In a May 21 decision, the broadcasting regulator upped the contribution rules for audiovisual streaming firms, so that 15 per cent of their annual revenues—up from the current five per cent—support domestic programming. It’s expected to bring about $2-billion into the Canadian media ecosystem each year.
Bill C-268 would require the CRTC to verify cellular coverage data reported by telecommunication and providers, and also force Ottawa to review Canada’s spectrum framework every five years.
Conservative MP Raquel Dancho says ‘any employment gains’ from the 2023 Rogers-Shaw deal ‘have been wiped out three-fold,’ with recent news the Canadian telecom giant is offering voluntary buyouts to about 10,000 staff.
Several companies are in court fighting a CRTC order that would require all firms with annual revenues over $25-million to allocate five per cent of Canadian revenues to cultural and broadcasting groups that create domestic news and entertainment.
Streaming platforms already give Canadians the tools to seek out the content they want, in the language they want, and the success stories speak for themselves.
The national interest in telecommunications could be a viable, secure, and resilient infrastructure that delivers services with leading technological capabilities.
The Canadian Media Producers Association is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to ‘rethink’ any potential of using the Online Streaming Act as a ‘bargaining chip’ in his negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Rather than enhancing transparency, a mandatory label risks becoming a costly distraction from the issues that matter most to consumers.
Before the election, the Liberals outlined proposals to reform the broadcaster. CBC/Radio Canada has since been asked to take part in the government’s spending review.
Intervention is needed when competition falters, and monopolies become entrenched.
The CRTC must take seriously Parliament’s mandate to make the streamers an equal partner with domestic broadcasters in producing and promoting Canadian storytelling.
Despite the successes, several crucial gaps in expanding rural coverage remain.
While there appears to be little appetite in provincial or federal government to support public broadband infrastructure, this could change in the right hands.
The CRTC’s inability to respond with agility or openness to the possibilities of the internet age undermines the purposes of its consultative processes.
Policymakers must resist the temptation to throw up their arms in frustration, or—worse—leave the entire problem to the whims of Elon Musk.
The regulator misses the Canadian Journalism Collective’s Oct. 7 deadline for media fund money to be distributed before year’s end.
Google awaits the CRTC go-ahead for $100-million-a-year Canadian media fund as news outlets call for urgent access to cash.
We are the only nation in the developed world that has failed to adequately address preservation of our media heritage.
As part of its Online Streaming Act plan, the CRTC ruled that online streamers making more than $25M in domestic revenue must give five per cent to Canadian media funds.
The CRTC recently released its updated regulatory plan for the Online Streaming Act, extending its timeline for implementation by a year until the end of 2025, with consultations continuing until 2026.
We cannot let rules designed to create competition do the opposite. If the rules don’t change, we will see less investment in rural connectivity, less competition against the Big Three, followed by damaging impacts on service and cost.
The CRTC plans to publish the framework and code of conduct for negotiations this summer, while the government says ‘it takes two to negotiate’ of impasse with Meta.
As the CRTC begins three weeks of public hearings, endangered Canadian content creators need urgent regulations to stave off predatory foreign streamers, says CAB president Kevin Desjardins.
On the telecom side of things, the CRTC’s long-standing focus on the fundamental issues of access and affordability is far more tangible than the ethereal cultural ambitions that have swamped the broadcasting boat.
