TORONTO – ACTRA says it’s optimistic about Friday’s CRTC’s decision, saying it “offers a glimmer of hope” that the Commission has heard its pleas that private TV broadcasters in Canada do more to support Canadian programming.
“Today, performers have reason to believe that the CRTC is finally listening to Canadians’ desire to see more Canadian content. Especially on the heels of a record-spending year buying Hollywood shows, it’s good to hear the CRTC suggest that it’s now time for private broadcasters to invest equally in Canadian content as they do on foreign programming,” said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director, in a statement.
The comment references the CRTC decision where it said that it would consider imposing a 1:1 ratio requirement between Canadian and non-Canadian programming expenditures, and will hold ownership group-based renewal hearings, rather than sectoral based ones, given the increased consolidation of conventional and discretionary television holdings by the major broadcasters.
“We look forward to seeing more private TV broadcaster support for Canadian programming. We also hope the CRTC will ensure a process that is fair to all players in the industry including giving the industry full access to statistics on how private TV stations actually broadcast Canadian content,” Waddell continued.
