APTN: From unlikely notion to cross-country broadcaster

It seemed like a pipe dream when the idea was first broached, but determination, government support and a dedicated leadership brought the notion of an Indigenous television network into existence. It celebrated its 25th anniversary last September. The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) was the first of its kind. Nowhere else in the world was there a television channel devoted to exploring and explaining Indigenous culture for itself and the wider community. Monika Ille has been CEO of APTN since 2019. An alumna of CBC/Radio-Canada and the National Film Board (NFB), she initially joined the network in 2003. She knew there was a demand for the channel’s services. “APTN was created because there was basically no Indigenous representation in mainstream media back then,” says Ille, a member of the Abenaki First Nation. The roots of the network were in Television Northern Canada (TVNC), a channel which covered Inuit people in Canada’s north, starting in 1992. The network operated on a shoestring. Drastic measures were needed to keep financially secure. The idea was proposed to broaden TVNC’s reach across the country and to target all Indigenous people, be they First Nations, Métis or Inuit. APTN was a completely new concept on several fronts, Ille recalls. Not only was it reaching out to people who had not seen themselves reflected in popular culture, but the network proposed mandatory carriage, a move which broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) opposed. As the embryonic network presented its goals to the CRTC, newspaper editorials thundered against its creation, according to Original People, Original Television, a book on the history of the network by former staffer Jennifer David. But the CRTC liked what it heard and granted APTN a licence in 1999 and made the channel obligatory on all cable and satellite systems. Part of the reasoning was that creative types would emerge from the community. “When APTN was launched, it gave a window of possibilities to Indigenous creators,” Ille notes. “It was really wanting to make sure that our voices, our concerns, our hopes and our stories were shared with all Canadians.” There have been many successes along the way. While initial programming was made up of whatever movies and rerun TV shows the network could scrape together, the schedule has blossomed with original productions and co-productions with other broadcasters. For the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, APTN broadcast events in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. Ille states that broadcast teams had to create new terms for commonplace sports idioms. The CEO is proud of the news team that the network has assembled. Headquartered in Winnipeg, it covers the nation. Lately much of the buzz has been around the series North of North, a co-production among APTN, CBC and Netflix. Debuting this year, it is a comedy that follows the travails of Siaja, a young Inuk woman in the fictional town of Ice Cove in Nunavut. It is just one of several co-productions the channel has worked on. Acting Good was produced alongside BCE Inc.’s Bell Media; Hockey Night in Canada, a co-production of Rogers Communications Inc.’s Sportsnet, is now available in Cree and Inuktitut. “I truly believe that not only the future of APTN but the future of broadcasting resides in collaboration,” Ille opines. “I think we need to work together as a team to ensure that our stories, Canadian stories, Indigenous stories, be done, told and heard.” That collaboration has expanded beyond Canada’s borders. Other Indigenous channels have popped up around the world. They keep in contact through the World Indigenous Broadcast Network (WIBN). Networks in Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Taiwan have joined with their Canadian counterpart to discuss the specific challenges of Indigenous broadcasting and to share programming. Ille is going to Taipei, Taiwan in August for a WIBN conference. “The idea behind this association is really for us to work together as a team,” she states. APTN changed its format last year. Now it operates two feeds, one in English and French and another in Indigenous languages. Ille believes she was destined for her current role. She began at Radio-Canada where her mother and godfather also worked. It was a good start, she reports. “I’ve always had an appetite for communications and production,” she says. “When I started at Radio-Canada, I was at audience relations and communications.” Similarly, her work at the NFB shaped her persona for her later career at APTN. “I understood the industry, I understood production,” she remembers. Getting a chance to work with people at APTN has been a rewarding experience. She especially enjoys nurturing young talent. “We need to be there to help them and open those doors,” she asserts. Ille plans to keep opening those doors for a long time yet. “I think I still have things that need to be done at APTN,” she offers. “I don’t think I’m done as CEO.” For the future, she looks at ways of increasing revenue streams, a challenge for all broadcasters. She wants to create a digital strategy for the network, making it available on different platforms. She is proud of what APTN has achieved in its quarter-century of life. “We are Indigenous-owned, we are an Indigenous organization,” Ille states. “We are definitely an expression of our identity.” ppark@thewirereport.ca

APTN: From unlikely notion to cross-country broadcaster

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By Paul Park
| July 1, 2025

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APTN: From unlikely notion to cross-country broadcaster

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