CMPA accuses Corus of non-compliance, seeks appeal of regulatory relief

The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to quash the CRTC’s decision to grant regulatory relief to Corus Entertainment Inc., claiming the company has not been complying with the spending requirements it was pleading to have loosened. The CMPA argues that the CRTC’s decision to reduce Corus’ obligation to invest in programs of national interest (PNI) from 8.5 per cent of the previous broadcast year’s gross revenues to five per cent was based on a miscalculation and should be overturned. In addition to that obligation, Corus’ condition of service also requires it to commit 75 per cent of its PNI-related expenditures to independent production companies. The CMPA’s application, filed Wednesday, claims that Corus has not complied with that requirement since the 2017-2018 broadcast year, accumulating a shortfall of approximately $41 million. “This shortfall is noncompliant, and it dramatically exceeds any flexibility that Corus’ conditions of service might have provided or that might have been available to it by virtue of the COVID-19-related relief from those conditions extended in ,” the CMPA asserted. “Corus sought relief from the CRTC on the basis that it was a good actor with clean hands; if it was not, the CRTC may not have granted it the regulatory relief it sought.” The CMPA argues that the CRTC's decision was based on a misjudgment of Corus' compliance and is therefore unreasonable. “Corus’ persistent failure to comply with the independent PNI requirement was a relevant consideration bearing on the CRTC’s decision — in particular, it bore on whether Corus should be relieved from that very requirement in any way.” “The CRTC fundamentally misapprehended the evidence or failed to properly account for it,” said the CMPA. The CMPA, along with other creative organizations such as the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, Directors Guild of Canada, and the Writers Guild of Canada, opposed Corus' original request for regulatory relief. The organizations argued that reducing Corus' obligations would significantly impact the independent production sector, which plays a crucial role in supporting diverse Canadian content and voices. Notably, the CMPA argued that relief was “already baked into” the license condition because it is based on a percentage of revenues. “A revenue decline in one year will accordingly reduce Canadian Programming Expenditure and PNI requirements in the subsequent year,” the CMPA wrote in its intervention. The Wire Report has reached out to Corus for comment. – Reporting by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca

CMPA accuses Corus of non-compliance, seeks appeal of regulatory relief

Broadcast | June 13, 2024

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CMPA accuses Corus of non-compliance, seeks appeal of regulatory relief

Broadcast | June 13, 2024

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