Shaw contribution to TV fund to be withheld

[radiofan]

Shaw contribution to TV fund to be withheld
CEO Jim Shaw said he is unhappy with the fund's performance
Deidre McMurdy, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, January 11, 2007

OTTAWA -- Calgary-based cable-TV executive Jim Shaw says he will not send his firm's contribution of about $56 million to Ottawa this year to support the Canadian Television Fund.

Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications, says until the fund is restructured, he will withhold the five per cent of his company's revenues that legislation stipulates be used to support the production of Canadian TV shows.

In a Dec. 20 letter to the CRTC obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, Shaw spells out his unhappiness with the "performance, operations and governance" of the Canadian Television Fund.

"Over the past 10 years," his letter states, "Shaw has contributed over $350 million in direct subsidies to the Canadian production industry."

Shaw goes on to argue that the "CTF has become nothing more than a means of subsidizing broadcasters, pay and specialty services and independent producers to produce Canadian television programming that few watch and has no commercial or exportable value."

The CTF was created in 1996 with a mandate to produce "high-quality culturally significant Canadian television programs in both official languages." It also has an annual budget of $250 million a year -- $100 million of which is provided by the federal government.

That leads directly to another of Shaw's beefs.

He is particularly rankled that 37 per cent of the CTF's revenues are set aside annually for the CBC -- something he declares "should be ended immediately" in light of the fact that "CBC already receives over $1.2 billion from Canadian taxpayers in the form of grants and mandatory subscriber fees."

On Monday, the CTF board held an emergency conference call to discuss Shaw's move.

Fund chairman, Douglas Barrett has now set up a Jan. 18 meeting between representatives of Shaw and the Department of Canadian Heritage.

His written response to Shaw emphasizes the "immediate and dramatic impact on the fund's ability to carry on its operations." He notes that "if the contributions are terminated immediately there will be a serious effect on the applications that have been received and are in the process of being considered."

Gordon Henderson, a former CBC producer who now heads 90th Parallel Production in Toronto, says continued funding is vital to the independent production business in Canada.

"That's what's allowed our industry to grow in Canada," he insists.

By refusing to make further contributions to the CTF, Shaw is flouting a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regulation.

? The Vancouver Sun 2007

[sparky]

Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications, says until the fund is restructured, he will withhold the five per cent of his company's revenues that legislation stipulates be used to support the production of Canadian TV shows.

Being as this contribution is a stipulation on his licences, maybe the CRTC should shut down his operations until he meets his requirements.

Or is the CRTC afraid to act against one of the biggies who contributes big $$ to the PC Party?

I think it would be great if people who were unhappy with the way Mr. Shaw runs his radio empire passed the message onto him by not filling in the call letters of Corus radio stations on BBM ballots.

Maybe this would show the old boy that even those without big money in the back pockets of government can make a difference too.

[Waxy O'Connor]

While I agree in principle with what he's doing and saying, it's not going to make a difference. I wonder if he's encouraging the cable channels within his beloved Corus empire to develop ground breaking, innovative, exportable programming people would want to watch? I doubt that.

I'm pretty sure that $56 million he's withholding could hire some pretty good writers and pay for good production value if it was deemed as such.

[Mike Cleaver]

Just another rich, arrogant b******d trying to push his weight around.