Space, Place & Scale: “Local TV Matters” vs. “Stop the TV Tax”

Today (October 8, 2009.) I awoke to a panel speaking out on behalf of local Canadian TV channels. It was on a national TV news station, a channel that I helps me catch up on daily events when I attempt to wake myself up in the morning. From this broadcast I gathered that local television channels are ‘going under’ and that they have launched a campaign in order to spread awareness and gather support, this campaign is titled “Local TV Matters”.

Not even an hour later I spotted a similar commercial on a different channel. You may have seen it: a cheesy commercial actor ventures through a city asking Canadian’s if they think it is right for Canada’s big television networks to raise monthly cable and satellite bills by up to $10. Well anyone posed with a question that results in paying more money will comprise of a negative response. I went to the website shown at the end of this commercial and noticed that several cable and satellite companies have come together and launched a rival campaign against the local television networks titled “Stop the TV Tax”. This made the issue more interesting.

Briefly summarized, the issue involves about 30 small and medium sized local TV networks that are affiliated with Global, CTV, and CBC. They are demanding money from satellite and cable providers who are currently offering these channels to the public without a fee. Both campaigns attempt to gain support by pitting the public against the other. For example, ‘Stop the TV Tax” is trying to convince the public that the local TV stations want viewers to pay an extra $10 a month, while “Local TV Matters” is saying that the money should come directly from satellite and cable providers. On the other side of the scale the local TV networks are saying that the satellite and cable providers are ‘stealing’ their programs, but the satellite and cable providers must carry these local networks by law, and therefore do not feel the obligation to pay them.

This issue encompasses more than just a debate over money. It is a question of who controls what we are able to watch. Local Canadian television covers local news, entertainment, arts, school closures, councils, festivals, traffic, weather, sports, and various other forms of local media. It is also a way of voicing the opinions of small communities while displaying small town Canadian stories. In short, it is a window into Canadian culture. The scale of power is tipped in favour of the satellite and cable providers when it comes to what will be viewed on television, but after all they are corporations, and they are acting as corporations often do. Of course they will pay more money to HBO and OnDemand when they are the channels everyone is watching. If Canadians want to save local TV then they have to show the satellite and cable providers that they are worth saving. It is our choice; we have the power to decide what we watch in the place we dwell. We pay the providers, and therefore the scale is tipped in our favour. However, we will have to wait until the hearings are held in Ottawa this December for the outcome.