By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has contract work for a study on the “promotion, discoverability, and prominence of Canadian content across the broadcasting system.”
The research study, posted to the federal government’s procurement website Monday, will need to look into the “business strategies and practices across the spectrum of media and industry stakeholders and regulatory approaches regarding the discoverability and prominence of audio and audiovisual Canadian content across the Canadian broadcasting system,” the contract says.
The regulator wants to understand, among other things, tools used to promote content; how business models vary between online services, including ad- and subscription-supported content and video-on-demand; what strategies are used to increase awareness of content, including the impact on consumers of cross-promotion and vertical integration of content producers and distributors; the existing discoverability, promotion and prominence tools at the pre-production, production and all stages of a program on all media and whether the different media require different strategies; what strategies could be employed to enhance CanCon discoverability abroad; and the type and role hardware technology plays in accessing content, including on smart TVs, smartphone apps and dedicated streaming services.
The research must also include a section examining the distinct strategies for diverse markets, such as for indigenous communities, Francophones within and outside of Quebec and equity-deserving groups; a section on defining success, whether that be promotional strategies used, prominence on platforms or audience to which it is targeting; and finally, a section on recommendations.
The language of the contract is posted verbatim below.
The work should include interviews with a “large array of media and industry stakeholders including, but not limited to, different rights holders in the industry, Canadian and international online (i.e. streaming services), traditional (i.e. radio and television services) Canadian broadcasters, and international regulators,” the scope of work section further reads.
Earlier this month, the commission launched a consultation on the visibility of Canadian content and the relationship between various players in the industry. It’s all part of the modernization of the Broadcasting Act, which is being overhauled to include regulating foreign streamers as part of the new law, the Online Streaming Act.
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Section 1: The tools of promotion, discoverability, and prominence.
The tools used to promote content and render it discoverable and prominent could differ depending on the specific media and industry stakeholder; therefore, the study must appropriately identify the discoverability and prominence strategies based on the business models and avenue of consumption (e.g., radio, television, online) involved. This section will include subsections based on:
a) Content promotion occurring at various stages of production and distribution, which involves the use of different business models to monetize content. Consider in the analysis:
- How business models vary between online services and by identifying the effectiveness of promotional tools and/or methods employed by each model including, but not limited to, ad-supported, video on demand, subscription based).
- What strategies and methods are used to increase awareness of audio and audiovisual content with consumers:
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- Describing the extent to which cross-promotion and vertical integration of content producers and distributors influence consumer behaviour.
- Identifying strategies and methods deployed to influence specific market sectors and/or demographics of consumers.
- Identifying the tools for discoverability, promotion and prominence at the pre-production, production and all stages of the lifecycle of a program including but not limited to broadcast, distribution and windowing.
- Determining if the medium of content (i.e. audio or audiovisual) requires unique implementation of promotion strategies.
- Identifying strategies and methods to enhance the promotion, discoverability, and monetization of Canadian content for audiences outside Canada.
b) The interface between online platforms and consumers, including the role of content delivery technology and consumer behaviour in rendering content prominent, discoverable, and marketable. Consider and provide analysis and information on:
- The type and role of hardware technology used to access content (including but not limited to smart televisions, smartphone applications, and dedicated streaming devices).
- The type of tools and strategies used to collect and understand consumer behaviour data as well as how that data is used to render content discoverable, prominence, and marketable.
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- The CRTC is not requesting confidential information regarding services’ algorithms; rather, the study should demonstrate the use cases for leveraging aggregate consumer data to render content prominent, discoverable, and marketable.
- Finding data on the popularity of Canadian content and cross-referencing it, to the extent possible, with techniques related to discoverability, prominence, and marketing.
Section 2: Diverse Markets
The Canadian broadcasting system provides diverse programming for Canadian audiences. The CRTC recognizes that the tools and methods to promote specific content to Francophone, Indigenous and equity-deserving groups7 may not align with the tools and methods to promote Anglophone content. Therefore, the CRTC requires the Contractor to use the technical and business tools detailed in Section 1 of the study as a lens through which to explore the following four language and cultural markets separately and for both audio and audiovisual broadcasting and online services:
- Indigenous peoples
- Francophones within the province of Quebec
- Francophones outside the province of Quebec
- Equity-deserving groups
For each of the above:
- a) Conduct in-depth research and comparative analysis on:
- Factors specific to that language or cultural market that require distinct strategies within the industry to target audiences with specific preferences and needs.
- The intersectionality of audiences in the language and cultural markets.
- Consideration of the Government of Quebec initiatives regarding the discoverability and prominence of Quebecois and Canadian Francophone content within, as well as outside, the province of Quebec.
- The factors that drive the rendering of audio and audiovisual content targeted to the above language and cultural groups prominent, discoverable, marketable to all audiences in Canada.
- The factors that drive the rendering of Canadian audio and audiovisual content targeted to the above language and cultural groups as well as anglophone content, prominent, discoverable, marketable to all audiences outside Canada.
Section 3: Defining Success
The success of any given program may vary based on the promotional strategies employed, its prominence on platforms, or the audience to which it was targeted.
For the content examined in Sections 1 and 2 above, the Contractor will:
a) Conduct research on how media and industry stakeholders define “success,” considering the following:
The conclusions from interviews and desk research:
- The use of discoverability and promotional tools across business models
- The success factors from each language and culture markets
- The metric and factors to define success by broadcasters
- Audiences’ response to the content and ease of acces
- The type and role of hardware technology used (including but not limited to smart media consumption devices, smart televisions, and mobile device applications)
- The type of tools used to collect and understand consumer behaviour data.
Section 4: Recommendations
The study will have a section on the best practices and tools identified by the desk research as well as interviews/consultations. The recommendations will include a proposed definition of success and identify the best promotional measures to support content discoverability and prominence for each market based on the distribution methods. The report will include an assessment of how the recommendations fall within the legal mandate of the CRTC.
