Canadian Content Climate Change

With the 2012 Banff World Media Festival just around the corner I wanted to share some of the video I captured at a recent Broadcaster Panel discussion in Calgary on the State of the Industry, presented by AMPIA, which was the daytime event ahead of the 2012 Alberta Film and Television Awards.  Joe Novak (President & Executive Producer, Bow River Productions) was the Moderator.  Past and Present Banff Festival Delegates also know Joe as the Program Mentor for Rookies in the Rockies.   

The Panelists included five, key industry decision makers:   

• Robin Johnson - Acting Director Independent Production, Factual & Reality, Head of Regional Independent Production, Bell Media 
• Paul McGrath - Senior Producer, Unscripted, Studio & Live Event, CBC 
• Lisa Godfrey - Director of Original Factual Content, Shaw Media 
• Val Creighton - President & CEO, Canada Media Fund 
• Tom Cox - Chair, Canada Media Production Association as well as Executive Producer, Seven24 Films

The focus was the digital and television revolution, with a view to program and funding strategies Canadian television networks are implementing to retain or build audiences and revenue.  What kind of content and productions are the networks looking for?  Are they entrenched in the 360 mindset?   What are broadcasters concerned about and how are they rolling with the changes?

Novak set the tone, stating the regulatory approach has become obsolete and the Canada Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is no longer the regulator.  Facebook may well be the world's 3rd largest country, yet "Canadians are actually watching more TV, they're just watching it differently - on laptops, phones and tablets - while having online engagements."

Although the number of mobile devices will out number TV's in Canada before the end of the year, "Television is still the heart of the convergence model," Novak noted.  With the 360 approach, each TV show becomes a brand. "The most tweeted about subjects are what's on television!" Advertisers are thrilled to find Commercials trending tweets, as well as the shows and stars.

(Note:  Due to Blogger incompatibility, video will not play on iPad; optimized for Mac and PC)

According to the CRTC, Canadians watched about 28 hours of television each week in 2010. The same year, the Broadcasting industry contributed close to $3-billion for the creation of Canadian programming.  Broadcasters' profits soared from $11.5 million in 2010 to $160 million in 2011.

Spending on Canadian programming in 2011 was about $317-million for news programs, $72-million for general interest programming, $58-million for drama series, $40-million for information programs, $33-million for music and variety shows, $22-million for game shows, $15-million for long-form documentaries. 

It seems times are pretty good for the networks.  Maybe not so much for the mid-sized, independent production companies in Canada.  I'd love to hear what you think about the current State of the Industry and the Canadian Content climate change.  Let's start a conversation!  Leave a comment.  If you're wondering what Val Creighton has to say on this matter, be sure to attend the CMF Town Hall at Banff 2012 on Tuesday June 12th and/or subscribe to the Canada Media Fund at:  http://www.cmf-fmc.ca/