OTTAWA – Amid strains of Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers and images of our melting north, Canadian Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Glenn O’Farrell strode onto the stage at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa this morning and began to spin an interesting – if unusual – metaphor.
The CAB CEO drew parallels between the warming that is happening in the Arctic with the massive changes staring Canadian media companies in the face at this moment in time.
Not long ago, scientists thought that the fabled Northwest Passage, for so long locked in by ice, might be navigable – in two or three decades. However, this summer, explained O’Farrell, the ice melted and the passage was open. “Canadian coast guard vessels Amundsen and Louis St Laurent are navigating the passage freely, as we speak,” he said, protecting our sovereignty in the far north.
And, “(t)he extreme change occurring in the Canadian north is not unlike the profound change that we are experiencing in our media landscape,” added O’Farrell – later adding that if the government is acting to protect the north as it undergoes dramatic climate change, it also should be able to assist the Canadian broadcast industry, too, as the boundaries of old in the media world melt away due to dramatic technological change.
“Content originating in Canada and elsewhere travels through channels, over networks, platforms and across many shades of legislation, policy and regulation as it skips seemingly without effort across boundaries and jurisdictions,” he continued in his speech.
“These developments represent fundamental shifts in the foundation assumptions of Canadian broadcasting which was developed on the basis of a distribution model curtailed by distance… Every reasonable opportunity to strengthen the economic model to support Canadian broadcasting must be seriously considered.”
O’Farrell touted the release of the CAB’s new report on the industry that outlines the massive shifts under way when it comes to Canadians’ media consumption and usage patterns, which we will outline more deeply in another story.
Stay tuned to Cartt.ca this week as we have reporters covering every single session of the 2007 CAB annual conference here in Ottawa.
