Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 8 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
The previous article in this series showed what should change in how Canada funds media. This article names the authority that can actually make that change — and where the conversation must happen.
The previous article in this series set out five commitments a redesigned Canada Media Fund would require: shifting allocation from inputs to outcomes, funding distribution…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 8 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
The federal government is now the majority funder of the Canada Media Fund. The fund still operates as it has for decades. Canada needs one built for what comes next.
The eight articles in this series (https://cartt.ca/category/beyond-the-walled-garden/) diagnosed the structural problems in Canada’s media system and proposed reforms. The first was a targeted redesign of the CMF…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 7 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
At this year’s European Film Market in Berlin, a high-level panel titled “Balancing Cultural Diversity, Artistic Freedom and Competitiveness in the Platform Era” felt like a genuine policy turning point. European Parliament First Vice-President Sabine Verheyen summed up the moment: “If a handful of players decide which stories are visible, whose voices are amplified, and which languages are profitable, cultural diversity is no longer guaranteed,…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 6 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Moving toward global distribution doesn’t make the domestic market irrelevant. In fact, the opposite is true: countries that export the most media usually have the strongest homegrown broadcasting institutions. Export success isn’t just supported by a solid domestic base, it depends on it.
Domestic strength isn’t about protectionism. It’s the industrial backbone that allows us to achieve both cultural goals and export ambitions.
The International Evidence
This pattern…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 5 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
By now, the pattern is clear. Canada’s media problem isn’t a shortage of creativity or public investment. The real issue is a system that rewards activity instead of learning, production instead of ownership, and stability over adaptation. The result? A steady stream of cultural moments that never add up to lasting advantage.
What’s often overlooked is that the future of Canadian media is already being built at…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 4 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Artificial intelligence doesn’t solve Canada’s media problem – it reframes it.
For decades, Canada’s structural challenge wasn’t a shortage of creative talent, it was the limitations of a small domestic market. The US dominated global television because its domestic revenues were large enough to support production values that travelled. Canada couldn’t match those economics, but Canadian content did find international markets when funded by the Walled Garden…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 3 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Whenever Canadian media lands an international hit, our reflex is always, “How do we make more of those?” A show succeeds, the spotlight follows, and we assume all the system needs is more ambition, better marketing, or extra funding for lookalike projects.
That logic makes sense, but it’s only half the story.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: just because a show succeeds doesn’t mean the business does, or that…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 2 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Canada’s media sector consistently produces strong creative talent, compelling content, and flashes of international success. The deeper issue isn’t simply decline, it’s that we haven’t redesigned the system to capture the new opportunities streaming and AI now offer. As a result, Canada keeps missing out on the real upside, time after time.
Canada invents, but rarely converts. We produce cultural milestones that spark briefly and then fade,…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 1 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Canada’s media system is rich in creativity, talent, and public support. The real challenge isn’t a shortage of resources – it’s market design. Policies and industry structures have fallen out of step with how media value is generated and sustained today.
Canada’s media policy was designed in the broadcast era. Imagine: a relatively small number of channels, set schedules, and not much choice for viewers. This period…
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FOR MANY DECADES, THE Canadian TV market had the luxury of being a walled garden protected by the limits of technology. We even carved out a national production industry and... Continue Reading
