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CRTC gives nod to Remstar takeover of TQS

27.06.2008 12:00 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

Canada's broadcast regulator on Thursday approved Remstar Diffusion Inc.'s acquisition of Quebec's TQS Network, allowing the network to cut back on local programming and news.

Money-losing TQS, which faces tough competition from larger rivals Radio-Canada and TVA, was placed under creditor protection last December amid mounting financial woes.

During hearings earlier this month, Remstar officials said they want to amend the TQS licence because it is too costly to produce newscasts in Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivires and Saguenay. Remstar wanted to shut down newsrooms in the five cities. Union officials and politicians spoke out against what they saw as an erosion of news broadcasting in Quebec.

Approval given on short-term basis

In its decision, the CRTC said a condition of getting a broadcast permit for a conventional television station includes providing viewers with "a significant amount of local news,"

Remstar's proposal fell well short of this requirement," said Konrad von Finckenstein, the chairman of the CRTC.

"In this case, we have taken into account TQS's precarious financial situation and will allow, as a short-term measure and on an exceptional basis, a reduced amount of local news. We fully expect that TQS's situation will permit it to improve upon this amount within three years," von Finckenstein said.

Stations in Montreal and Quebec City will have to produce at least two hours of local news out of 15 hours of local programming. Stations in Saguenay, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivires are each required to produce one hour of news out of 90 minutes of local shows.

The CRTC said the broadcast licences will run until 2015, but the regulator plans to re-examine the network's programming in 2011.

The union representing TQS employees criticized the CRTC's decision.

"It's lamentable," said Eric Levesque, president of the Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique.

"The CRTC has abandoned the people of Quebec. This marks the disappearance of regional news on TQS. Requiring only two hours of news information required on a weekly basis amounts to peanuts, it's ridiculous," he said.

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