With dozens of local TV stations and millions of dollars at stake, Canada's broadcasters can't be blamed for trying some unusual tactics in their battle with cable and satellite companies.

The broadcasters, suffering from a decline in advertising revenue like much of the traditional media, released a new set of TV ads Thursday under the slogan "Local TV Matters."

One is clearly an attempt at "viral" marketing. It features Canadian singer-songwriter Dave Carroll, who was himself made famous in a viral video in which he sang about United Airlines luggage staff damaging his guitar.

At issue is the fact that cable and satellite companies do not compensate broadcasters for the right to carry their local programming. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has twice supported that situation, to the chagrin of the broadcasters.

Carroll's anti-cable ballad is shot in a farmer's field, and features verses like, "Seems they don't think it's worth a dime, for stories that are yours and mine. So come on now CRTC, it's showtime."

The CBC, CTV, Global and A Channel are trying to win the ability to negotiate with cable companies and fix what broadcasters call a "broken" business model that is forcing the closure of local TV stations.

The ads are an attempt to win consumer support in the run-up to CRTC hearings on the issue set to begin in November. One features a reporter speaking to what seems to be an actor, who grows irate as the interviewer goads him along with questions suggesting cable companies don't care about local TV.

The cable and satellite companies are also trying to win consumers to their side, taking out full-page newspaper ads calling any fee for local programming a "tax." A website – www.stopthetvtax.ca – features a video playing ominous piano music, accompanied by the repeated stamping of the blotted ink words: "TV TAX." Phil Lind, vice-chairman of Rogers Communications Inc., said the broadcasters are simply seeking more profit at the expense of consumers and that cable consumers already pay a fee in their bills for local programming.

"It's a continuation of a campaign that's gone on for many, many years," he said. "They just say, `Isn't local TV fine?' And everyone says, `Yeah, we support local TV.' But when it's pointed out that it's suggested that they pay 50 cents or more per channel, per month, then the public says `No thanks.'"

At a news conference to announce the ads, CBC's Bill Chambers stressed that, "Our position is that the consumer shouldn't pay any more." Peggy Hebden, an A Channel station manager in Barrie, Ont., also spoke of the challenges of small stations in an era when advertising revenue is drying up. "It's red ink," she said. "That's our reality."

The conference opened with a video of the final broadcast from CKX, a local TV station in Brandon, Man., which closed Oct. 2. "After more than 50 years and thousands of your stories, we have holes in the ceiling and tape holding together our microphones," a reporter says. "But as the doors close at CKX, this is our station and yours."