TORONTO – ACTRA said that its “pleased” and “optimistic” by the CRTC’s announcement that it will consider reinstating programming expenditures for Canadian programming this Fall.
But the actors union also expressed disappointment that the broadcasting regulator “passed on the opportunity to put the brakes on private broadcasters’ Hollywood spending sprees” in the short-term.
“We’re relieved that the CRTC is putting minimum expenditures for Canadian programming back on the table this Fall,” said national president Richard Hardacre, in a statement. “We’ve been calling on the CRTC to force private broadcasters to invest in Canadian programming since expenditure requirements were removed in 1999. We look forward to participating and sharing our ideas to bring back some balance and create more space for Canadian stories.”
The CRTC announced Friday that it is renewing the licences of major conventional broadcasters for one-year, with details of conditions to come in the coming weeks.
ACTRA had asked the CRTC to issue one-year ‘status quo’ licence renewals, and said it is “cautiously optimistic” that the details of conditions won’t include concessions to broadcasters on Canadian programming.
“We asked the CRTC not to give into broadcasters’ pleas for further deregulation and we’re pleased they seem to be listening,” said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director, in the statement. “However, we had hoped the Commission would put caps on the broadcasters’ reckless spending in (Los Angeles) this year, especially as they have been crying poor. As broadcasters pack their bags for their annual shopping trip to L.A., the CRTC had a real opportunity to stage an intervention, tell them enough is enough and put caps on their spending.”
