Broadcasters getting new media message, Bell Fund’s Sheffer tells CRTC

Issued earlier this summer at the direction of Canadian Heritage minister Bev Oda, the CRTC’s Public Notice 2006-72 called for comments on technological change and the future of broadcasting in Canada. In her submission, excerpts from which appear below, Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund executive director Andra Sheffer notes that broadcasters’ efforts to draw on emerging platforms and distribution channels are gaining momentum. Broadcasters have become steadily more committed to interactive content. Thirty-two different Canadian broadcasters have been involved in applications to the Bell Fund. However...broadcasters continually inform us that their involvement is constrained by the demand on their internal resources, financing, facilities and services…. Interactive content is typically not eligible for broadcasters’ Canadian programming allocations and this has been an issue. The priority for programming dollars is for traditional programming as these budgets increase steadily. However, the desire amongst broadcasters to be able to finance interactive content adequately is evident. In 2000, the average budget was $409,000. In 2005, decreased to $345,000. Producers are now integrating the knowledge they have learned about new technologies, past successes and securing funding, and the slightly lower budgets may reflect their more realistic goals and technological efficiencies.... In 2000, relatively few broadcasters provided hosting services on their domain for websites. In 2005 almost all websites were either hosted by the broadcaster, or they hosted "mini-sites" or they had branded links from their broadcaster sites to the stand-alone sites.... Mobile content is becoming more and more relevant as a form of entertainment. Interactive television (iTV) remains an attractive opportunity and has become significant internationally (particularly in the UK). In Canada, the supply of entertainment-based iTV has been relatively small due to the limited audience size, the lack of financial resources and the lack of rights and technical skills. Another significant change occurring in the industry is the popularity of user-generated content. Projects submitted to the Bell Fund in recent years, particularly in 2005 and 2006 have seen an increase in the use of technology like those pioneered by popular sites like Youtube, a relative novelty in 2000....More and more, Web strategies are integrated into the conception of a project right from the beginning as opposed to a marketing after-thought and input from consumers is influencing the content of traditional television programs. The new media component also does function, at least in part, as a marketing tool....The proliferation of blogs as a form of citizen journalism as well as a marketing technique continues to gain popularity. Broadcasters and new media and television producers are learning how to incorporate interactive strategies in a viable way. They are now focusing on revenue-generation, both for the producer and for the broadcaster. Canadian independent producers have been enthusiastic adopters of new technologies and have established enviable reputations internationally. Audiences demand multi-platform interactive content. Broadcasters need to supply it and have recognized that linear traditional television is only one element of the content they must provide to their multi-tasking audiences.

Broadcasters getting new media message, Bell Fund’s Sheffer tells CRTC

Broadcast | September 7, 2006

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