The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) is calling on the country’s government to reject a regulator decision to renew pubcaster CBC/Radio-Canada’s license for another five years and reassess its content before approval.The body claims the renewal decision, which covers the next five years, eliminates a “key license condition” that ensures the CBC works with indie producers on Canadian programs at prescribed levels.In June, the CRTC, which regulates Canadian broadcasting, renewed the broadcasting licences for CBC’s English- and French-language services, which the new charter beginning on September 1, 2022, and ending on August 31 2027.
The decision included provisions ensuring the broadcaster spent on programming made by Indigenous, racialized, LGBTQ and disabled people and allowed CBC to put apportion some of its content spend to digital productions for the first time.However, the CMPA contends the renewal makes no specific spending or exhibition requirements for Canadian indie programming and believes that baseline thresholds around Canadian programming have been dropped, making the CBC the only broadcaster exempt of those licensing regulations.
It is also concerned that while new expenditure requirements had been introduced, the fact they are not based on revenues means they are inconsistent with existing policies.The body also believes that while the new commitments for programming from minority groups are “laudable,” they cannot be measured against any index and as they will now be considered part of CBC’s total indie spend, entirely at CBC’s discretion, which it sees as lacking transparency and accountability.
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