OTTAWA – Bev Oda told the principal private funders of the Canadian Television Fund that she wants to meet with them next week.
"I have received letters from Shaw Communications and Videotron announcing that they will withhold their contributions to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF)," said Oda in a release.
As reported by Cartt.ca this week, both BDUs have decided to pull their funding of the production fund with complaints of accountability to the fact they believe money goes to the CBC. In response, the CTF has retained legal counsel and wants to force the two distributors back on side.
"In light of the seriousness of this and the impact on the Canadian production and broadcasting industries, I am calling a meeting with the principal funders of the CTF, in Ottawa, next week," added Oda.
"I look forward to working together with this industry to ensure the continuation of our strong and vibrant production and broadcasting industry in Canada."
The Canadian Film and Television Producers Association also demanded action today, calling on the CRTC to act.
"Shaw and Vidéotron’s threat to withdraw from the Fund cannot go unchallenged. We have asked the CRTC to take action to ensure that cable providers continue to comply with the regulations," said Guy Mayson, president and CEO, CFTPA.
Shaw and Videotron make up about $70 million of the fund’s $150 million in revenue from the industry. The other $100 million comes from the federal government.
"The Fund is a huge success story and has served the industry extremely well. We need to ensure that the Fund is maintained and made stronger by supporting the CTF and the Government’s commitment to it," added Mayson. "It causes us great concern that some cable companies are not taking their responsibility to invest in the creation of quality Canadian programs seriously."
"To suggest that Canadians don’t watch Canadian programming is simply wrong. You only have to look at the success of shows like Da Vinci’s Inquest, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Trailer Park Boys, and Little Mosque on the Prairie to name a few, to see that Canadians love seeing their own stories on television. Shaw and Vidéotron’s contributions to the Canadian Television Fund are not discretionary, and we are aggressively pursuing all options to get that message across.," added Ira Levy, chair of the board of CFTPA.
As for the CBC, it just wants to make clear it doesn’t directly receive any CTF funds, as noted in a Letter to the Editor of Cartt.ca this week.
"Contrary to allegations by Vidéotron Ltée and Shaw Communications Inc., not a penny of the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) is paid to CBC/Radio-Canada," reads the Corp.’s release.
But, "(w)ithout the CTF, Canadians would receive fewer original high-quality Canadian programs," said CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch. "The CTF, and the independent producers funded by the CTF, play a critical role in supporting the distinctively Canadian nature of CBC/Radio-Canada’s prime-time English and French schedules."
"In the English market, CBC Television is the only Canadian conventional broadcaster dedicated to airing original Canadian content in prime time when the greatest number of Canadians are watching television. It stands to reason that a significant amount of the production subsidized by the CTF will end up on the network that airs the most Canadian programming," explains the release.
"Similarly in the French market, Télévision de Radio-Canada is the single largest investor in original Canadian programming and therefore broadcasts a significant proportion of the programs funded by the CTF. For instance, in the current season, Télévision de Radio-Canada offers 17 original Canadian drama series, including 10 brand new ones.
"English-language private TV networks in Canada broadcast American-made programs for the most part, and French private networks devote more and more air time to popular reality shows. Given that, the loss in original Canadian programming, and especially drama, would be considerable if independent producers could not benefit from CTF financing for their projects destined to CBC/Radio-Canada," concludes the release.
– Greg O’Brien
