Tait again calls for digital flexibility

CBC/Radio-Canada president Catherine Tait doubled down on its request for greater flexibility to spend on digital services, saying it was needed in order for the CBC to be “a relevant 21st century digital media company”. In an interview at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s Primetime conference, Tait said that this kind of flexibility would grant the CBC more freedom to produce innovative programming, and to keep up with broader developments in the media industry. Tait pushed back on arguments that surfaced at CBC’s CRTC license renewal hearing in January, where some interveners argued that CBC shouldn’t be granted more flexibility to spend its budget on digital production. At that hearing, groups such as the Canadian Media Guild said that the commission should not grant the CBC a “blank cheque” in the form of flexibility. Speaking live to CMPA president Reynolds Mastin on Tuesday, Tait suggested that those who argued against flexible arrangements for digital content had misunderstood the intentions of the broadcaster, presenting this flexibility as a key way for the CBC to remain relevant. “There’s a level of surprise for me, and even disappointment that people did not understand, seemingly, what it is that we are trying to do. And I take responsibility for that — because obviously we haven’t been effective in communicating it is we want to do," Tait said. "When we try to present a bridge to the future, it wasn’t a drawbridge, it didn’t come up behind us, it was to say that to remain relevant to future audiences we have to move this way, we’ve actually already moved, the whole world has .” Tait also told Mastin that the CBC’s programming of national interest (PNI) requirements are also holding it back in the digital realm. The PNI designation is stricter than Canadian content requirements, and refers specifically to programming that centres around Canadian culture. At present, CBC is only allowed to meet its PNI requirements with programming on its TV channel — Tait said that by allowing CBC to count programming on its streaming platform Gem towards its PNI quota, the CRTC could free the broadcaster up to produce distinctly Canadian shows that are more suited to streaming than broadcast TV. “We really want to be able to do those interesting dramas, serialised dramas that people would binge which they won’t on conventional television...the solution is to allow us to have our PNI recognised on that other platform, at which point the dollars will follow.”

Tait again calls for digital flexibility

Brief | February 9, 2021

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Tait again calls for digital flexibility

Brief | February 9, 2021

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