TORONTO – While saying the Canadian broadcasting system, as it now stands, may face "imminent collapse" due to pressures all around from the numerous platforms Canadians view video, the 2007 edition of the Green Paper also says while our TV system will be impacted, change will be gradual and old and new media can co-exist.
Following up on last year’s lively debate over Green Paper I at the Banff World Television Festival, the ’07 edition will provide the background and impetus for BWTVF’s Town Hall session entitled “Town Hall Part 2: Revisiting the Green Paper on the Future of Television in Canada,” the closing panel of the event, which takes place at the Banff Fairmont Springs, on Wednesday, June 13.
Green Paper II was produced for the Festival by Nordicity Group, Ltd., an independent Canadian consulting firm that specializes in policy regulatory and economic analysis, with support from the Canadian Television Fund and BWTVF. The Paper highlights many of the major changes that have taken place on the television landscape over the past year. It also frames debates on how these changes will affect future regulation, broadcasting and production, and whether the Canadian broadcasting system, as we currently know it, can survive.
Some of the other highlights say: New entrants in the broadcasting system – content aggregators, curators, and niche channels – will challenge the existing players, and a zero-sum game may emerge with clear winners and losers based on, among other factors, who owns content rights and can exploit them. "But this can be prevented if broadcasters, producers, and BDUs can work together find ways to work together to exploit the opportunities of new platforms," says the release.
As the system adjusts to new viewing habits and technologies, "much of our existing policy, regulation and content support systems will become difficult to maintain and will have to make substantial adjustments," says the paper. Old protection measures may need to be replaced by new incentives and frameworks – such as an evolution of the tax credits and a new media type of trade framework – to promote an economically and culturally successful Canadian broadcasting system.
Green Paper II will provide fuel for thought at this year’s Town Hall session, hosted by BWTVF CEO Robert Montgomery, where delegates and key industry players will have the opportunity to debate the impact of new technologies and discuss how the changes in consumer behaviour have affected the television and production business in Canada.
“The findings of Green Paper II are sure to stimulate much lively debate at this year’s Festival,” says Robert Montgomery, BWTVF CEO. “We are pleased to provide the broadcast industry with this report, which we hope will encourage collaborative discussion amongst its players about the best ways to harness new technologies and address issues of regulation.”
The Banff World Television Festival (where Cartt.ca will report from next week) takes place June 10–13, 2007 amid the spectacular Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs in Banff, Alberta.
