Ottawa announces sweeping Canadian Content review - "Everything’s on the table"

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

At first glance I thought this was about a comic book convention.

I agree with Canadian Content requirements, but I think they needs to be looser in some ways and stronger in others.

If we mandate X% of songs on the radio must be Canadian content, there needs to be a mechanism in place to ensure that the radio stations aren't playing Nickleback every hour on the hour. That defeats the purpose of exposing and helping the Andrew Waite & The Firm's or Lady Brett Ashley's of the world.

I don't have a perfect system, but I think putting it all out on the table is excellent.

Has any other artist benefitted from this more than Tom Cochrane? Future Canadian generations may never even know Michael Jackson's "Beat it" but they will know the song "Life is a Highway" like it was released only yesterday.

[ken0042]

For radio- I would call Canadian Content a success to a certain extent. At least for the music I listen to- there is a disproportionate amount of Cancon on my iPhone due to exposure to bands like Glass Tiger, Honeymoon Suite, Kim Mitchell, Rush, Platinum Blonde, etc.

However for TV it seems to be a failure; at least for the major networks. They get away with 9 hours of new each day to be able to meet their Cancon requirement; as opposed to actually producing shows. Meanwhile channels like Discovery and Nat Geo come up with popular shows like Mayday, Border Security, Canada's Worst Driver, etc.

Hopefully they force the networks to actually produce shows again. One every decade or so like Beachcombers, Littlest Hobo and Corner Gas aren't enough.

[Weitz]

I only listen to terrestrial radio when I want to listen to some local sports on 960. Other wise I just pay my $60 - $100 a year for satellite radio.

[troutman]

At CJSW we have to play 35% Cancon, and we usually far exceed that. We receive a great amount of Canadian and local music. Unlike commercial radio, we are able to play hundreds of different Canadian artists, whereas commercial radio plays the same dozen bands over and over. CBC3 must be 100% Cancon.

Canadian artists are supported in many other ways too - there are so many grants available to bands to record and make videos. Check out Chapter 35 of "All You Need To Know About The Music Business, Canadian Edition".

"Free Money and Where to Find It":

Canada Music Fund
FACTOR
Radio Starmaker Fund
MEC Program
SOCAN Foundation
Canada Council
Provincial Funding (Alberta: www.amia.ca)

[polak]

I get why Cancon requirements were needed before when it was impossible for Canadian entertainment to compete to what was being pumped out by the major conglomerates in the US but today?

For music the internet has totally taken care of this issue on it's own. It's as close to a level playing field as you can get. Sure, major labels in the US might sign most of the big artists but those big artists are coming from all over the place these days thanks to youtube and soundcloud where a good song can spread like wildfire regardless of if the producer or band is from LA or Calgary or from Iceland. There's no longer a need to force content providers to look at Canadian acts, if the Canadian acts are good enough, they'll get noticed.

For movies and TV, there's no money in it. Unless you're going to turn the CBC into the BBC and actually give them a budget, stop trying to force poor canadian content down our throats. It's almost embarrassing how bad some of it is. The discovery/nat geo canadian shows mentioned earlier are really the only Canadian tv shows that aren't terrible.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Hopefully they force the networks to actually produce shows again. One every decade or so like Beachcombers, Littlest Hobo and Corner Gas aren't enough.

Larry King should be on your list.

[Fuzz]

Maybe they could expand Cancon to include shows that are filmed here, like Fargo, and all the ones in Vancouver. Give some incentive to have more production here, kickbacks or whatever. That way it is incentivizing bringing money form the US to Canada.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by polak

I get why Cancon requirements were needed before when it was impossible for Canadian entertainment to compete to what was being pumped out by the major conglomerates in the US but today?

For music the internet has totally taken care of this issue on it's own. It's as close to a level playing field as you can get. Sure, major labels in the US might sign most of the big artists but those big artists are coming from all over the place these days thanks to youtube and soundcloud where a good song can spread like wildfire regardless of if the producer or band is from LA or Calgary or from Iceland. There's no longer a need to force content providers to look at Canadian acts, if the Canadian acts are good enough, they'll get noticed.

For movies and TV, there's no money in it. Unless you're going to turn the CBC into the BBC and actually give them a budget, stop trying to force poor canadian content down our throats. It's almost embarrassing how bad some of it is. The discovery/nat geo canadian shows mentioned earlier are really the only Canadian tv shows that aren't terrible.

This isn't about actually accomplishing anything of merit. It's about funnelling cash back into the 'National Film board' type Montreal crowd that has been neglected over 10 years of CPC government and the passing of time that made them irrelevant.

In my opinion the horses have left the barn well over half a decade ago and the Canadian population that has become accustomed to consuming their music/TV/Movies regardless of nation of origin on demand for reasonable prices. Messing with that in a serious way either through taxing Netflix for a serious amount or messing with the availability of non-Canadian content on music subscriptions could have massive political repercussions on the Liberal party (especially as it considers young people a core part of their base).

I anticipate that when this is all said and done a buck a month surcharge will be applied to TV/Music/Movie subscriptions and combined with 'must carry' regulation for a certain amount of Canadian content to be 'available' on these services will be the end result. For the consumer it will mean there will be an increase in cost and heaps of Cancon they won't click on or dare listen to, but the special interests will be appeased.

[CaptainCrunch]

The problem with Can Con is it allows terrible shows and movies to survive and get funding that they don't deserve.

At this point with multiple stations we're seeing a lot of good TV shows and music that should be able to survive on its own.

[killer_carlson]

mark me down as someone who used to be against but is now strongly in favor of can-con.

Arts matter. Culture is not a commodity. Can Con will occasionally help get Canadian themes onto our televisions, radios and literature. I think that is important.

Hell, you might even be able to convince me that we need some Alberta value content in Canada right now.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Arts matter. Culture is not a commodity. Can Con will occasionally help get Canadian themes onto our televisions, radios and literature. I think that is important.

I think the challenge is this- how do you regulate quality? Look at our local stations and their Cancon:
5:30-9:00- morning news
9:00- 11:00- Canadian infomercials. (Christian Children's fund, Huntly Club, etc.)
12:00-1:00- Noon News
1:00-5:00- American Soaps (Available on major US networks)
5:00-7:00- Evening News
7:00-11:00- American Network TV (Also available on major US networks)
11:00-12:00- late news.
12:00-5:30- Canadian infomercials.

Where is this helping Canadians outside of the news agencies? How do you get a network to make good shows like Littlest Hobo, etc? (I'll leave Corner Gas off, as that is up for debate.)

[Deelow]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I only listen to terrestrial radio when I want to listen to some local sports on 960. Other wise I just pay my $60 - $100 a year for satellite radio.

Speaking of Satellite Radio, Sirius just tried to bill be $335 for the year. That can not be going rate can it? If so, back to Ocean Pearl every day I go.

[Resolute 14]

lol, no. Not unless you are paying for two subscriptions, at any rate. I literally just renewed five minutes ago, and they offered me a rate of $170 for the year. That was, however, after I ignored their requests for a current credit card for about a month though. Perhaps call and threaten to cancel. See if they'll give a better rate.

[calgaryblood]

I am being offered $120 a year. This was after a free subscription but I don't know if I will keep it. Love the music hate how the volume doesn't go very high.

[Resolute 14]

As to the topic, F CanCon. It's useless. Eddie Vedder's cover of "Hard Sun" is considered Canadian content because it was originally written and performed by a Canadian band. So that terribly bland song got pushed far too hard because it satisfied some bureaucrat's checklist.

Great Canadian bands, artists and musicians will rise to the top with or without CanCon rules. Don't force crap down my throat just to achieve some arbitrary percentage.

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

As to the topic, F CanCon. It's useless. Eddie Vedder's cover of "Hard Sun" is considered Canadian content because it was originally written and performed by a Canadian band. So that terribly bland song got pushed far too hard because it satisfied some bureaucrat's checklist.

Great Canadian bands, artists and musicians will rise to the top with or without CanCon rules. Don't force crap down my throat just to achieve some arbitrary percentage.

Good point. Lenny Kravitz's overplayed version of American Woman also comes to mind.

[Deelow]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

lol, no. Not unless you are paying for two subscriptions, at any rate. I literally just renewed five minutes ago, and they offered me a rate of $170 for the year. That was, however, after I ignored their requests for a current credit card for about a month though. Perhaps call and threaten to cancel. See if they'll give a better rate.

Does that include the app?

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

mark me down as someone who used to be against but is now strongly in favor of can-con.

Arts matter. Culture is not a commodity. Can Con will occasionally help get Canadian themes onto our televisions, radios and literature. I think that is important.

Hell, you might even be able to convince me that we need some Alberta value content in Canada right now.

It's not culture if it has to be forced upon people. I actually don't really mind the government sponsoring the arts. In fact this really isn't about funding the arts, it's about ramming content down the public's throat and restricting consumer choice. I don't want to pay more for google play, Netflix et al and I certainly don't want the government restricting my access to foreign content. With the internet I have no problem seeking out and sourcing Canadian content should I choose, so I don't think the government has a role to play here from a broadcasting/music service/say radio/ internet broadcasting service perspective

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Deelow

Speaking of Satellite Radio, Sirius just tried to bill be $335 for the year. That can not be going rate can it? If so, back to Ocean Pearl every day I go.

i just paid $30 for 6 months. I'd wait. I usually get it for about $99 for a year.

[blankall]

woah woah...if they pull my 20+ hours/week of Just for Laughs Gags off the screen, I'm going to freak out.