Rebranded CMPA lobbying for digital rights trade agreements with broadcasters

The former Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) says it is approaching the CRTC to discuss a new digital rights framework between its members and broadcasters. The CFTPA, which re-branded this week as the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), released a survey last week of independent producers who said they don't get paid enough for digital distribution. “It would be to the benefit of independent producers and broadcasters to negotiate trade agreements to provide for a framework of digital rights,” Reynolds Mastin, CMPA counsel, told The Wire Report. “We have had discussions on and on about that, tied to the license renewal of the broadcasters, the big ones. But we’ll see where that goes.” He said the organization wants to conclude new trade agreements with the broadcasters—covering the exploitation of multi-platform rights—no later than the broadcasting licence renewal hearings scheduled at the CRTC next spring. “There’s a crying need for that,” he said. “The commission has reiterated in a number of policy statements its support for terms of trade and the need for terms of trade to be concluded between broadcasters and producers.” The CMPA survey, titled “A Framework for Digital Rights,” was released last week, and called for a universal framework that would determine how much a television show creator, for example, should receive when a show is archived and streamed on a network’s website. The report surveyed the CMPA’s 375 members, and received a 25 per cent response rate with 96 members participating in the online survey. Not all participants answered all questions. In one question where 90 members participated, 53 per cent of linear producers and 35 per cent of digital producers said their digital properties are “undervalued by a large measure.” That compared to nine per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, who said their product is priced fairly. Much like the newspaper industry saw its readership migrate to free websites in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Canadian television broadcasters are facing the problem of people watching television shows for free online—on the broadcaster websites and platforms like iTunes, Hulu or the Pirate Bay. Faster Internet streaming is bringing events like the FIFA World Cup to computer screens rather than television tubes. The trouble is, nobody quite knows the value of broadcasting a show online. When asked if there is an easy way to determine the value of new media versus traditional properties, Howard Bernstein, a former television producer with experience working for most of the major English networks in Canada, joked that if he knew the answer, he would be a rich man. Bernstein said it's a question that will probably best be answered through regulation. But working as a producer, Bernstein said he has seen how tough it is for the networks to make money. “The independents are getting really squeezed, but it's hard to get mad at the networks. They're losing money and they're trying to look at ways to survive … when nobody is making money, how can you be mad at anyone? For me, that's the worst of it.” Online advertising is still in its nascent stages, and with the memory of the “Save Local TV” campaign fresh in broadcasters’ minds, observers like Bernstein say it’s difficult for major television networks to look at anything but survival. Bernstein said that, for years, producers have looked for independent sources of funding from grants and co-productions with other companies while keeping in mind that traditional broadcasting is not the only way to distribute content. Mark Bishop, a partner at Toronto-based content creation company marblemedia, said the company has always focused on entertainment in many platforms, with television and interactivity working hand-in-hand. “It's very important to us that our audience has the best possible experience with our properties across different platforms. Television still makes up a large part of our business, as budgets are higher, but interactive content has always been just as important to us,” he said by email. Bishop said his team saw the shift to digital coming years ago, and prepared itself accordingly. One of the company’s new shows this fall, The Dating Guy, will put as much effort into its interactive website as the television show. “We haven't had to shift our priorities, as we've always created television and interactive content concurrently to complement each other from the beginning. It's always been part of our framework and our business plan.” news@thewirereport.ca -- CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified one of marblemedia's new shows this fall. The correct name of the show is The Dating Guy.

Rebranded CMPA lobbying for digital rights trade agreements with broadcasters

Broadcast | June 18, 2010

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