OTTAWA – Establishing a carriage relationship with Netflix, YouTube, Google, Yahoo! and others as well as reworking how money is distributed to fund online entertainment are two ways to ensure Canadian content will secure a space for itself on the Internet, Canadian Media Production Association’s (CMPA) annual Prime Time conference in Ottawa, heard Friday.
Online entertainment is growing leaps and bounds with the help of some major players such as Google and Yahoo, but what can be done to ensure that Canadian productions have a place? Richard Stursberg, senior advisor on media and entertainment with Telus (and former head of CBC’s English Services) explained there are demand and supply side mechanisms that can be implemented to make sure that good Canadian content finds a spot on the web.
“I think one of the things that would be very, very useful is for the CMPA to begin a conversation with Netflix, with Yahoo, with YouTube…on terms of trade,” Stursberg said. This would help ensure that there is a space for Canadian productions on these online distribution platforms. On the supply side, Stursberg said there is a whole lot of money that becomes available when spending on Canadian programming, but the problem is conventional television has to be at the front end. This doesn’t work for a program that is never going to be on TV.
“There’s absolutely nothing and no way currently to be able to trigger a linear show that exists only in these kinds of environments (the Internet),” he said. “We need to have a serious conversation about how we do this.”
Daniel Dales, CEO and executive producer of Smokebomb Entertainment, said there needs to be more risks taken in Canada when it comes to online entertainment particularly from large companies and the broadcasters. He also suggested that the big Canadian brands should step up to the plate and commit a bunch of money for this. Dales wondered about the result putting $5 million or $10 million on the table for online Canadian productions.
Jeremy Butteriss, director of strategic partnerships with Google Canada, suggested that there are a number of key drivers to the rapidly growing online entertainment market such as ubiquitous broadband, the Internet’s low-cost (or even free) distribution, producers can target a global audience and social networks provide interactivity with programming.
Web economics also provide producers the ability to leverage niche markets or niche interests. Butteriss referred to the 1% rule. “If you have content that only appeals to 1% of users that just won’t work on traditional platforms like television. You can’t make a living off that. But 1% of the audience on YouTube is eight million users per month.”
For Thom Zedra, head of business development for Yahoo’s original video programming, it’s about laying the foundation for the day when online entertainment makes real money. About $2.5 billion is spent on online ads in the U.S., and in Canada, it’s about $70 million, but it is expected to grow to upwards of $260 million in the next few years. The company is expanding beyond its traditional news and information strategy with some reality shows and even some scripted programs to get “that deeper engagement advertisers are looking for,” he said.
Yahoo is currently a mix of satisfying its current users, but also dipping its toes in the water to learn, make mistakes, have success under its belt “by the time there’s real revenue there,” added Zedra.
