New media funding from CTF looks doubtful; Bell Fund changes position

The Canadian Television Fund Task Force Report's recommendation to direct $25 million of CTF money to new media initiatives was given scarce attention at last week's CRTC hearings in Gatineau QC. While the majority of the broadcasting industry agrees more new media funding is needed, the CTF seems an unlikely source. "There is no question that we need new money in the system or we need money in the system somehow for new media," said Andra Sheffer, executive director of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, the Independent Production Fund and the Cogeco Program Development Fund. "It is an important new platform where our culture is being disseminated and it is absolutely essential that we find the money somewhere." By the time Sheffer appeared before the commission on Thursday, the idea of a new media CTF envelope had received virtually no support. But Sheffer seemed a likely candidate to change that; commissioner Michel Morin noted during questioning that the Fund's first intervention on the Task Force Report did support the $25 million. "That was in our original submission to you and there has been a lot of thought and debate about it ever since, I have to admit," replied Sheffer. "So, although we are very concerned that there actually be a lot of consideration given to the new media support, there is certainly no consensus on where that support should come from." Sheffer did support the Task Force recommendation to amend the CRTC regulations that currently restrict certified independent production funds from financing projects designed for new media platforms. And she noted that producers lack the resources to not only create new media content to bolster television programs, but also for stand-alone productions. The issue of how certified independent production funds can allocate money is one Sheffer and the Bell Fund have wanted examined for some time. The Bell Fund is currently limited to supporting projects that are linked to television programs, but allowing it to fund stand-alone new media projects would keep the fund in step with the industry. New media far more than just a retention and audience building tool for television, and is so established it's easy to envision a television program being born out of an online property. But Sheffer may have to wait until the new media hearings later this spring for these issues to be addressed. CTF already stretched too thin Other interveners at the hearing who addressed new media primarily echoed the majority sentiment of the written interventions. "Every last cent and more of the available CTF monies must go into TV production and development," Rebecca Schechter, president of the Writers Guild of Canada, said on Monday. "Television still captures the largest audience and, in fact, TV shows frequently are needed to drive traffic to their related content such as webisodes, mobisodes and video games." She noted that while Canadians spend an average of 27 hours a week in front of their TVs, they only spend about 10 hours per week on the Internet. "It makes no sense to ransack TV money for new media," Schechter added. "Until we figure out where to get more money, it isn't a CTF issue." Brian Anthony, national executive director and CEO of the Directors Guild of Canada, suggested where that money could come from. "Raising the BDUs' contribution by even 1%, for example, from 5% to 6% would result in an additional amount of approximately $50 million per annum, $25 million of which could be used to fund new media projects," he said. "Content production across multiple platforms is inevitable," said Richard Brownsey, executive director of British Columbia Film. "To establish for administrative simplicity artificial boundaries for content does not reflect programming reality and, in our opinion, would establish barriers to creative content development." But Brownsey also added that more CTF funding needs to be found before diverting any to new media. So, unless the commission adopts any of the recommendations to increase the money pouring into the CTF, it looks unlikely any will be flowing into new media.

New media funding from CTF looks doubtful; Bell Fund changes position

News | 02/11/2008 3:55 pm EST

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