OTTAWA – More flexible deal making, predictable and long-term funding for CBC/Radio-Canada and a light hand from the broadcast regulator are key to ensure Canadian content can be successful, achieve scale and make it on the international market, according to a panel of broadcast industry executives at the Canadian Media Production Association’s annual Prime Time conference.
In the opening panel session called Getting Ahead of Change, Bell Media president Kevin Crull noted that getting international success for Canadian content and the financing of big expensive projects will only come from having a solid domestic market, which is being destabilized by an aggressive regulator and ill-informed politicians.
“Every country that has success exporting content, it’s funded by a healthy domestic industry,“ he said. “If we don’t have a healthy domestic market, Canada will never, ever, ever, ever have a chance at [global success].”
Many on the panel agreed that a thriving domestic market can help propel Canadian content to international success. A critical part to a healthy domestic broadcast market is having a well funded public broadcaster.
“If you look at the English language market around the world having a very, very strong and well funded public broadcaster is absolutely part of the foundation … to training creators, it’s a foundation to supporting the idea that your culture matters and has resonance and has a life beyond yourself. it’s just critical,” argued Heather Conway, executive VP of English Services at the CBC.
The national public broadcaster has been one of the governing Conservatives’ favourite targets for criticism. In recent years, the federal government has levelled significant cuts to CBC, which as a result has had to lay off staff and shift programming priorities.
Michael MacMillan, CEO at Blue Ant Media, said it’s time to recognize the significant role that the public broadcaster can play in developing a healthy domestic market.
“I think unless we smarten up and give the CBC long-term, reliable and predictable funding we’re all screwed.” – Michael MacMillan, Blue Ant Media
“I think unless we smarten up and give the CBC long-term, reliable and predictable funding we’re all screwed,” he said to loud applause. “We, collectively as an industry, have to stop using the CBC as a whipping boy. It shouldn’t be. It isn’t. It’s essential to developing generations of Canadians in this industry and we have to stop it… It’s only a small amount of money per year folks per capita that goes to the CBC. We can’t nibble it to death.”
Enabling a healthy domestic market isn’t the only critical success factor for Canadian content. Allowing broadcasters, content creators and distributors more flexibility in negotiating agreements would go a long way.
Doug Murphy, president, COO and CEO designate at Corus Entertainment, noted creativity doesn’t only exist for scripts and story telling, but also for deal making, adding that terms of trade restricts the industry’s ability to make good deals.
“Every deal, every business model behind a hit show is it’s own work of art,” he said. “Every single deal we do is like a snow flake, it’s always unique and we’re now forced to work within a very confined structure which I think limits creativity.”
John Morayniss, CEO at Entertainment One Television, agreed.
“The kinds of deals we do with buyers [in the US] are all over the map. Sometimes it’s licence fees, other times it’s co-ownership deals, sometimes it’s shared distribution rights,” he said. “I feel right now in Canada there’s too much of a restrictive regime to allow us that creativity… to make these kinds of deals that will support the entire ecosystem not just the producer, not just the distributor, not just the creator, not just the broadcaster, but the entire ecosystem.”
A panel session on looking into the future of the Canadian broadcasting system wouldn’t be complete without touching on some hot button issues. This one was no different with panelists exploring the unbundling issue. Crull acknowledged that Bell supported unbundling as long as it was part of an integrated approach that included a legitimate and secure rights regime and a light regulatory touch from the CRTC. On the wholesale side, he added, that players need time to deal with new policies.
“The wholesale market needs to be allowed to adapt to unbundling,” said Crull. “The kinds of deals we do to distribute our content needs to now be dramatically overhauled. … It needs to be more of a free market, let the market figure out how to distribute the content, pay for it.”
As well, he worried about the messages coming out of Ottawa’s politicians who are assuming “everyone” is switching to over-the-top content, when that’s not the case, nor can an $8/month Netflix subscription support the content people love now.
MacMillan added that content owners will also have to deal with some potential unintended consequences of unbundling.
“If you’re not owned by a major carrier, you’ve got a problem and the devil will be in the details. And unless there are specific measures included in that decision, many people including some of the folks on this panel could be the unintended direct victims of this.”
