Terry Field, Media Columnist, Troy Media
The proposed purchase of CTVglobemedia by telecommunications giant BCE (Bell Canada Enterprises) is another signal that the media world as we have known it is passing away, and is being replaced by something more dynamic and diverse.
The new world will revolve around the near continuous creation of new phone apps and multimedia content.
BCE was a phone company back when each house had a single rotary dial phone hanging on the kitchen wall. Today, it is an Internet, satellite and wireless provider. In retaining its current stake in the Globe and Mail, while buying the CTV television network including CHUM radio and TSN sports, BCE will become the proud owner of news and sports programming and other content it can offer its cell phone subscribers. (The sale is subject to approval from federal regulators.)
All about fresh content
Canada’s other big media players, Rogers and Shaw, have likewise made moves recently that highlight the potential value of having fresh content for subscribers, and the potential to use that content to keep or add new ones. Shaw was, at the time of writing, in front of federal regulators seeking approval of its proposed purchase of the CanWest Global television stations. Interveners are critical of the plan suggesting it will over concentrate the media business in the hands of a few giant companies. Shaw’s main cable competitor Rogers has been in the TV business for sometime already, and recently created Sportsnet One, which has purchased NHL Hockey broadcast rights for local markets such as Calgary.
(As an aside, in creating Sportsnet One, Rogers poked cable rival Shaw in the eye by promoting its availability across Canada, while Shaw was telling its subscribers that the new channel was not yet available. Shaw has now acquiesced and made Sportsnet One available for a free introductory period.)
BCE’s proposed purchase of CTV assets, Roger’s already existing toehold in broadcasting, and Shaw’s proposal to buy Global TV are likely the game changers broadcasters have been predicting as part of the ongoing evolution of the business of media. Economic and technological storm clouds have been dampening the bottom line of traditional broadcast and print media for some time, making the need to establish new revenue sources paramount.
Canwest Global went bankrupt at least partly as a result of reduced income, while other TV networks have been lobbying intensely to pry more money from cable providers in exchange for use of the programming the networks produce. Now, just months later, the whole debate has been turned sideways, with cell and Internet companies and their subscribers suddenly becoming part of a new revenue solution.
As goofy as it seems to me, these big media companies seem convinced that making movies and sports available on a two-inch cell phone screen will be an audience winner. That seems to be the emerging game – more applications, more multimedia and social media connect points, and more games, movies, TV reruns and music.
The advantage BCE, Rogers and Shaw have that Canwest, CTV, CBC and others do not have is the potential to bundle less lucrative aspects of their service with more lucrative ones. Home phone, cell phone, Internet, cable TV, satellite TV and radio create sufficient multimedia mass to validate purchase of next-generation cell phones, which will be modified to make movie watching more comfortable.
Making money off news programming might become less important if it can be bundled. There could also be potential to expand and specialize news programming by offering cell-phone distributed mini-programs highly focused on a particular topic, such as fashion, music, movies, wars or natural disasters.
News as value-added
Next generation journalists trained to use many forms of media might be uniquely able to produce and present such programming. As stand-alone elements, they could be a tough sell, but as value-added apps who knows? BCE has already moved this way by making CTV’s business programming available via its wireless network, as has Quebecor-owned Videotron Cable in Quebec.
Print news organizations such as Postmedia (formerly Canwest’s print properties including major Canadian dailies) have clearly said company growth will be based on an Internet focus and strategy, without necessarily saying what that might look like or how it might function in the marketplace. If they are talking online video and audio, and can capitalize on having a significant workforce of experienced journalists, then they might be able to join forces with one or more of the big telecoms and provide much needed content. If not, who knows how they’ll fit into such a rapidly changing environment?
The public already accepts the need to pay for phone, cable, Internet and satellite services. Combining the massive audience reach of the telecoms with an exponentially expanding range of content offered could ultimately suggest a new model for sustaining or growing media operations of all kinds. Even news.
Terry Field is an associate professor and journalism program chair in the Bachelor of Communication at Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta.
