BANFF – CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais told Banff World Media Fest delegates it’s time for Canada to talk TV – really talk about it – in order to figure out what we as a nation want from our television system as the global electronic media universe just keeps changing and growing.
In the fall, said the chairman, the Commission will embark on an ambitious plan to potentially remake the regulatory system so that the rules work better in the face of the rampant technological development and consumer behavioural shifts we see today.
“I am already on the record as saying we need to move from protect to promote,” he said Wednesday morning. “Let me propose a few other ideas in the form of ‘from/tos’. We need to shift our focus from rules to outcomes; from conformity to experimentation; from imitation to creativity; from constraint to choice; from scheduled to on-demand; from meeting quotas to embracing new potentials; from television that Canadians watch from the outside to television where Canadians see themselves; from domestic to global; from great Canadian works to great works that happen to be Canadian; This is what I think.
“But we need to hear from Canadians whether those preliminary ideas are correct. It is time to take stock of the reality of ‘television’ from their perspective. It is, after all, ‘their’ broadcasting system.
So, this fall, before any further regulatory proceedings based on the current rules happen, the Regulator will ask Canadians (including all the industry players) what it is they want. “Our conversation with Canadians will begin this fall. I invite you to relax a little this summer and start your own reflection,” he said. And, after talking to as many Canadian citizens as possible, “then we will engage those of you in the industry: broadcasters and distributors, station owners and network operators, producers and actors, advertisers and creators, news gatherers and the others who have built what, to date, has been a successful model, but which is now in need of reinvention.”
He continued: “Canada’s regulatory framework for audiovisual content has evolved over the years – mostly in response to changes in the communication environment, to fulfill the objectives of the Broadcasting Act. That evolving framework exists to ensure Canadians are the beneficiaries of the trust placed in those of you that make use of that shared public space.
“For decades, that meant issuing licenses to networks and cable and satellite service providers, with certain conditions attached. While the intentions have always been good and appropriate for the times, the result is a complex framework. It’s become gears in and of itself. It’s become about the rules,” he explained.
“So it’s time to ask: do the assumptions that lie beneath our current regulatory policies still hold true? Broadcasting, as we once knew it, is no longer—and will never again be—the same.”
Blais also talked of the new opportunities opening up for TV producers as Canadian broadcasters begin to see their original Cancon as a strategic must-have rather than something their government forces them to do. “We are living through a period of unprecedented funding for Canadian productions. Investments by Canadian broadcasters surpassed $3 billion in 2012-13, for the first time. This money enables content creators to produce high-quality films, TV programs and other screen-based content for distribution on multiple platforms,” he said.
“There are all kinds of new and exciting digital platforms to showcase your creative content… and audiences in a globally connected world are on the lookout for new and exciting content. In 2011-2012, the Canada Media Fund backed 25 programs that attracted average audiences of over one million in Canada. Canadian-made productions also appeal to viewers in the U.S., Europe and hundreds of other countries,” the chair continued.
“It all adds up to outstanding opportunities to put Canada on the world map as a producer of quality content. The time has come to define ourselves in terms of who we are –in all our diversity – with self-confidence and audacity.”
This will be an fascinating fall.
– Greg O’Brien
