On March 24th, without public or industry consultation, the Saskatchewan government announced it was closing down SCN, the Saskatchewan Communications Network. SCN, which has served the people of Saskatchewan for twenty years and brings Saskatchewan stories to the province and the world, is scheduled to leave the airways at the end of April.
Created by the Grant Devine Progressive Conservative government, SCN has been Saskatchewan’s broadcast voice – the only broadcaster whose programming focuses on the province: rural, small town and urban Saskatchewan. In making the closure announcement, the government cited the need to tighten its belt and low viewership. Neither of these reasons holds up to scrutiny. Indeed, one of the truly perplexing things about this decision is that Saskatchewan will actually lose money by closing down SCN.
The government states it will save $2.5 million dollars in 2010 and around $5 million dollars annually in subsequent years by shutting down SCN. To give some context about government expenditures, the government spent more on two weeks of hospitality at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics than it spends each year on SCN.
What do we get for our $5 million dollar investment in SCN? We get programming for and about Saskatchewan that no other broadcaster will provide. We get distance education classes to every corner of the province. And we get investment money from outside the province that far surpasses the total dollar amount that Saskatchewan spends to run SCN, investment that creates jobs in Saskatchewan.
SCN is one of the key elements in the Saskatchewan TV/film industry, which has seen such impressive growth over the past fifteen years. SCN’s support of Saskatchewan productions helps trigger investment from outside the province that significantly surpasses what Saskatchewan spends to run SCN. This investment comes from a range of sources such as the Canadian Media Fund, which allocated almost $1 million to SCN in 2010 for investment in Saskatchewan productions. That money will no longer be coming into Saskatchewan. An even larger source of investment comes in the form of broadcast licenses from national broadcasters, whose license fees far exceed that of SCN.
But it’s SCN’s initial investment that makes the other investments a reality. Here is an example. Saskatchewan producer Robin Schlaht says, "Although the dollar figures are not large, a broadcast license from SCN means a lot for a Saskatchewan documentary. It's a vote of confidence that national broadcasters can look to. That's what happened with ‘A Few Good Men & Women,’ a series about the training of municipal police in Saskatchewan, which airs on SCN and also on Court TV and Access. SCN’s $78,000 contribution triggered other financing, including over $475,000 from out of province sources.”
Here’s another example. 291 Film Company’s Gemini Award winning series "Landscape as Muse" got its start because of SCN’s support.
There are dozens of these kinds of examples in Saskatchewan’s TV Industry. The government’s decision to close down SCN is going to cost the people of Saskatchewan far more in lost investment from outside the province than was being spent to run SCN, money that was used to employ Saskatchewan labour and pay for services from Saskatchewan companies.
The government’s claim that it was shutting down SCN because of low ratings also does not hold up to scrutiny. SCN’s viewing numbers compare very favourably with other Canadian broadcasters. The Minister responsible for SCN, Dustin Duncan, stated SCN’s viewing statistics had not changed over the past six years. In the past six years, dozens of new TV channels have become available and recent studies indicate that people spend more time on the Internet than watching TV. For a broadcaster to hold onto its audience numbers over this period of unprecedented change to the broadcast industry is extraordinary. It is proof that SCN provides programming unavailable elsewhere, programming that audiences across Saskatchewan want to see.
In a multi-channel universe, SCN was the only broadcaster committed to providing informative, family orientated programming from and about Saskatchewan. "Wapos Bay", the Gemini Award winning animated series, tells stories set in the far northern part of the province. "South West TV News" from Swift Current delivers news about southwestern Saskatchewan to the region and to the rest of the province. The series "Edifice and Us" looks at some of Saskatchewan’s most interesting buildings, from Danceland on the shores of Lake Manitou to the Esterhazy Flour Mill to the T-Rex Discovery Centre in Eastend.
"15 Minutes of Fame" provided opportunities for people across the province to tell their own stories. In its first four seasons, the popular series featured stories from Archerwill and Herbert, Spiritwood and Senlac, Mozart and Rosthern and dozens of other communities. These are just a few examples of the Saskatchewan focused programs supported and broadcast by SCN. These kinds of programs will not be produced by any other broadcaster.
Producer Steve Suderman’s documentary "Over Land" had its broadcast premiere on SCN. "Over Land" examined the crisis of the family farm.
Suderman was developing a new documentary project with SCN about young Canadians with urban backgrounds returning to the farm. Suderman says, "The documentary will feature several young Saskatchewan families who are a part of creating a new sustainable farm industry in Canada. SCN's contribution, though maybe only making up 20 per cent of the production budget, opens the door to pursing substantial out-of-province investments. And of course SCN is one of the last broadcasters in the country that wants to tell socially and culturally relevant stories rather than just piping in American reality TV.”
With the closure of SCN, Suderman’s project is now in doubt.
Within the past year, referring to SCN’s Gemini Award winning series "Drug Class," Minister Duncan said that the program “serves as an important resource for young people, and their parents and teachers.”
This program, and dozens of other Saskatchewan produced and focused programs like it, would not and will not exist without SCN. Why does the government now feel that these important resources are no longer needed?
What will we lose when SCN goes off the air? We will lose money coming into the province that creates jobs and purchases services from Saskatchewan businesses. We will lose our ability to produce and see Saskatchewan stories from Abbey to Zenon Park. We will lose one of the province’s finest ambassadors– SCN productions have been purchased by broadcasters around the world and SCN’s broadcasts are picked up on satellite across North America. And we will lose our trained and emerging talent.
I work with young filmmakers and I’ve been able to tell them that Saskatchewan was a good place for them. SCN was very supportive of emerging filmmakers and SCN made it possible to have a sustainable, profitable TV Industry in the province. Without SCN, I fear they will need to relocate to provinces that understand the economic and social importance of the cultural industries. Hasn’t Saskatchewan reached a point where we can actually hold onto our talented young people?
If you’d like more information about SCN, you can visit the website of SCN supporters, www.scnmatters.ca or you can join the Facebook group, SCN Matters. If you think that the closure of SCN is a bad decision, there is still time for the government to reverse it. Contact Premier Brad Wall and your MLA and let them know that SCN matters to you and your family.
Mark Wihak,
Assistant professor in the department of Media Production & Studies at the University of Regina.