across Canada, CTF chair Doug Barrett said Wednesday.

"This is tens of thousands of jobs," Barrett said. "If these productions don't proceed, this has an impact on broadcast schedules and production companies in this country who are already in a fragile state."

The fund also said Wednesday that it will call on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission — Canada's broadcast regulator — to take legal action against Shaw and Vidéotron.

This week, Vidéotron said it was suspending payments to the CTF, following in the footsteps of Shaw, which announced its intention to stop paying into the fund in December.

Together Shaw and Vidéotron contribute about $74 million annually to the $250 million fund.

The two cable companies have expressed their growing dissatisfaction with the fund, which they have accused of paying "little heed" to its main private-sector contributors and giving too much to public broadcaster CBC and its French counterpart SRC.

Both companieshave called on Heritage Minister Bev Oda to launch a review of the CTF's management and membership structure.

Chisholm Pothier, a spokesman for Oda, called the situation "very concerning" andsaid it would have a "significant impact" on Canada's television industry.

"We hope that the sides come to a quick resolution, but in the meantime, we're going to monitor these events as they unfold and what action we take will be determined in the wake of what happens in the next few days," he said.

From Degrassi to Da Vinci

Created in 1996, the CTF supports Canadian television productions, having funded shows like Degrassi: The Next Generation, Trailer Park Boys, Da Vinci's Inquest and This is Wonderland.

About $100 million of the fund's annual budget is received from the federal government and the rest from monthly fees paid by private broadcasters.

In 2005-2006, the CTF invested about $264 million in Canadian programming, including French, English and aboriginal language productions. Though all productions can apply for support, about 37 per cent of funding is allocated to the CBC.

Sheila Fraser, the auditor general, took the television fund to task in her 2005 report, raisingconcerns over serious conflicts of interests, including the fact that some board membershave becomefunding recipients.

Some peoplewho produce television programs in this country agree the fund's management structure should be reviewed, but say the cable firms have another agenda.

"Don't kid yourself for a minute,"Lazlo Barna,a creator of many Canadian TV shows, told CBC Radio.

"This is about companies that want to repatriate huge sums of money that the CRTC delegated at one point to the production community, to Canadian audiences."

Barna, a former chair of the television fund, says thefund is ensuring there are Canadian stories on Canadian TV.

"You can sit through major network schedules and spend a lot of time scratching your head looking for Canadian programming. It's going to get worse. The time has come to test who has the power here."