Future uncertain for VisionTV
TORONTO, ON—VisionTV is fighting to maintain its place on basic cable in Canada after changes to Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) rules that give cable and satellite providers permission to remove VisionTV from the "basic" package.
The multicultural television service, which features Christian programming alongside Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh shows, can be seen in 10 million households in Canada.
VisionTV has applied to the CRTC to remain on basic cable and satellite. It also ran a campaign earlier this year called "Protect Your Vision," which saw 6,200 viewers send in letters in support of VisionTV. Two thousand viewers also signed a petition to support the television service.
"We feel that it would be devastating for the channel and could result in its demise" if it was removed from basic cable, said Joan Jenkinson, vice president, Independent Production & Multi-faith Content for the television division of ZoomerMedia, which owns and operates VisionTV. "We estimate we would lose 90 per cent of its subscriber base. …If the base drops that much, it means we would lose almost all of our ad revenue."
According to an article published in The Globe and Mail this past March, the cable and satellite companies that deliver VisionTV "are tired of the channel straying from the religious content it is required to broadcast in exchange for its licence."
ZoomerMedia owner Moses Znaimer told The Globe and Mail that removing the channel "would be a piece of vandalism."
"Twenty-five years ago, it was determined that this service was essential and necessary to the kind of country we would like to evoke and it was given the privilege of inclusion on basic," Znaimer said. "So why remove it?"
According to Jenkinson, VisionTV's overall audience has doubled since 2006. The service's daily reach is 925,000 different viewers, and it reaches 3 million viewers each week and more than 15 million viewers each year.
Jenkinson added that VisionTV was created 25 years ago in consultation with the CRTC, which wanted a multi-faith television service available in as many households as possible.
"We feel it was a good idea then, and it's still a good idea now," Jenkinson said.
It is unknown when the CRTC will make its final decision regarding VisionTV.
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