OTTAWA – The second phase of the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV process kicked off last week, and chairman Jean-Pierre Blais expects to see a more comprehensive conversation happen with Canadians on want they want from their television.
In an interview with Cartt.ca at the CMPA’s annual Prime Time event in Ottawa, he described this next stage as “a reconcile phase” where Canadians will be able to square their comments in the initial phase with a broader view on the television system. Blais expressed hope that the vignettes in the Choicebook launched Tuesday “will trigger a broader reflection” from Canadians. Many of those who expressed themselves in the first phase showed their anger at a system they believe is denying them the ability to view what they want.
“We’re trying to get people to not just think about their own personal wants but also what they might want from the television system,“ he said. “And by television system, I think I have to repeat it, I don’t have a very narrow definition of screen-based content. To me all the audio visual content from scripted to non-scripted, whether it’s on a piece of furniture or on a tablet, is in the very real sense television, and we have to really think in those terms.”
The interview with Blais immediately followed the Let’s Talk TV superpanel at PTiO, which featured discussions on a number of challenges facing the Canadian television system from distributors, producers and content creators. He noted the panel showed that there appeared to be a willingness among the various parts of the system to work together to find solutions to the problems facing the sector.
"Choice is probably less the problem than choosing. That is something we’ve got to get our heads around." – Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC
“The spirit that I’m seeing in that room is more of a collaborative spirit. Yes, people are competing. They obviously want to make good deals and there’s the commercial dynamic there, too. But I clearly saw people saying ‘how can we figure this out together’,” Blais told Cartt.ca. “I remember coming in [as chair of the CRTC] and it was always about the issue today, not about how do we think about where we’re going in the future.”
The success of the industry going forward depends on a number of factors, including how and what the CRTC decides to regulate. Blais acknowledged the “daunting task” ahead, but said the commission can’t fix everything.
“I think some people are putting more on our plate than we can actually control so there are forces at play here that go well beyond the regulatory environment,” he said referring to technology and the existing choices available. “I think our role is to make sure that we remove barriers that would prevent [the Canadian system] from continuing that success from the past.“
Part of the problem for the Canadian system might be the fact that there is already a great deal of choice.
“In fact, the irony is we may actually have too much choice in the following way: there’s so much available, how do you find it? So choice is probably less the problem than choosing. That is something we’ve got to get our heads around,” Blais argued.
