The tale of misfortune that is the history of Canadian broadcast regulation and public broadcasting has always been, for me, one centered around a failure to commit.
The problem with broadcasting regulation in Canada is that policies have never reflected a full commitment to our public broadcaster; the CBC.
This is also the reason the the BBC in the U.K. is one the premier news agency in the world while the CBC is barely watched by Canadians.
The BBC's funding model is fundamentally different than the CBC in that it uses a television license to fund itself rather than simple government handouts. In short the television license is a levy placed on anyone in the country who purchases and operates television receiver. This hard line approach supplied the BBC with the funds to excel as a public broadcaster without the restrictions to hamper its development.
Geist touches on this in his model of regulation based on scarcity. Because of this model Canada is playing "catch up" with American giants who had the regulatory freedom to do their own thing, rather than produce purely Canadian content. Canadian broadcaster have never had the economic freedom to take a chance on producing original content.
On the regulatory reform side of things, the CRTC has and continues to be too cautious with implementing changes to its framework. The internet is just one example of how broadcast regulation must be flexible to adapt to changes in the market, or be done away with completely. Things have already changed by the time the CRTC has gone through its lengthy commissions, review of recommendations and implementation process.
Marc Raboy is the Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and Communications at McGill university and recently commented on the lack of transparency and democratization of the CRTC's hearings.
No comments:
Post a Comment