By Ahmad Hathout
A $600,000 lifeline to a fund that bankrolls public interest participation in CRTC proceedings is again being financed through the authorities of the Canada Media Fund over a two-year period.
“This funding will ensure that Canadian public interest and consumer groups will continue to have the financial support needed to intervene in broadcasting proceedings before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC),” says a January post on the Broadcasting Participation Fund (BPF) website, noting proceedings related to the Online News Act will not be funded through this program.
The details of the funding arrangement are outlined…
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In its spring economic update Tuesday, the federal government extended support for the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Creative Export Strategy, allocating $19 million per year over the next five years to help Canadian creative industries achieve success in the global market.
Launched in 2018 with an initial investment of $125 million over five years, the Creative Export Strategy was previously renewed in 2023 with a further government investment of $57 million over three years.
Canadian Heritage’s Creative Export Canada program, which is part of its…
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Has been a central request of broadcast industry for years
By Ahmad Hathout
The federal government announced Tuesday that it will consult on extending the Canadian journalism labour tax credit to radio and broadcast news production.
The incentive program allows eligible newsrooms to claim a 35 per cent refundable credit on up to $85,000 in labour costs per employee per year for a maximum credit of nearly $30,000 per employee. The credit, which was introduced by the Liberal government in 2019, was increased 10 per cent in the spring of 2024 and is expected to return to 25 per cent for…
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Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller announced Tuesday the members of an advisory panel on the modernization of federal support for the audiovisual sector in Canada.
Miller made the announcement at the annual conference of the Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM), being held this week at the Hilton Lac-Leamy in Gatineau.
The Canadian government is currently reviewing how it supports the audiovisual sector, as “he current framework for federal audiovisual support was built for a different era and needs to evolve so Canadian stories can thrive, both at home…
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Heritage committee recommends copyright protections for content scooped up by bots
By Ahmad Hathout
Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) inquired about what an “opt-out” mechanism would look like for AI-generated news summaries on platforms such as Google, according to a document obtained by Cartt, before the standing committee on Canadian Heritage recommended copyright protections for news content scooped up by bots.
The department, which has been touting Canada’s commitment to AI research and development, had prepared a note ahead of a meeting last fall with News Media Canada, the association for Canadian media that has been sounding the…
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Canada’s film and television production industry generated $10.17 billion in production volume in the 2024-25 fiscal year, a 4.6-per-cent increase year over year, according to the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA)’s annual economic report, Profile 2025, released Monday.
The sector also contributed $11.72 billion to Canada’s GDP, and created 181,360 jobs across Canadian television and theatrical feature film production, broadcaster in-house production, and foreign location and service (FLS) production during the fiscal year, according to the report, which covers the period between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.
The report showed…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) says it is committing to expanding funding eligibility to online streamers and international distributors in what it calls a “meaningful evolution in who gets a seat at the table.”
The fund says it wants to “remove barriers” to the money “for a wider range of creators, platforms, and partners,” which also includes indigenous and equity-deserving communities. This comes as the CRTC works to integrate streamers into the broadcasting system and having them get more involved in Canadian productions.
The CMF goal falls under the “maximize” portion of a four-part, three-year strategic plan, released Thursday.
“The…
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MP Champoux says CBC head still needs to explain the strategy for the channel’s distribution
By Ahmad Hathout
Following backlash, Radio-Canada said Friday it has asked Amazon to stop taking subscriptions for its ICI RDI on Prime Video until it can offer the 24-hour French-language news channel on its own ICI Tou.TV service.
“Sensitive to public concerns expressed following its announcement of the distribution agreement for ICI RDI on Prime Video, Radio-Canada has asked Prime Video to pause the channel’s signal for new subscriptions,” the public broadcaster said in a press release Friday afternoon. “This will allow the public broadcaster to…
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CBC says it’s listening to concerns, but expounds on why it did the deal
By Ahmad Hathout
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage will call the president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada to explain the public broadcaster’s decision to make its news products available on Amazon Prime Video as add-on subscriptions.
A motion, introduced by Bloc Quebecois MP Martin Champoux, to bring Marie-Philippe Bouchard before the committee was received favourably by the Liberals and Conservatives and passed at the end of the committee’s study session Tuesday on the state of journalism and media.
A date for Bouchard’s appearance will be determined later. The committee…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A coalition of independent television stations has submitted an application to the CRTC requesting the regulator compel Meta to come to the bargaining table after alleging the social media giant has been hosting news programming without paying.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it had banned Canadian news on its platforms after the Online News Act, which requires technology platforms to pay to link that content, became law in 2023. Late last year, the CRTC said it acknowledged measures taken by the company to comply with the law Continue Reading
