Local community TV group loses funding from TELUS

Tri-Cities Community TV (TCCTV) is no longer receiving funding from TELUS Optik TV.

The non-profit organization, which films events and conducts interviews across the Tri-Cities, said that they have had to cut back on their programming and volunteer training due to the shortfall.

“Without [the TELUS funding], it’s a very big loss for us. So we’re not really sure, is TriCities Community TV going to keep going? Are we going to close our doors? Like, what will happen?” said Cathy Cena, the host and executive director of the nonprofit.

In a video, TCCTV said they got $80,000 per year from Telus Optik TV, starting in 2022-23. The following year, 2023-24, TCCTV received $20,000. And at the end of this contract, they say they TELUS informed them they aren’t providing funding for not-for-profit organizations producing community TV, and are instead focusing on their Story Hive program for individual creators.

This funding went toward equipment, production and editing contractors, and a stipend for the former executive director, Cena said.

“We continuously evaluate our partnerships and funding to ensure we are best supporting a broad group of creator voices to reflect our diverse communities,” TELUS responded in a statement sent to the Dispatch. 

“Over the past few years, we have gradually transitioned our funding to support Local Content initiatives like the STORYHIVE programs, investing directly in emerging storytellers across Alberta and B.C.” 

TELUS noted they supported two films in the Tri-Cities by Joshua Louie, called  ‘The Burbs’ and ‘Shoes at the Door’, and have two upcoming projects from Coquitlam.

“Anybody can apply —which is great — but compared to what we’re doing, it’s a different project,” said Geneviève Kyle-Lefebvre, the president of TriCities Community TV, and a host of a bilingual section called Face to Face.

“It’s very different from what we’re offering as a community television,” she said. “But I’m not sure how it’s reaching our community needs.”

TCCTV has covered everything from the sizia bidar festival, to truth and reconciliation day, to the Coquitlam Library Science expo. They also interview community members — from city councilors to librarians to nonprofit leaders.

Kyle-Lefebvre hosts a bilingual section called Face to Face, which represents Maillardville in Coquitlam and provides programming for students and graduates of French immersion.

By covering arts and culture, she said they support mental health in the Tri-Cities. When people watch TCCTV, they learn about opportunities to participate in their community  — like joining a painting or dancing club.

“And we have had a lot of people throughout the years that told us, ‘Oh, you shared that video, and I found out about them, and they were great. Now I have new friends. And I didn’t realize how I was isolated until now.’ So I think we need to keep planting those little seeds, and that’s just how we keep providing and helping to have a growing community.”

But since they stopped receiving funding from TELUS, Cena said they’ve only covered about half as much.

“We just don’t have the funds, we don’t have the resources, we don’t have the people,” she said.

Local community organizations like the Polonez Tri-City  Polish Association and the Golden Maple Multicultural Society rely on TCCTV to cover their events, Cena said.

“Because they don’t have the resources to hire organizations like us.”

TCCTV also once put on quarterly teaching workshops to give volunteers hands-on film and production experience. Now, Cena said they can put these on once per year.

Less arts and cultural coverage

While TCCTV is still getting funding from Heritage Canada as part of its local journalism initiative — and has applied to some local funding options — they believe they should be funded by TELUS.

As part of Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) policy, it requires networks like TELUS to provide funding to community TV.

This started in the ‘70s, when the CRTC regulated cable to do so.

“Essentially, the government’s thinking is, ‘If we’re giving you a license to essentially make a lot of money . . . through cable distribution. There’s some things you have to do for us.’ And part of that was running a community channel,” said Geoff Scott, the founder and former executive director of TCCTV.

Scott has been involved with community TV in Metro Vancouver for decades. While it has been on the decline for the past couple of decades, it was once a thriving part of Canada’s media ecosystem.

“It’s hard really to even explain the value of what community TV used to provide for the region, unless you’re able to take one back in a time machine to like the heyday of, say, the mid ‘80s, late ‘70s,” said Scott.

 “This whole group of volunteers from around the Lower Mainland that worked together to produce really interesting and creative programming.”

He was one of the founders of ICTV Vancouver in the ‘80s, where he got his start working in TV production. Later, he founded TCCTV in ‘05-’06 as a project for his students at Columbia Academy in Vancouver. He and his students produced a half hour show every month, covering a community event in the Tri-Cities.

Those shows gave Scott his start in production. For others it was to experiment with something new or to give back to their community — covering things like local council and school board meetings.

“This all predates the internet, so this is where you went to see this kind of stuff.  And of course, with the advent of the internet, the necessity for those things disappeared,” he said.

But community TV first started as a way for locals to be involved telling their own stories, he said — a need that persists to this day.

“It’s specifically for the Tri Cities region,” he said. “We’ll be looking at engaging the community in what’s happening with the art centers and heritage societies and all that kind of content.”

The news coincides with the announcement of the impending shutdown of the Tri-City News.

Funding diverted

Over the years, cable funding has been diverted away from traditional community TV channels, Scott explained.

In 2017, Shaw closed down their community TV stations Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Instead, they put that money to Global TV to cover local news.

“Which coincidentally is owned by the same parental company,” Scott said. “Instead of giving it to the community now, we’re going to give it to another company that is owned by a parent company, and they’ll use it to promote and produce more local content.”

While Scott has noticed more local content, he said there’s no oversight of it.

This is part of a nation-wide story. In 2022, The Breach,  an indie-media outlet, launched a campaign against it, saying that as cable companies merged together, community productions got swallowed up in the process.

“Communities themselves have no input, which is how we end up with rural subscribers in New Brunswick supporting Citytv production in Toronto,” wrote The Breach.

In 2023, community broadcasters won a mandate that companies like TELUS must fund community media.

Scott said TCCTV will likely have to submit a complaint to the CRTC about the lack of funding from TELUS. He’s also hoping that they will create a fund that requires cable companies to put money towards it (rather than already functioning stations) that community groups like themselves could apply for.

“And people who know, who understand community TV would distribute it, rather than cable companies who have their own motives,” he said.