Broadcasters want policy direction on C-11; streamers want their algorithms left alone

Canadian broadcasting executives, from companies both big and small, told Senators studying the government’s efforts to update the Broadcasting Act that they would like to see a draft of the policy direction that will shape the CRTC’s implementation of the bill, though not at the expense of delaying the bill any further. Executives from Anthem Sports and Entertainment, Quebecor Inc., and Corus Entertainment Inc. made the comments Thursday at a hearing of the Senate committee on Transport and Communications, which is studying Bill C-11, also known as the Online Streaming Act. Responding to a question from committee chair Leo Housakos, Anthem Sports and Entertainment CEO Leonard Asper said “there is definitely a concern we always have when legislation gets translated into actual policy and implementation.” “It would be helpful to understand, maybe in broad terms, what comes next. Because what happens sometimes after legislation gets passed is that there’s a whole other round of lobbying and certainly from our perspective as the smaller group in the subset of constituents of the system is that we worry that we get out-lobbied,” Asper said. “I would probably lean toward, at least directionally, some framework that the CRTC is considering to be made available sooner rather than later,” he said, but added that he would rather see the bill passed first followed by a legislative consultation process that would craft the policy direction. Corus executive vice president of broadcast networks Troy Reeb said that he echoed Asper’s comments. “We would love to see what the policy direction will entail. I think there’s an open question as to whether that policy direction would call for a heavier touch or a lighter touch when it comes to the regulation of both the current Canadian broadcasters who are in the system and the internet foregin broadcasters who are not,” Reeb said. “The most important thing is that we start to take the steps to level the playing field,” the Corus executive said, calling for the swift passage of the bill. Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau, too, wants the policy direction. “We would like to see the directive to that effect, as had occurred in the past, given the directive is supposed to ensure the flexibility and equality are included,” he said. Asked by Senator Pamela Wallin about whether or not C-11 does enough to promote the development of news content in the broadcasting sphere, Péladeau said that news production is operating at a deficit, and that foreign streaming platforms will never fill the gap. Corus’ Tony Reeb, however, said that while the bill does not do enough to ensure local news development, the bigger issue is increasing the Canadian content burden on foreign streamers and decreasing Canadian content obligations for Canadian broadcasters. “It’s bringing the foreign players up, bringing the Canadian players down, so that Canadian broadcasters can prioritize local news,” Reeb told Senators, and added that he hoped Bill C-18 would address those discrepancies. Competing with the streamers -- like Netflix Inc., Amazon Inc., and Walt Disney Co. -- is far more important, Reeb said. “For us that’s a $1 billion business, whereas news is $100 million business.” In the afternoon session, Spotify AB executives pleaded with senators to leave their algorithms alone when it comes to the promotion and discoverability of Canadian content, and called for a number of changes to the bill. The CRTC should be given audio-specific criteria it must consider before regulating undertakings like Spotify; rules should ensure that ”consumers get options” while retaining “control of the listening experience” by not forcing Canadian content on listeners; and Canadian content rules and subsequent obligations should be changed to allow for platforms to identify Canadian content themselves, Spotify’s head of artist and label partnerships Nathan Wiszniak told Senators. Digital Media Association (DiMA) president and CEO Garrett Levin asked the committee to make an amendment that would prevent the CRTC from “interfering with algorithmic decision making.” Levin said that section 9.1 of the bill, which prevents the regulator from mandating the use of a specific algorithm, risks “diminishing” the user experience. DiMA’s members include Amazon, Spotify, Apple Inc., and Alphabet Inc.’s Google and YouTube. Levin also said that the CRTC should also be forced to consider streamers’ royalties payments and “efforts to highlight and support” Canadian artists when it comes to assessing Canadian content obligations. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

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Broadcasters want policy direction on C-11; streamers want their algorithms left alone

News | September 15, 2022

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