CRTC licence decision sent back to drawing board

A controversial CRTC decision that creative groups said would negatively affect the production of Canadian content will be sent back to the CRTC for reconsideration by the federal cabinet, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly announced Monday. The May 15 decision that renewed licences of major French- and English-language ownership groups, among other things, standardized requirements for Canadian programming expenditures (CPEs) at 30 per cent and programs of national interest (PNIs) at five per cent for all groups, conventional stations and discretionary services. “We are asking the CRTC to reconsider these decisions in order to ensure that we achieve the right balance of investment in content and in the ability to compete,” Joly said in a statement Monday. The decision created a flurry of opposition, including nearly 90 formal appeals to Joly to have the decision reversed, as well as signed petitions and newspaper ad campaigns. When pressed on the issue in the House of Commons by NDP and Bloc Québécois colleagues, Joly said she was studying the impact of the decision, and in a June interview noted creator “anxiety” over the issue. The decision also caused consternation specifically among French-language groups and was called out by Quebecor Inc. CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau and Luc Fortin, the Quebec culture minister. In his letter to Joly, Fortin noted that the decision will take away the obligation of Corus Entertainment Inc.’s’ Series+ to invest $1.5 million annually into original French-language dramas. “Canadian broadcasters and creators are at the centre of the broadcasting system, and at a time when our competitive advantage rests on creativity, they must be positioned to succeed,” the statement said. “The Government of Canada recognizes the significant investments Canadian broadcasters make in Canadian content. At the same time, the entire industry is in transition and the next few years will be critical to establishing the conditions for Canadians to be able to compete with the best in the world.” At the beginning of August, BCE Inc., Corus, and Rogers Communications Inc. called for the decision to stand, also in a full-page ad, saying the decision would increase the amount of money large media groups are actually required to spend.

CRTC licence decision sent back to drawing board

Brief | August 14, 2017

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CRTC licence decision sent back to drawing board

Brief | August 14, 2017

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