Leblanc: genre protection should not apply to Cancon

At a Toronto conference earlier this week one of the authors of the now notorious Dunbar/Leblanc regulatory framework review elaborated on how deregulation can benefit Canadians and Canadian programming. Speaking at Insight's Entertainment Industries Summit about the relevance of the regulatory body's broadcast regulations, Christian Leblanc, a partner with the law firm of Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP in Montreal and specialist in media and communication law, said genre protection for Canadian producers is no longer necessary and should be abolished."If you have the Food Network, then no one else can start a food network," said Leblanc in an interview with CCR. "If you have a business plan and want to create a channel that brings Canadian content to Canadians, it shouldn't be because there is another channel on the same topic in Canada that you would be prevented from doing so. It (the regulation) can be kept for non-Canadian services because that would be in line with the goals of the Broadcasting Act, which is promoting Canadian content and giving access."If channels feature Canadian content, they should be given a more advantageous spot in the channel line-up as well, according Leblanc. "The specialty channels say if they are placed at 650, they will get less viewers," he says. "If it is important, we should give priority to channels that are broadcasting Canadian content more than others."Current incentive regulations that promote Canadian drama are not fruitful, particularly in English Canada. "In primetime slots of major networks in English Canada from Monday to Friday, they (dramas) are few and far between," says Leblanc, but notes the simultaneous substitution rule does result in crucial revenues for Canadian broadcasters. "We are not suggesting to abolish that rule, but we need to look at ways to make space for Canadian drama."Dramatic productions produced in Quebec dot the primetime schedule in that province and have enjoyed loyal followings of substantial numbers of viewers. Still, American dramatic programming is translated into French and makes an impressive dent in the Quebec market. "We shouldn't adopt a different set of rules for the French market because we don't think it needs the same incentives for drama," he said. "We should still keep the same incentives because we don't want the market to evolve where we can't compete with American programming."

Leblanc: genre protection should not apply to Cancon

Broadcast | October 26, 2007

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