CRTC to review ‘complex,’ rules-focused broadcasting framework: Blais

The CRTC will review a “complex” broadcasting regulatory framework that has become too much about the rules as opposed to policy objectives, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais said. “Regulatory fiat is becoming an obsolete concept in a borderless world. There’s nothing to be gained by regulating for regulations’ sake,” Blais said at the Banff World Media Festival, in Banff, Alta., according to speaking notes. He was referring to the media options now available to consumers online, and said the CRTC needs to shift from “rules to outcomes.” “For decades, meant issuing licences to networks and cable and satellite service providers, with certain conditions attached,” he said. “While the intentions have always been good and appropriate for the times, the result is a complex framework … It’s become gears in and of itself. It’s become about the rules.” Blais said the CRTC wants to ensure that Canadian consumers have a “range of choices and a diversity of content that reflects Canadians,” regardless of the medium they use to access it, and noted that most people still rely on TV as their primary source of media. “e need to bear in mind that Canadians watch an average of 28.5 hours of television each week, compared to 2.8 hours of Internet television per week,” the chair said, citing 2011 data released by the CRTC last September. He said the commission will aim to be “audacious” at times and “prudent” as it starts a broad review of the broadcasting framework this year. In a three-year plan released last month, the CRTC said it will have a “conversation” with Canadians about their television services. Blais said Wednesday that will be one part of a number of proceedings to review broadcasting policies, and that the consultation with consumers will happen before the regulator consults with industry. He said the commission will consider new regulations or ease old ones as broadcasters try to compete with online content providers, which are exempt from the Broadcasting Act and CRTC regulations. “t’s time to ask: do the assumptions that lie beneath our current regulatory policies still hold true?” Blais said. “Broadcasting, as we once knew it, is no longer—and will never again be—the same.” Independent broadcasting consultant Kelly Lynne Ashton, former director of policy at the Writers Guild of Canada, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that it will be a challenge for the CRTC to overhaul the broadcasting system without amending the Broadcasting Act. The act requires broadcasters to help fund and promote Canadian content through their broadcasting revenues, and this will become more difficult as more revenues flow from online sources, she said. “The business models supporting Canadian programming are at risk, and I’m not sure we can fix that within the system the way the Broadcasting Act is currently defined,” she said, adding that there is no political appetite to open up the Broadcasting Act. Michael Hennessy, president and CEO of the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), said a review of the broadcasting system is “long overdue,” and that it should focus on ensuring consumers can watch what they want, when they want, and on the platform of their choice. “The question is, is there the flexibility in the Canadian system to deliver some of that and to allow for the creation of Canadian intellectual property that has value worldwide,” he said. Hennessy said there is concern that regulatory changes favouring online platforms could mean less funding for Canadian programming, though that should continue to flow if producers continue to make compelling content. There are risks with failing to recognize how audiences are using technology to consume media, he said. “The dialogue will only really become substantive when we accept the reality and then try to understand the financing and make the economics work. That’s where the tough part is,” Hennessy said. —With reporting by Nicholas Kyonka and nkyonka@thewirereport.ca and editing by Simon Doyle at sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

CRTC to review ‘complex,’ rules-focused broadcasting framework: Blais

News | 06/12/2013 9:08 pm EDT

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