CANADA – Canadian voices are endangered as TV evolves according to a new report from the C.D Howe Institute.
In Strengthening Canadian Television Content: Creation, Discovery and Export in a Digital World authors Lawson Hunter, Kenneth Engelhart and Peter Miller find the future of television and Canadian content is up in the air and examine how regulators can be effective in the new digital world.
The world of Canadian content regulation was developed in an earlier analog environment. Broadcasting was largely a closed system. This meant that all parts of the broadcasting system could be regulated and most were. In addition, there is a system of subsidies designed to help create more domestic content.
But the broadcasting system is no longer closed. High-quality television programming is available from the Internet and Canadians are avid consumers. When TV is delivered over the Internet, none of the Canadian regulations apply.
This state of affairs creates two related problems:
- If Internet-delivered TV continues to increase in popularity, this could lead to a significant decline in the amount of available Canadian television content, at least in the regulated system; and
- If Canadian broadcasters and cable companies are regulated, and Internet- delivered competitors like Netflix are not, it will be difficult for Canadian providers to compete or even to survive, especially if foreign competitors face no Canadian tax.
The authors recommend several changes to regulatory rules to address the challenges ahead including:
- Foreign digital services should be subject to GST/HST.
- A number of CRTC and Canada Media Fund rules and restrictions inhibit export, particularly of Canadian drama. These rules should be relaxed.
As revenues decline in the broadcasting system, the subsidy mechanisms, such as the Canada Media Fund, will need to be topped up with additional funding. Rather than requiring a subsidy from Internet service providers, a better idea is to use some of the proceeds from the auction of 600 MHz wireless spectrum to subsidize declines in the Canada Media Fund.
Finally, the government should conduct a periodic review, perhaps every five years, by a group outside of the CRTC that could determine the health and necessary reforms of the broadcasting system and its ability to support Canadian content.
