Tuesday, May 11, 2010

2275...It Is All About Stories

Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant marches against the conventional wisdom which, of course, is not wise at all. CFRA reports that she says that a proposal made by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) to the CRTC calling for 250 multimedia training and production centres to be established across the country isn't the solution for local television. The backbench Renfrew Nippising Pembroke MP says there's no guarantee CACTUS would actually set up shop in the valley.

MP Gallant appeared before the CRTC recently to make the case for local television. Referencing a time when the local TV station was a major employer she says now we have a local station in name only. She told the CRTC they should give local cable providers the resources they need to succeed in delivering local content.

This is a fave subject of mine: a market the size of Renfrew County, big city Pembroke is about 30,000 metro, the rest of the market equals about 100K would, in America, have a full retinue of TV and radio stations. Don't believe me? Just look at Watertown, New York, two hours south of Ottawa.

This is not the case in The Great White North.

It is the land, like most of Canada, the land of repeaters.

WFDS

1 comment:

  1. You're right. Lived in rural North Dakota. In ND, there are TV and radio stations in tiny little cities everywhere. Studios too. Lots of local content - mainly about stories regarding local fairs, water-skiing squirrels, etc.

    ReplyDelete