Canadian Association of Broadcasters president sees warning signs on the horizon

Despite legislation introduced by the federal government meant to boost broadcasting outlets, there are still warning signs on the horizon, believes the president of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. In an interview with The Wire Report, Kevin Desjardins said there is no denying the industry is in crisis. Broadcasters have been laying off workers in droves in recent years, including at BCE Inc.’s CTV and Global parent company Corus Entertainment Inc., and there are fears that some carriers may not last. “I think that the challenges to the industry are not subsiding, they are continuing to grow,” Desjardins says. “The advertising market is being increasingly controlled by foreign online players who are drawing Canadian advertising dollars out of the Canadian media marketplace.” More layoffs and even the closure of some stations could be in the offing, Desjardins believes. A longer term concern is the use of artificial intelligence in the broadcasting world. It has the prospects of both good and bad results, he asserts. The effect on copyright is one looming challenge. “Copyright in general is always a concern for broadcasters. The copyright regime in Canada is falling further and further out of pace with technological realities,” he states. Desjardins has been at the helm of the CAB since November 2020. The New Brunswick native did an earlier stint as director of communications for the organization from 2005 to 2007. He wants to continue battling for broadcasters’ rights. “I’m here for as long as it takes to get some resolution on these essential issues and for as long as my members want me to be here to fight on their behalf,” said Desjardins, who also spent time at the Canadian Dental Association and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. Desjardins said technological change and foreign companies are the major challenges facing his members. He is glad the government stepped in with the two pieces of online legislation – the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act – which should ease some of the burdens facing Canadian broadcasters, but the administration cannot rest on its laurels – there is still much to be accomplished, he said. “We’re hopeful that we’ll begin to rebalance the burden between the regulated Canadian players and foreign players in the system like foreign audio and video streaming services” he stated. “But there is a significant amount of work that is still going to be needed to be done on that still.” Canadian organizations must contribute to a fund that helps produce Canadian programming, especially news programs, he argued. Foreign operators have been under no such obligation to contribute, although the Online Streaming Act seeks to change that. The CAB wants to see the federal government take a more proactive role in helping broadcasters. Currently the Journalism Labour Tax Credit is only available to print publications. Desjardins would like to see the eligibility changed to open up the program to radio and television operators. He also wants tax deductibility for foreign advertising to change, because it takes much needed ad revenue out of Canada. “I would say, finally, what the government could do is to put its money where its mouth is, where it spends its advertising dollars,” Desjardins asserts. “We think that they have a responsibility to ensure that they are spending some of taxpayers’ dollars on Canadian media business,” rather than spending its money advertising with foreign streamers. The province of Ontario announced earlier this month that 25 per cent of advertising spending for its four largest agencies (Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the Ontario Cannabis Store, Metrolinx and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation) must go to provincial news outlets. Meanwhile, Desjardins is disappointed that foreign streamers are going to court to avoid having to pay their share of revenues as a result of the Online Streaming Act. These companies take billions of dollars out of the country’s broadcasting system, he argues, and are reluctant to lighten the burden on their Canadian counterparts. In early July, a wave of legal challenges were filed by groups including Apple Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., and the Motion Picture Association-Canada against the CRTC’s decision requiring foreign streaming services to make financial contributions supporting the Canadian broadcasting sector. Set to come into effect in September, online streaming services generating over $25 million in annual Canadian revenues will have to allocate five per cent of those revenues to various production funds. Streamers contested the decision in a series of filings to the Federal Court of Appeal. “We’re frustrated at what seems to be an amount of obtuseness and foot dragging on the part of the foreign players and a lack of recognition of the amount of resources that they are taking out of Canada and what that means to important pieces like the support for Canadian newsrooms,” Desjardins says. “Their contention that they don’t produce news so they shouldn’t have to support it is absurd.” Another concern is that streamers are taking content away from Canadian broadcasters to use on their own platforms. “Programming rights are a huge challenge for broadcasters in Canada,” Desjardins notes. “Programs that Canadians want to watch are less available to Canadian broadcasters, and they’re more expensive when they are available to Canadian broadcasters.” –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca with a file from Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca.

Canadian Association of Broadcasters president sees warning signs on the horizon

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By Paul Park
| July 30, 2024

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