CRTC working group finalizing new media reporting requirements

The CRTC’s new media working group has finalized some of its reporting requirements for new media broadcasting services, which are now preparing revenue reports for the commission. “The only way we can know if there is a need for regulation on side is if we have information,” Kelly Lynne Ashton, director of policy for the Writer’s Guild of Canada and member of the working group, said in a phone interview. Last August, the CRTC announced a policy to request relevant financial information from new media broadcasting services affiliated with licensed broadcasters. At the time, the commission issued a call for participation in a new media working group to develop standard requirements for the reporting of new media revenues, expenditures, and other data. The new media working group was formed last fall as an advisory body made up of broadcasters and industry groups and chaired by commission staff. The Wire Report has confirmed a full list of the members of the working group, which includes: the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Astral, Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., CBC/Radio-Canada, the Directors Guild of Canada, the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations, Quebecor Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., the Canadian Media Production Association, ZoomerMedia and others. Until the CRTC’s announcement last August, broadcasters were not required to report revenues and expenses pertaining to online video distribution, leaving out information about a growing segment of the industry. A CRTC official said the group met for two formal meetings in October and December 2010 and will meet again this spring. The official said by email that during last year’s meetings members discussed the “appropriate definitions and metrics for revenues and expenses” to be collected from affiliated new media broadcasters on an annual basis. In a second phase, the working group will determine the reporting requirements about the types and amounts of new media content available. In 1999, the CRTC established a new media exemption order that exempts broadcasters from the regulation of new media content such as online video. The exemption was aimed at helping a burgeoning industry grow. The commission has said it intends to review the exemption in 2014. Ashton said it is difficult to determine whether lifting the exemption is necessary when there is so little data available on the distribution of new media content. “Anytime new media is discussed, the broadcasters say everything is fine, that there is plenty of content available, and that they aren’t making any money. We say there is a problem, but we don’t have any facts to back that up,” she said. Ashton said the broadcasters have already been asked to fill out reports about their expenses and revenues, but those reports are unlikely to be passed onto to the working group. She said the working group's opinions are divided between the content producers and the broadcasters. “Anybody related to the content side wants to see more information . Anyone related to the broadcaster or side wants to release less information,” she said. Joanne Deer, director of public policy and communications for ACTRA, said in an interview Thursday that she would like to see a breakdown of the number of hours of dramatic programming that broadcasters are putting online, and how many of those hours are Canadian. But those details will be worked out this spring. "You can't schedule Canadian programming online the same way you can with traditional television, but what we've been arguing for is for broadcasters to make it available and easy for Canadians to find and watch online,” Deer said. CTV, Rogers, ZoomerMedia and the Directors Guild declined to comment on the meetings. Shaw and the CBC were unavailable for interviews Thursday. The commission official said the group's meeting this spring will discuss content and the appropriate measuring tools “to be used to monitor the consumption and availability of broadcasting content in new media.” Concerns about content stem from statistics showing that Canadians are watching more television programming online—a platform that does not face any Canadian content exhibition quotas or contribution requirements. Production groups want to ensure that, in the new media landscape, Canadian content is consumed. “The audiences aren’t just in front of the television. Canadian programming needs to be supported wherever audiences are,” Ashton said. asmith@thewirereport.ca

CRTC working group finalizing new media reporting requirements

Broadcast | March 17, 2011

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us