OTTAWA – In a speech today at an Economic Club of Canada event, Minister of Canadian Heritage Melanie Joly officially unveiled the federal government’s long awaited digital content strategy. Dubbed 'Creative Canada', the plan has angered some and sated others and calls for increased investments to support both domestic production as well as the promotion of Canadian content abroad.
The release of the strategy comes a day after news leaked that the federal government had inked an agreement with Netflix that would see the online broadcaster and distributor invest a minimum of $500 million in Canadian productions over the next…
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GATINEAU – On Thursday, new CRTC chairman Ian Scott received his “welcome letter” from the two ministers who oversee the Commission, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains.
The former government called such letters “mandate letters” which sounded a lot more like directives so this welcoming letter is more visionary, even though it uses the word mandate in its opening paragraph. We’ve copied it below and highlighted what we think might be the most important parts.
However, this being Ottawa, where everything is infused with politics, we’ll leave the reading between the lines to…
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OTTAWA – Netflix is building a permanent film and television production company in Canada that will invest at least $500 million in original content in both official languages over the next five years.
Folded in to Heritage Minister Joly’s new Investment Canada Act, the agreement is the first of its kind outside the United States for the streaming giant, who pledged to be “a meaningful partner in supporting Canadian creators, producers and the Canadian creative expression.”
Netflix also agreed to highlight and promote the new Canadian content to its subscribers in Canada and internationally, plus create a "market development strategy" to support Canadian French-language content on its platform. Centered…
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CBC/Radio-Canada explores credibility, democracy and public values at Annual General Meeting
OTTAWA – Despite “serious financial challenges, a fragmented ecosystem, the appearance of the global Facebooks and Netflixes of the world who have absolutely weakened the broadcasting model that used to support our industry,” CBC/Radio-Canada remains relevant and is thriving in a digital world, according to Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO.
In a presentation to the corporation’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, the chief executive, who’s nearing the end of his term, noted that when he took the reins in November 2007, digital mainstays like the iPad and Netflix didn’t exist,…
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OTTAWA – The Governor-in-Council, as directed by Minister of Heritage Mélanie Joly, has told the CRTC to get cracking on a new report – which must be done by June 1, 2018.
The new Order-in-Council, released Friday – just in advance of the Minister’s release of her review of Canadian content in a digital world today, tells the Commission, with all the appropriate “wherases”, that:
“Whereas Canada ratified, in November 2005, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions; Whereas the Government of Canada has announced a review of…
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Like, will broadcaster rules now apply to the streamer?
REPORTS LATE MONDAY said that the centrepiece of Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly’s 17-months-in-the-making strategy to energize, or backstop, the production of Canadian content in our always-on-and-everywhere digital age is that she has secured a commitment from Netflix to spend $500 million over five years “on the production and distribution” of Canadian content.
On the face of it, this is welcome news. Who in the creative industries wouldn’t like to see another $100 million spent annually on Cancon?
However, I hope this plan, which Minister Joly will officially announce in Ottawa today, has a…
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MONTREAL – More than 270 members of Canada’s film and television industry are demanding that U.S. web-based media giants like Google, Facebook, Netflix and Amazon play by the same rules as Canadian media.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland dated September 26, the groups ask that the multinational media companies be regulated and taxed like their Canadian competitors.
“Unlike regulated Canadian companies, these foreign companies do not provide any information on their activities in Canada as required by CRTC regulations. They do not pay taxes. They do not pay…
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ACCORDING TO REPORTS from France this week, the country will enact a new levy on all providers of online video, beginning January 1, 2018.
According to a story in French newspaper Le Monde, a tax of 2% on revenues earned in the country will be applied to any company providing free or paid videos on the Internet, which will include such heavyweights as Netflix, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. Such a tax has been applied for more than two decades on French broadcasters, pay-per-view and VOD companies.
The monies collected are meant to go to creators to…
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OTTAWA – Heritage Canada has kicked off a national search for two individuals to be nominated by Minister Mélanie Joly to the TV5 Québec Canada Board of Directors.
According to the appointment notice, the two part-time directors will serve for a four year period, renewable at the Minister’s discretion. The current structure of the TV5 Québec Canada Board consists of 11 directors, two of whom are designated by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
TV5 Québec Canada reaches more than 10 million Canadian homes and operates two French-language channels, TV5 and Unis TV, which are included in the basic digital television services…
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Release date likely September 28th
I FEEL FOR HERITAGE MINISTER Mélanie Joly. Seventeen months ago when she kicked off her wide-ranging review into Canadian Content in a Digital World, she bravely put “everything” on the table. She said that a LOT and you know what, if you want to take a holistic look at Canadian content in the midst of a swirling media world that seems to evolve daily into something new, it’s a good idea.
However, it’s gone a bit off the rails.
The problem with everything on the table – is that it’s a damn crowded table, complete with stakeholders…
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