Digital giants need to commit more
MONTREAL – When Catherine Tait became president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, the strategic review that her predecessor, Hubert Lacroix had put in place was in its last phase and therefore she jumped into the elaboration of a new strategic plan that should be launched towards the end of May having been approved by the board.
The previous plan was mostly about the digital transformation of the CBC/Radio-Canada which, according to the CBC had been a great success as they had targeted doubling their digital reach by 2020 but reached that target in 2018.
The new plan will be more about how to leverage that success into reaching out to greater audiences.
Last Friday, in a speech at the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal she shared some elements of this new plan. “Becoming the spearhead for Canadian content in international markets will be a key objective… That plan, which we’ll be unveiling soon, is inspired by strategies that are showing results. And especially from countries here, thanks to their public broadcasters, are making their mark,” she said in French.
Three segments to that international outreach:
- “First, we are creating partnerships to increase our investments in culture and deepen our impact.
- Second, we’re focusing on our strengths. Canada has been a world-leading producer of children’s content for more than twenty years.
- Third, we’re looking to amplify our incredible success in podcasting by expanding our international audience.”
Such efforts not only would extend the reach of Canadian culture and values on the international scene but would increase the revenues of the Corporation.
Creating partnership can widen the window of its production by bringing more production value AND reaching out to more audiences. There is a downside, however. When you do a co-production with Netflix, for example, the CBC keeps the Canadian rights, but Netflix keeps the rest. That is the price to pay to be available to 149 million subscribers across the world.
But it is not without benefits, for example, Anne with an E was the 6th most “binged” show on Netflix in 2018, not in Canada but across the world (Google it!), she said.
It was also clear in the speech Tait doesn’t exactly like the effect FAANGs of this world (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) are having on Canadian culture but she is still trying to leverage their presence to benefit the Corporation and Canada. “That’s why as the public broadcaster, we are supporting an ambitious goal: to ensure the international reach and influence of Canadian culture.”
"We can demand commitments—for example, in terms of funding for Canadian productions and discoverability. We can also reclaim access to the data on how our content is being consumed." – Catherine Tait, CBC
“As I said earlier, I am passionate about culture, but I’m also a businesswoman. To me, it’s obvious that targeting a larger market will ensure a better return on our investment.”
Canada already has a strong reputation in the creation of children programming and through co-production we can make more and reach more eyeballs and grow from there.
On the podcast side, the ICI PREMIÈRE has just signed a distribution agreement with Spotify that will ensure unprecedented reach for the most popular French-language.
“Alongside these efforts, and always in keeping with our mandate, we will also continue to actively seek ways to generate commercial revenue. Because being financially sustainable is essential if we’re going to invest in quality content,” she added.
Yes, she did call for more money, but that is barely news anymore. Every CBC CEO who we can remember has done this.
She also reiterated her call for non-Canadian online players to contribute to the system. “Part of the response to the challenge, of course, must come from government,” Tait said. “The ongoing review of the media legislative framework could be the opportunity to restore a more balanced playing field with the foreign-owned giants. We can demand commitments—for example, in terms of funding for Canadian productions and discoverability. We can also reclaim access to the data on how our content is being consumed.
“All of us—the public broadcaster, private broadcasters, all our cultural organizations—have a responsibility to invest in Canadian culture and ensure that it thrives,” she added. “The interest in our country and our stories extends beyond our borders. We know this, we see it, and we are responding.
“It’s a winning strategy at every level: for our businesses, for jobs, for our creators, for Canadians, and for our culture here at home. It’s a strategy that we are putting into action, in everything that we do.”
