OTTAWA – Count CBC, the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and the Canada Media Fund (CMF) in favour of Tuesday’s 2011-2012 Federal Budget, though its ability to be ratified by Parliament appears doubtful.
The public broadcaster said that it was “pleased” that the $60 million in funding that CBC/Radio-Canada been receiving since 2001 for Canadian programming initiatives has been renewed for another year, calling it “crucial” to the implementation of its new five year plan known as ‘Everyone, Every Way’.
"This is great news for Canadians who look to CBC/Radio-Canada for high quality Canadian programming on television, radio and the Internet," said president and CEO Hubert T. Lacroix, in a statement. "Given the financial challenges of the past few years, we are very grateful to the Government for this important reinvestment in public broadcasting, and to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable James Moore, for going to bat once again for CBC/Radio-Canada and for being a passionate supporter of the Corporation and of our programming."
The CMPA lauded the document for committing an on-going $100 million per year to the CMF in support of the creation of high-quality Canadian content across multiple platforms.
“This brings much-needed stability to the financing of Canadian television and interactive content,” said Norm Bolen, CMPA president and CEO. “It removes uncertainty for independent producers and broadcasters and allows them to plan their activities with the knowledge that the CMF will be there to partner with them for years to come.”
The CMF said that the Government’s contribution when combined with the funding that it receives from Canada’s cable and satellite distributors will enable it to provide over $350 million to the television and digital media industry over the next year.
“With the help of this commitment, the CMF will continue to drive innovation and to support Canada’s creative talent in contributing to our competitiveness in the global marketplace for content,” said CMF president and CEO, Valerie Creighton. “This is most welcome news for the industry as a whole.”
