Creative groups step up pressure to keep strict Cancon rules

Creative groups are ramping up their campaign to convince the federal government to overrule a decision by Canada’s broadcast regulator that they argue will cut investments in made-in-Canada television programming by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Nineteen groups representing media producers, writers, directors and actors published a letter Monday imploring Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly to overturn or send back the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission’s decision to lower the amount some broadcasters must spend on dramas, comedies, award shows, children’s programs and documentaries.

Four of these groups filed formal petitions in June asking cabinet to set aside the decision, but more joined the chorus as the government’s Aug. 14 deadline to take action approaches. Cabinet appeals rarely work, yet the group is trying all means to reverse the decision they estimate will slash budgets by $911 million over five years.

“It’s important to keep this on the public and political radar,” Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) CEO Reynolds Mastin said Monday. “We think these decisions go completely contrary to what Minister Joly is trying to achieve.”

There’s also a time crunch to influence Joly’s opinion before she releases the government’s review of support for Canadian content in the digital era, expected in September. This could shake up the industry’s funding model, which has traditionally relied on CRTC regulations to push spending on Canadian content or “Cancon.”

Joly has indicated a shift toward promotion of Cancon rather than maintaining the existing model of quotas and subsidies as Canadians increasingly get their content from streaming services such as Netflix.

The government has outright rejected a Netflix or internet tax to fund content, leaving creative groups to rely on broadcasters for now. That’s why they’re angry at the CRTC’s decision to set the floor for spending on programs of national interest at five per cent of revenue for the three major broadcasters Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc.

Rogers’s spending was already set at five per cent, but Bell and Corus were historically required to spend more (Bell acquired Astral, which spent 16 per cent on such programs, and Corus spent nine per cent).

The creative groups expect to see a “meaningful” dip in spending by Corus and Bell, Mastin said. An analysis by Nordicity estimated production would fall by $189 million in 2017-18 and $911 million over the five-year licence period.

For their part, the broadcasters asked the CRTC for standardized spending levels. Bell said it needed the flexibility to spend on relevant programming and Corus said it would exceed the proposed spending level in spaces that warrant higher spending.

Tax credits were the largest funding source for Canadian television production in 2015-16 at 28 per cent, followed by the broadcaster fees at 18 per cent, and foreign funding at 13 per cent.

The groups advocate the government maintain spending at historical levels in order to keep talent from fleeing south of the border, Mastin said. He argues that without the cash and the requirement that Canadian content be shown during prime time, shows won’t get the much-needed promotion.

Joly’s press secretary, Pierre-Olivier Herbert, said the government is still reviewing the impact of the decision.