Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning. My name is Cal Millar. I'm here in my capacity as chair of the Local Independent Television Stations group, or LITS. I'm also president of Channel Zero, owner and operator of CHCH.
With me today is Rod Schween, president of Pattison Media, with television stations in Kamloops and Prince George, as well as 51 radio stations spanning the four western provinces.
You heard from LITS members RNC Media and Télé Inter-Rives on April 14. A fact sheet on LITS has been provided with this statement.
All independent broadcasters operate through a combination of entrepreneurship, commitment to a community and optimism.
As many of you will remember, in 2009, the late Izzy Asper's Canwest Global was found to be bankrupt. Shaw Media bought most of Canwest's local stations, but a handful, including our CHCH and CHEK-TV in Victoria, were orphans. They were redundant in a national network that favoured reach over local service, and they were slated to close.
We acquired an unprofitable CHCH at the time. Our management team grew up watching CHCH. We knew—or at least we gambled—that CHCH could have a future and took it back to its past, where it was rooted in its community, anchored by local news and run locally and prudently.
Almost two decades later, I think it's fair to say that we have had a measure of success. We produce and air 30 hours of local news and information weekly, which is probably more than any other local broadcaster across the country.
Up until recently, we ran this as a private business that made some money and mattered in our community. We believe we matter more than ever, but this year, we will lose millions of dollars.