TORONTO – After its lengthy consultations with the industry as well as the funders of the Canada Media Fund (CMF), not to mention the policy direction from the federal government, the board of the CMF has determined the following factors will apply in the calculation of the performance envelopes for 2011-2012:
• Audience success (calculated on total hours tuned)
• Original prime time first run
• Historic performance (formerly historic access)
• Above threshold licensing
• Regional licensing
• Digital media investment
The new factor weights are defined as follows:
• Original first run is defined as the first airing of a project (or series of episodes that make up that project) by an eligible broadcaster. Eligibility will be determined based on whether the broadcaster participated in the initial financing structure of the project. This, in essence, allows participation in this factor by second and third window broadcasters who licensed the project, but excludes acquisitions.
• Prime time is defined as the period of time between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. A project for which the majority of the telecast airs between these hours is considered to be airing in prime time. In the case of single-feed specialty broadcasters, this time period will be extended to the hours of 5:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
• For the digital media investment factor, credit will be earned for each dollar of cash financing and CMF envelope contribution provided by a broadcaster to a rich and substantial digital media component, as defined in section 3.2.DM of the Performance Envelope Program Guidelines.
The specific percentage weights to be assigned to each of the performance factors will continue to be assessed. Further consultations with the industry and funders will occur in September and the percentages of each factor will be announced following the final determination made by the Board.
