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The Cartt.ca Podcast: Nordicity’s Kristian Roberts on the new thinking needed for Canadian media to thrive, post-pandemic



“WHOEVER OWNS THE STUFF, makes the money,” says Nordicity managing partner Kristian Roberts. This of course was true about content before the pandemic, but it will be key for any success post-Covid-19.

Consulting firm Nordicity provides research and advice to companies, governments, regulators and other organizations across Canada and around the work and it has been hard at work of late trying to figure out what the new normal is going to be when it comes to media production and media distribution in Canada.

The most important thing going forward, Kristian Roberts (above) tells our Bill Roberts (and yes, they are related), is maintaining ownership of intellectual property. The divisions between our domestic and a global market are disappearing and “the smart money is in the creation of ownership and content,” says Kristian.

However, that can be great for Canadian producers, who must create the content they want “and be confident about it,” he added. “The time where we try to be Chicago in Toronto is over and it needs to be over.”

Of course, many huge challenges remain. Some are structural (like the financial heft of the digital giants), some pandemic related (such as set insurance so productions can get back to work) and some about fairness (the lack of diversity in the system).

One thing Roberts says is definitely a permanent change coming out of the pandemic. There’s no such thing as digital strategy anymore. “It’s just strategy.”

Please click here to listen to 49 very stimulating, thought-provoking, minutes.