CHCH May Have New Owners - The Community
Station Employees, Public Band Together to Save It
Mar 6, 2009
CHCH is a television station based in Hamilton Ontario. It covers the entire Greater Toronto Area (GTA) billing itself as: Hamilton, Halton, and Niagara.
Funding for the Bid To Buy CH
The bid follows parent company Canwest’s attempt to sell off some of its assets. It has previously stated it would close CH if no buyer could be found. Anchor Donna Skelly couldn’t let that happen telling the Hamilton Spectator: “We can’t wait for this. We have to intervene.”
The final structure would see the station’s broadcast license in the hands of a board of directors, made up of community members. For programming, it would rely on dramas and mostly local news.
Financial means for the station could come from the Canadian Radio Telecommunication Commission (CRTC). Skelly thinks the station would be a perfect candidate for a $40 million fund administered by the regulator. The funding recipients have yet to be determined.
If successful, the station still would have to raise $500,000 from the community in order to proceed with the bid. Local businesses could purchase space at a reduced cost because the station would be locally owned.
This type of proposed community-based ownership is gaining some momentum thanks to a rapidly changing media environment. Industry experts believe it to be a sign of things to come. Industry insider Greg O’Brien suggests the media is in a state of transformation: “Everyone is looking for a business model,” he commented in a Hamilton Spectator article.
Online American publications Minnpost.com, and voiceofsandiego.com operate on a similar not-for-profit model. They rely mostly on grants, and reader contributions.
Viewer Reaction To Possible Sale
The reaction about a prospective closure has been passionate among viewers. A Facebook site has popped up urging people to write their Member of Parliament (MP) and posting links for online petitions. The groups have posted information about a pair of upcoming events: “Chords for Cameras” a benefit being held at a Hamilton club on March 15th. There will also be a community rally March 17th at 5pm.
Skelly herself says she fears for the untold stories, should the station close. She uses the example of a Hamilton man who waited a year to get a piece of his skull re-attached. He was able to have the treatment only after the story aired. In comments published in the Globe& Mail she said: “It’s radical, but it’s better than what’s out there right now.”
CHCH would become the first community-owned television station in Canada if the bid succeeds.
