By Ahmad Hathout
A letter to the Federal Court of Appeal this month signaling the federal government’s intention to eliminate the CRTC’s base contribution requirement on streamers is not causing panic among some creatives, who say they want to see the government’s new policy direction before drawing conclusions.
The attorney general informed the court on July 17 of the federal government’s “intention is to eliminate the base contribution requirement on streaming services and to provide government funding to replace those contributions.” The five-per-cent financial obligation levied on streamers in 2024 was expected to draw some $200 million into…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 8 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
The previous article in this series showed what should change in how Canada funds media. This article names the authority that can actually make that change — and where the conversation must happen.
The previous article in this series set out five commitments a redesigned Canada Media Fund would require: shifting allocation from inputs to outcomes, funding distribution…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Before asking the CRTC to revisit a decision that ordered foreign streamers to increase their contribution to Canadian content, Culture Minister Marc Miller received a memorandum outlining scenarios after the Federal Court of Appeal rules on those streamers’ challenge to the initial base contribution decision from 2024.
The heavily redacted February memorandum, uploaded by Cartt here, summarizes what’s going on with the CRTC’s implementation of the Online Streaming Act, which forces the arms-length tribunal to directly regulate the online streamers.
But the memorandum focuses on what happens following the yet-to-be-released Federal Court of Appeal decision that…
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Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, English-language minority film and television production in Canada fell by nearly 40 per cent, according to a report released Tuesday by the Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC).
The QEPC commissioned Nordicity to undertake the research for the report, which was produced with the participation of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), Telefilm Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and ACTRA Montreal.
The Canadian Official Language Minority Audio-Visual Production Report 1996-97 to 2023-24 is a 28-year quantitative study that examines data on official language minority community (OLMC) Canadian content production,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A paper published in the Canadian Bar Review last spring that called federal jurisdiction over online streamers “suspect” was studied by Canadian Heritage, according to heavily redacted briefing material obtained by Cartt, and the author believes the Online Streaming Act is “inevitably going to be challenged” on that basis.
Michael Ryan, a lawyer specializing in Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting law and regulation, told Cartt in an interview that he was “expecting, frankly, somebody to come forward and challenge this law before now they inevitably will.
“It’ll be an American streaming company or somebody else who feels that they’d…
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By Doug Barrett, adjunct professor in the Arts, Media & Entertainment MBA Program at the Schulich School of Business
On June 3, Culture Minister Marc Miller scored an own goal on Canadian cultural sovereignty by announcing that the government will develop new policy directions to the CRTC to “adjust” the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, presumably by scrapping the requirement that foreign online undertakings make financial contributions to the production of Canadian programming.
This move — just 21 days after the CRTC decided to increase their financial obligation to the system — constituted a…
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Ana Serrano has been reappointed as a member of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB)’s board of trustees for a three-year term.
Serrano was first appointed to the NFB board in January 2023.
Currently serving as president and vice chancellor of OCAD University in Toronto, Serrano was previously chief digital officer of the Canadian Film Centre (CFC), where she also served as managing director and founded the CFC Media Lab.
She brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in building award-winning digital experiences, securing large public and private sector investments, creating…
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By Howard Law, author of MediaPolicy.ca and Canada vs. California: How Ottawa took on Netflix and the streaming giants (Lorimer, 2024)
This week’s announcement by Culture Minister Marc Miller that the federal government is striking down the CRTC’s ruling on streamer contributions to Canadian content is perhaps more shocking in its timing than its substance.
After all, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has an appetite for jettisoning government policy that he considers unwanted baggage. Recall the climb down from the Digital Services Tax, the carbon tax, and the suite of Trudeau-era environmental policies.
Miller will be sending…
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By Connie Thiessen
Golden West Broadcasting CEO Elmer Hildebrand is among the private broadcast executives who aren’t happy with the CBC’s recent bureau expansion.
The public broadcaster announced in January it was expanding its footprint, with plans to create 11 new local bureaus and hire 33 journalists, increasing its presence to 77 bureaus and stations, including three additional locations in Saskatchewan, and two each in the Yukon, Manitoba and Quebec.
Among the new communities it’s hired reporters in are Swift Current and Moose Jaw, SK, cities in which Golden West already operates a total of six radio stations between them, as well as SwiftCurrentOnline.com and DiscoverMooseJaw.com that already…
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Announces $600M in new money for broadcasting system
By Ahmad Hathout and Linda Stuart
Culture Minister Marc Miller announced Wednesday that he is directing the CRTC to review its recent decision to regulate online streamers and Canadian broadcasters, which sets out mandatory contributions toward the broadcasting system.
The CRTC’s new requirements, which raises to 15 per cent the financial obligation on foreign streamers, “would impose new costs on the companies providing these services, which could ultimately fall on Canadian consumers through higher prices,” said a Canadian Heritage press release Wednesday. The regulator…
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