NFB calls on broadcasters to act in concert to promote Canadian content online

The National Film Board (NFB) is taking a strong stand in favour of greater Canadian content online, even if the venerable institution was short on specifics in a recent brief to a Parliamentary committee reviewing the Broadcasting Act. In its Sept. 10 submission to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, the NFB calls on the broadcast community to work cooperatively to post more Cancon, while supporting small players that add new voices to the online mix. The submission notes that the Broadcasting Act was created well before the changes wrought by the Internet could be foreseen. To that end, it’s made several new media-specific recommendations. Laurie Jones, director of communications for the NFB, says the submission is intended to reinforce what the organization has already been doing with its Cinéroute project (CNM, March 8/01). That project, which was accelerated this summer with a $2-million infusion of Canadian Heritage money to double the number of films available, is an example of how content providers can make more Canadian content available. Chief among the NFB’s new media-specific recommendations is a greater need for branding by Canadian broadcasters as a whole. "We have no unified broadcasting approach to providing services online. Each broad- and specialty-caster has ‘done its own thing’ on the Internet; therefore, we are missing opportunities to make a great big noise as a group. We must consider suggesting to broadcasters that they voluntarily work together on certain initiatives en masse, to show the world the power and innovation of Canada’s conventional and online content, promotion, technological leadership and more," the submission’s authors argue. Although more Canadian content is going online, the NFB notes that much of it is coming from an increasingly small number of Canadian broadcast players. "It’s a question of balance in terms of the public component and the private component," Jones tells CNM. "As the private component shrinks…in terms of the content and the range of offerings and because it is part of the same family, then we’re going to have less, rather than more." She notes that the phenomena is already at work as various content sources become homogenized with the same branding and offerings. "Explicit public policy and implicit approvals have facilitated and strengthened vertical integration of large groups at the expense of small and medium-sized players. Every time a small, creative force – be it a dot-com, a production company, a cable company or a broadcaster – reaches modest market penetration, or turns the heads of audiences and competitors, they are quickly bought or merged. This trend to ‘corporatization’ in the entertainment industry threatens to homogenize content created for, and consumed by, the public." Neither Jones nor the submission name names, but industry watchers will likely view the NFB’s comments in the context of several prominent mergers of late, including the purchase of Salter Street Films by Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc, and the consolidation of several Southam Inc newspapers onto the single Canada.com portal as owner CanWest Global Communications Corp finds ways to cut costs. Jones says the NFB’s suggestions are meant only as "blue-sky" principles, and not a concrete course of action. Yet, the NFB has brought its proposals to the table as online content becomes an increasingly important corollary to the Internet. "Right now, the purpose of the committee is to look at the Broadcasting Act. The ‘Net is not covered under the (act). We’re not asking for regulation there. If they’re looking at fixing one part of the spectrum, but not looking at doing anything that will have any impact on the ‘Net, then they’re missing a lot… What is the broadcasting system supposed to be offering in Canada? You see that providing information in Canada is one of the important things. The ‘Net is starting to do that. So, therefore, (the submission) is a reminder that what’s not on TV is on the Net…We can blue-sky here."

NFB calls on broadcasters to act in concert to promote Canadian content online

News | 09/20/2001 4:00 am EDT

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