TORONTO – The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) says that “record-high revenues” for Canadian specialty, pay, pay-per-view television and video-on-demand (VOD) services prove that “that the sky isn’t falling on Canada’s TV industry”.
Responding to Thursday’s CRTC report on the state of Canadian specialty, pay, pay-per-view television and VOD services, Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director, is calling for a closer look “at the industry as a whole.”
“Doesn’t it tell us that something is wrong when small specialty networks spent twice as much on Canadian programming as the major networks?,” Waddell asked in a statement. “These figures debunk the conventional TV broadcasters’ claims that their financial troubles are the result of Canadian content regulations. Conventional broadcasters need to stop blaming regulation and take a long hard look at their own misguided financial decisions and gross over-spending on U.S. programming.”
The annual CRTC report showed that the specialty and pay sector spent $1.1 billion on Canadian programming in 2008, an increase of 11.3% from $954.5 million in 2007, while revenues grew to $2.9 billion, up 7.6% from the previous year.
In contrast, Canadian private conventional TV broadcasters reportedly spent $775 million on foreign programming in 2008. Spending on Canadian programming was $619.6 million, of which $88 million was for Canadian drama. Specialty channels spent $361.1 million on foreign programming.
“The success of the specialty channels would in fact indicate that airing distinct, original Canadian programming is a recipe for success,” Waddell added.
