CRTC creates new media and technology directorship

The CRTC looks set to devote considerably more resources to interactive media with the creation of a new director’s position dedicated to new media and technology. As part of the wide-ranging reorganization announced December 15, the commission is creating a third "pod" to supplement the existing broadcasting and telecommunications industry directorates. At the top of that pod or silo is the newly created position of associate executive director of industry analysis, economics and technology, under whom four directors will serve; one of those positions has been titled director of new media and technology. While the associate executive directorships for broadcasting and telecommunications will still exist alongside the new one for industry analysis, economics and technology, all three have been brought under the dominion of another newly minted post, the executive director of broadcasting and telecommunications. That new seat at the top of the CRTC’s non-commissioner management structure signifies a melding of the previously separate fiefdoms of broadcast and telecommunications. Leonard Katz, who was previously executive director of the telecommunications directorate, will fill the new top spot. A CRTC media release referred to Katz’s new position at the head of a "converged" broadcasting and telecommunications group, with the new third pod for industry analysis, economics and technology section providing support for the broadcasting and telecommunications sides as well as an "improved understanding of the technological and business changes affecting the commission’s regulatory responsibilities in broadcasting and telecommunications." The release also went on to state the new pod "will also allow us to equip ourselves to better follow the financial, technological and market evolution of the businesses we regulate." Reaction to the news from the new media community was on the whole positive, if somewhat guarded. Ian Kelso, president of the Toronto-based New Media Business Alliance, says that while much of the new media community’s activity hasn’t been subject to CRTC regulation thanks to the New Media Exemption Order of 1999, he welcomes the increased attention from the CRTC and the hiring director of new media and technology. "The more people we have looking at this thing from as many different angles as possible, the better," Kelso says. Andra Sheffer, executive director of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, says the move to unite broadcast and telecommunications directorates under one executive director is a recognition of the increasing convergence between the two worlds, a fluid category that many new media projects have found themselves in in the past. "I think that’s a very clear message to us all that they recognize how the two are blending together, and that decisions can’t be made in silos anymore – they do have to look at how it impacts on both sides," she says. Both the New Media Exemption Order and the Bell Fund are expected to be high on the agenda of the incoming director of new media and technology: the former was supposed to have been reviewed five years after its instatement in 1999 and as such is more than a year overdue, while the latter is still waiting for the CRTC to rule on proposed increases to Bell ExpressVu’s contributions to the Bell Fund (CNM, June 24/05). Marc Séguin, senior policy director at the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), says although the CRTC the main regulator for communication and media in Canada, it has been trailing behind technological developments in both industries for some time. "I think some people will see this as the CRTC looking ahead of the curve, so to speak, but I’m thinking they’re just catching up to the curve," he says, adding he’s intrigued by the fact that the new director’s job title encompasses both new media and technology. "I’m not sure exactly where one begins and one ends, and maybe they’ll make that clear in time." While the CFTPA’s title makes mention of TV and film only, the association has been very active in promoting interactive media, and has filed a submission to the CRTC in support of ExpressVu’s efforts to devote more of its Canadian programming fund contributions to the Bell Fund. That hasn’t stopped the organization from voicing opposition to other so-called new media technologies. In September, CFTPA president and CEO Guy Mayson made his views on the New Media Exemption Order known to the CRTC, stating in a submission that services such as television to mobile phone handsets are clearly broadcasting undertakings, and should fall outside the protection of the exemption order (CNM, Sept. 30/05). Settling such questions about mobile video will also likely be a priority for Katz and his incoming team, say Kelso, Sheffer and Séguin. "A lot of what’s going on with mobile and even on the Web with streaming really is, by many, considered broadcasting," Sheffer says. "So, they have a huge issue there to define broadcasting." She adds that since mobile video is looking increasingly likely to become a commercially viable undertaking for wireless network operators, coming to a consensus on whether such services are broadcasting, telecommunications, new media or something else might become a more pressing concern over time. For his part, Séguin says it’s innovations such as mobile video and podcasting that might be forcing the commission’s hand, and what it had in mind when it created the post: both may or may not be new media, but are certainly technology issues with a strong content component. "I’m reasonably sure that it might define itself over time," he says. The CRTC may have laid the groundwork for its hands-off stance on new media to date with a 1998 decision to not attempt to regulate Internet content generally. "At that point in time, it seemed like the whole new media community was saying keep your hands off," Kelso remembers. "It seemed to really be almost a unanimous agreement from the producers at the time that we didn’t really want any kind of CRTC regulation." The following year, the commission issued the New Media Exemption Order, further cementing its unwillingness to tackle the hard questions of defining new media and how it should be regulated, if at all. Despite the past reticence to deal with new media as authoritatively as it deals with broadcasting and telecommunications, the CRTC definitely can play a role, "aside from subsidy programs and export development," in the evolution of new media, Kelso says. For instance, he asks, "is there a stronger policy role that they can play in helping to develop a strong community and a strong industry?" Kelso also says the commission can help new media producers by using the financial and human resources soon to be committed under the director of new media and technology to address the pressing issues affecting interactive media as an emerging industry. "Distribution’s probably the biggest problem that we face right now in this country," he notes. "There’s no effective value chain in terms of going from creation to distribution – we get the stuff made, and it’s really hard to find a market." Sheffer, however, says increased CRTC involvement in new media could be a mixed blessing. "You know, it’s 50-50: it would be nice to have regulations to preserve Canadian content on the Internet," she says. "On the other hand, along with regulations comes a lot of other stuff." There’s agreement that the commission may take its time in filling the director of new media and technology position, time that can be used to fine-tune the requirements and scope of the job. While Séguin says the new structure seems more contemporary, he adds it may not be the last change the commission undergoes in its quest to remain relevant. "Things will continue to evolve, and the CRTC will have to evolve with the industries they regulate," he says. "I could see maybe in the future we won’t need a Broadcasting Act and a Telecommunications Act…I know this is a huge thing for people to chew on, but maybe one media act of some kind that really brings together the strengths of both frameworks." To view the organizational chart of the new CRTC pod, click here.

CRTC creates new media and technology directorship

News | 12/22/2005 5:00 am EST

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