Bell Media owner BCE wants the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to create an information fund that would provide financial assistance to broadcasters and require foreign broadcasters to contribute to the subsidy through their spending on Canadian content.
Bell representatives told a CRTC committee Tuesday that the regulator should simultaneously exempt Canadian streaming platforms such as Crave from these new obligations until traditional broadcasters receive regulatory relief.
The hearing, which began Monday and is expected to last three weeks, is part of the CRTC’s public consultations in response to the Online Streaming Act, or Bill C-11.
The legislation received royal assent in April and aims to update the Broadcasting Act to require digital platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok to contribute to and promote Canadian content.
In September, the CRTC issued a decision that ended two previous consultations it had launched regarding Bill C-11. The committee is now seeking to determine what contributions traditional broadcasters and online streaming services will need to make to support Canadian and Indigenous content.
Priorities considered outdated
Bell’s presentation opposed the regulator’s direction in a context the company called a “crisis” for Canadian broadcasters.
“Your priorities are backward,” said Jonathan Daniels, vice president of regulatory law at Bell, in his address to committee members.
“Traditional broadcasters, pillars of the Canadian broadcasting system, need help now. »
Mr. Daniels outlined a trio of obstacles facing local broadcasting giants such as Bell. According to him, traditional platforms are losing customers to streaming services, which is leading to a drop in broadcasting revenues, while these same services are not subject to the same regulatory constraints.
With the arrival of streaming broadcasters in the Canadian market, it has also become more expensive for traditional broadcasters to purchase content, as they no longer only compete with rival Canadian companies. Additionally, Bell is often unable to purchase the type of content it previously carried, as foreign studios increasingly reserve such programming for their own streaming apps.
“We’re frustrated because, frankly, we don’t think the CRTC is taking this reality into account adequately,” he said.
Regulatory relief
Mr. Daniels added that the company’s proposal, which would require digital broadcasters to help fund subsidies, would put more money into the broadcasting system for Canadian news and television productions, while reducing the obligations of traditional broadcasters.
Bell’s presentation is its latest update in its ongoing campaign for regulatory relief.
In June, Bell submitted two requests to the CRTC, including one for the organization to reduce its Canadian content spending obligations for some of its television stations.
In its other request, the company asked the regulator to drop requirements relating to spending on local news and the number of hours per week that stations are required to broadcast news reflecting local reality in large and small markets.
The requests were filed on the same day Bell announced the elimination of 1,300 positions, the closure or sale of nine radio stations and the closure of two overseas offices, in the face of growing financial pressure. The layoffs included a 6% reduction in the workforce at Bell Media.
Last month, Bell Media filed an application with the Federal Court of Appeal to appeal a CRTC decision that renewed its broadcasting licenses for three more years. She said the decision was made without a public hearing and could cause the regulator to prejudge issues she raised in her June applications.
Expected requirements
The CRTC has already set the conditions for implementing the Online Streaming Act by establishing a threshold that determines which online streaming services will be subject to the new rules.
A September ruling requires streaming services that offer broadcast content in Canada and with annual revenues of $10 million or more to provide information about their operations to the CRTC by this week next.
The watchdog also asked certain online streaming services to provide information about their content and subscribers, and to make content available in a way that is not tied to a mobile service. or the internet specifically.
On Monday, the Commission heard from the President and CEO of Quebecor.
Pierre Karl Péladeau urged the CRTC to impose “a significant and immediate reduction in the regulatory and financial burden weighing on traditional Canadian businesses.” His speech came with a caveat: even if the CRTC imposes requirements on foreign broadcasters, that does not necessarily mean they will comply.