Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 4 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Artificial intelligence doesn’t solve Canada’s media problem – it reframes it.
For decades, Canada’s structural challenge wasn’t a shortage of creative talent, it was the limitations of a small domestic market. The US dominated global television because its domestic revenues were large enough to support production values that travelled. Canada couldn’t match those economics, but Canadian content did find international markets when funded by the Walled Garden…
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The members of the Global Coalition on Telecommunications (GCOT), which includes Canada, announced Monday the European Union, represented by the European Commission, has become the coalition’s first strategic partner.
GCOT was established in 2023 by the governments of Canada, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to foster multilateral cooperation on telecommunications security, resilience and innovation policy. In March 2026, the coalition’s membership was expanded to include the governments of Finland and Sweden.
The new strategic partnership “recognizes the valuable contributions that the Coalition and the European…
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Editor’s note: The minister took to X on May 7, 2026 to say the $6B was an “error.”
By Ahmad Hathout
Culture Minister Marc Miller told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Tuesday that the implementation of a federal tax credit for broadcasting news could be worth as much as $6 billion.
The federal government’s spring economic update, released last week, includes a promise to hold a public consultation on expanding the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit – currently reserved for written news – to the broadcasting sector.
“For me, it’s not a question of if, but…
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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 3 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Whenever Canadian media lands an international hit, our reflex is always, “How do we make more of those?” A show succeeds, the spotlight follows, and we assume all the system needs is more ambition, better marketing, or extra funding for lookalike projects.
That logic makes sense, but it’s only half the story.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: just because a show succeeds doesn’t mean the business does, or that…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The attorney general, on behalf of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to intervene in SaskTel’s challenge to the CRTC’s fibre access mandate, arguing the outcome could impact the ability of the federal government to shape telecom policy and impair its cabinet direction power broadly.
Late last week, the AG filed a motion for leave to intervene in SaskTel’s challenge to the CRTC’s decision to force the legacy telcos to open their bundled fibre networks to competitors. SaskTel is arguing there is an inherent conflict between Continue Reading
Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 2 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Canada’s media sector consistently produces strong creative talent, compelling content, and flashes of international success. The deeper issue isn’t simply decline, it’s that we haven’t redesigned the system to capture the new opportunities streaming and AI now offer. As a result, Canada keeps missing out on the real upside, time after time.
Canada invents, but rarely converts. We produce cultural milestones that spark briefly and then fade,…
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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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The total economic impact of Canada’s media and advertising sector contributed $22.6 billion to the country’s GDP in 2024, but the sector faces critical job losses due to declining digital ad revenue, according to the latest Canadian Media Means Business report, released earlier this month.
“Foreign tech platforms are siphoning our ad dollars and starving Canadian media,” said Sarah Thompson, project leader of Canadian Media Means Business (CMMB), a consortium of media owners and industry associations, in a press release. “This industry is a massive economic engine, yet we are bleeding…
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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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Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 1 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Canada’s media system is rich in creativity, talent, and public support. The real challenge isn’t a shortage of resources – it’s market design. Policies and industry structures have fallen out of step with how media value is generated and sustained today.
Canada’s media policy was designed in the broadcast era. Imagine: a relatively small number of channels, set schedules, and not much choice for viewers. This period…
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