Calls for minister to ban ads on the public broadcaster
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a letter obtained by Cartt.ca, Québecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau brings falling advertising revenues to the attention of the Minister of Canadian Heritage while criticizing the recent renewal of the national public broadcaster’s licences by the CRTC.
“In the face of technological globalization of non-Canadian companies that rely on advertising (FAANG, and soon Netflix and Disney+), which is the only source of revenue for traditional television, the CRTC has decided to maintain the CBC’s power to continue to use it,” Péladeau mentions in his letter (written in French and translate by the reporter).
Quoting the Miller Report, The State of the Canadian Program Rights Market 2022, a study commissioned recently by the CRTC, Péladeau notes that from 2016 to 2020, advertising revenues for private conventional television stations, discretionary and on-demand services combined, declined from $2.8 billion to $2.3 billion.
Furthermore, traditional broadcasting rights are becoming unavailable and finally, the negotiation of exclusivity on series is also at risk as it becomes impossible to acquire subscription video-on-demand rights from U.S. networks.
“In this context, while the realism of our economic conditions should lead us to limit the negative consequences of the loss of advertising revenues on private broadcasters, the CRTC is adding to the decline of these companies by allowing the CBC to exploit a new source of advertising revenue that is controversial, both in terms of transparency and journalistic principles,” he goes on, speaking of Tandem, which creates branded campaign content for corporate clients.
Péladeau concludes by stating, “In the absence of the necessary structural changes, the obligations imposed on foreign platforms in Bill C-11 will be woefully inadequate to ensure the sustainability of the private sector in the Canadian broadcasting system (…). It is up to you to save the diversity of voices in our broadcasting landscape by banning advertising on CBC platforms.”
The deadline for parties to appeal the CRTC’s Decision 2022-165 on the CBC’s licences is next Monday.
We understand Péladeau’s letter should not be viewed as a petition to the Governor in Council. Many, however, are expected to appeal the decision including the Canadian Association of Broadcasting, which is anticipated to make arguments in line with Québecor’s.
