That hearing, I know, and I think what you're referring to is the local news fund that we proposed at the CRTC's recent hearing on local TV and community television. What we proposed is that certain of the funding that the broadcast distributors put into their community channels, as well as a small amount that goes into the Canada Media Fund, would be redirected to form this new fund.
The new fund wouldn't just be a handout. Essentially, you would be required to spend a certain amount of money. You would then get essentially two-thirds of the cost, and you would get one-third under the fund, but only for amounts above your regulatory minimum. Stations in Canada right now have essentially no obligations to specifically provide local news; they have obligations to provide local programming. There would be a base minimum of local news established per market, and where you exceeded that amount, you would be eligible for one-third of your over-and-above costs, on a pro rata basis, to be covered.
In terms of what it would mean to us out of that fund—I'm going from memory here—I think the fund was going to be somewhere in the range of $65 million to $70 million. I'm trying to remember. I think just over $20 million would go to us to help support our local news operations.
By way of comparison, when the aforementioned LPIF existed, which was the previous fund that was eliminated in 2014, at its height we were receiving somewhere between $23 million and $25 million, and that really was a lifeline for our stations.