OTTAWA – Various Canadian broadcasters spent a combined $51 million in so-called tangible public benefits during the 2010-2011 broadcast year ended August 31, 2011 associated with their acquisition of English-language television assets in recent years.
Of the cash spent in the last completed broadcast year (which was about on par with the 2009-10 year), 84%, or $43 million, went to on-screen/programming-related initiatives, primarily the creation of new Canadian programming, and the remaining 16% or $8 million went to social initiatives such as funding for television/film festivals.
The latest research is contained in the second installment (2012 report) of the annual syndicated research study called the Canadian Television Benefits Monitor: Tracking Spending on English-Language Television Benefits Packages, published by Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services.
Some highlights from the 2012 report (based on data for the year ended August 31, 2011) include the following:
• The combined value of the 18 benefits packages tracked in the report totals more than $965 million, of which about $397 million had been spent by August 31, 2011. That leaves about $569 million to be spent by August 31, 2019;
• By August 31, 2019, $456.5 million remains to be spent on screen-based and/or programming-related benefits and $112.2 million must be spent on social and/or other benefits (this obviously does not include the most recent proposed purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada);
• In total, 81% of benefits funds detailed in the report (excluding benefits related to the BCE-CTV transaction in 2000, which are almost fully paid) have been committed to go to on-screen/ programming-related initiatives, which is slightly below the CRTC’s standard practice of requiring approximately 85% of benefits funds go to such initiatives;
• 60% of benefits funds detailed in the report (excluding BCE-CTV, see above) have been committed to go to the development and production of incremental priority programming or new programs of national interest (as defined by the CRTC) and related multi-platform content or related initiatives; and
• 74% of on-screen/programming-related benefits funds detailed in the report (excluding BCE-CTV, see above) have been committed to go to the development and production of incremental priority programming or programs of national interest and related multi-platform content or related initiatives.
In addition to aggregate data, the 60-plus page report provides statistical data for each of the 18 benefits packages examined. Also, the Appendix of the report contains a detailed list of specific TV and new media programming projects funded through the various benefits packages (for the largest packages only).
