The Glaring Fact

Introduction

• Canadians were watching American TV before Canadian TV existed
• Other American media perceived as “not as dangerous” as television
• To address concerns the government created the Massey Commission (Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters, and Sciences)
• Said American TV served commercial interests, not our “national needs”
• Canadian TV was to be public and a ‘valuable tool for national unity, education and entertainment’
• 1952 – 1960: Dominance of the CBC
• Canadian TV and American TV began with different backgrounds (US had money in radio and Hollywood, Canada had the CBC)
• CBC television was the first Canadian TV – focus on news, documentary, and public affairs; sports programming; children’s programming (all three are still strengths of the CBC and Canadian TV today)
• CBC originally intended to have sole TV broadcast in Canada, but cost too high
• First private TV were private rebroadcast of CBC signals
• Lack of production companies in Canada meant most of Canadian was made by CBC employees
• Because of this CBC shows all had same style: clear, deliberate, expository with an emphasis on the didactic and documentary
• John Diefenbaker took away CBC right to deny private broadcasting opportunities by creating the BBG (Board of Broadcast Generals)
• First private network was CTV – friendly with the Conservative party

1961 – 1968: From BBG to CRTC

• Canadian programs often produced at a financial loss (small ad revenue)
• Not the case for American programs because of huge advertising revenue
• Solution: Canadian networks buy US shows for fraction of production cost and have a net gain
• Traditionally that net gain is reinvested into the production of Canadian content
• Tendency to create least expensive Canadian content and to air them at least lucrative times (not during primetime)
• CTV eventually surpassed CBC
• CTV Can-con: CTV News, Canada AM, W5, Wide World of Sports, Olympics, Romper Room – same areas of expertise as the CBC
• 1968 = end of BBG and intro to CRTC
• CRTC has the ability to: license individual stations, networks, cable companies, specialty channels, and satellite operators
• Big CRTC decisions: 1.    1970 imposition of Cancon quotas –> 2.    Created framework for development of cable TV
• Canadian Content: Solution or Problem
• Canadians prefer American TV – so by restricting their access are we making it more desirable?
• Cancon usually quick and cheap
• Canada has low promo budget and no star system

1968 – 1983: Consolidation

• Consumers wanted more American TV – lead to development of Canadian specialty channels
• Very few large-scale cable operators
• CRTC introduced ‘managed choice’: services it deemed appropriate were distributed by cable operators:1) To satisfy operators want for new services; 2) In hopes of meeting consumer demands
• First Canadian specialty channels: movie channels; First Choice, Alberta Superchannel, Ontario Superchannel, Star Channel, TVEC
• 1970’s brought new private broadcaster: Canwest Global

1983 – 1993: Rise of Independent Production

• 1983 Telefilm Canada created to fund Cancon production
• New companies included: Alliance Atlantis Communications, Nelvana, Cinar and Corus Entertainment
• Canadian production companies did co-productions because of the cost
• Canada is among the worlds leading co-producers
• Production companies also recuperate costs through tax credits by adhering to MAPL
• 80s and 90s, specialty channels continued to grow
• Late 2000, CRTC licensed 200+ specialty digital channels
• Satellite TV and the internet make it easy and affordable to get hundreds of channels, leaves traditional networks and providers worried about not keeping up

1993 – 2001: The Impact of Digital Technology

• Digital technology is transmitted over air, via the Internet, via microwave, and by DBS (Direct Broadcast Signal)
• CRTC created DTH (Direct to Home) policy that would block American satellite signals
• A DBS policy by the CRTC created satellite market saturated by two companies: Bell Expressvu and Starchoice
• 1990s saw convergence and fragmentation trends
• Convergence in Canadian Television
• In all of the major mergers, those who own the means of delivery are acquiring the content and content providers
• Old media do not disappear in the wake of the new
• Convergence: Technology in the Service of Profit
• Many companies with expectation that Internet equals high quality TV soon
• Some believe that the Internet will not dominate because of new TV technology like HDTV
• Some media companies achieve many types of synergies Ex: Rogers bought the Blue jays
• Fragmentation
• Promoted as increasing the personalization of media
• Personal Video Recorders (PVR) like Tivo, Replay TV, will record everything that matches your preferences
• Canadian Content Issues
• Canadian production often note very Canadian (Nikita, Earth Final Conflict)
• Successful Canadian programs come from successful genres: Cop shows, lawyer shows, and mysteries
• Not a lot of reality TV because of legal restrictions – only one was Popstars
• What Constitutes Canadian Television
• Often it is sports; the cornerstone of the English schedule: 1) Hockey Night in Canada, 2) The Olympics, 3) TSN
• Music programming: Muchmusic – the nations music station
• Much More Music, Much Loud, Much Vibe, Much USA
• City TV: A New Cultural Sensibility?
• Predicts FashionTV and QueerTV will become specialty channels (they did)
• City TV exports to Brazil and Finland

Conclusion

• Increasingly powerful global companies does not mean the loss of ‘local’