Bell issued a stark warning to the Canadian government, stating that the Canadian broadcasting system is at risk of collapse unless measures are taken to ensure access to popular foreign TV content.
The telecom giant’s concerns made to the federal government in March come as U.S. companies increasingly offer streaming services directly to Canadian consumers, bypassing traditional Canadian broadcasters.
In the past, popular U.S. shows distributed by cable TV providers in Canada would be monetized by the latter, known as simultaneous substitution (or “sim sub”). Bell still uses this model for the NFL’s Super Bowl (it owns the Canadian distribution rights), which is why Canadians don’t get to see the glitzy U.S. commercials during the game, but instead tamer national ads.
But dedicated U.S. streaming services in Canada allow Hollywood content to bypass this old-school Canadian business model.
In a letter to Canadian Heritage, Bell urged the government to amend its policy direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, reports The National Post. Bell argues that the act must include provisions to ensure that foreign content remains available to Canadian broadcasters and streamers.
The letter, obtained through access-to-information requests, was accompanied by a presentation that emphasized the Canadian broadcasting system’s heavy reliance on regulation. Bell stated that the traditional regulatory mechanisms are failing and that the impact of streaming services has been “massively disruptive.”
The CRTC is currently working on implementing the Online Streaming Act, aimed at bringing streaming companies under its regulatory purview and requiring them to contribute to Canadian content. However, Bell’s suggested amendments, which call for reasonable commercial terms for non-Canadian programming and incentives for foreign services to partner with Canadian ones, were not included in the government’s draft policy.
A spokesperson for Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge stated that the final policy direction would be released “soon,” but did not confirm if Bell’s suggestions would be considered.
Kevin Desjardins, president of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, echoed Bell’s concerns, stating that the new reality of global media companies bypassing the domestic system needs to be reflected in upcoming changes to the broadcasting regulatory framework.
The urgency of the situation is underscored by a CRTC-commissioned report, which noted that Canada’s $16-billion broadcasting sector is now in direct competition with global streaming platforms whose revenues are more than five times higher.
Examples provided included Disney+ and Paramount+ landing in Canada over the past few years. The report warned that if left unchecked, the current trend could effectively disable the Canadian broadcasting system in a matter of years. Sounds so scary, right? Right?
U.S. streaming services allow viewers to choose what they want to watch, and not have content forced upon them like in the past with traditional cable TV. Do we really need the government to bend to Canadian broadcasters who want to force their content on viewers?
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Oh My God!!! Competition…nooooooooo, can’t have that. Let’s bribe a minister or two and the customary CRTC head so that we can kill that “C” monster.
🍌 republic
Competition is so…so…so un-Canadian. Next people will expect competition in the dairy, banking, cellular industries too.
Make better content.
Its been proven that American networks will pay for Canadian networks content when it rises above the rest.
The internet is a global market. I love me some “Can-Con” shows and music, so do many others.
Says the company who just signed a multi-year extension to force us to use Crave instead of Max expanding here.
And they have the nerve to give us an extremely watered down version of Max/HBO. Where we get some documentary on the same people for the 1000 time. Every time I log in, it’s the same docs over and over. Or the same shows. Just give me actual live HBO feed. I don’t need all the filler Crave throws in the majority of the time.
I love how Bell is going on about this when they own Crave, one of the most outlandishly expensive streaming services if you want to stream on tv. At minimum 16.99 a month, maximum over 20 dollars not including tax, with the least amount of content out of anyone.
Corruption and financial greed will be their undoing. Make better Canadian content and we’d watch it. Stop telling us what to watch.
This is crazy! The 2 lower tiers Basic and Standard have FREAKING ADS! Come on! AND they don’t even let you have offline downloads on the Standard tier, only on the “Premium” $20 tier! Bell/Crave is AWFUL!
This is crazy! The 2 lower tiers Basic and Standard have FREAKING ADS! Come on! AND they don’t even let you have offline downloads on the Standard tier, only on the “Premium” $20 tier! Bell/Crave is AWFUL!
Netflix costs $1 more for their Premium tier.
this makes me sick. Here is a quebec company whining to the federal government about getting more money, again. Stop whining and make better content. I strongly dislike CANCON and SIMSUB. When you simsub the video is of lesser quality and my expensive tv doesn’t like it either.
Please, compete globally and stop whining to the feds. Oh yeah, stop buying bell stuff as well.
Or just make better content? You shouldn’t need to force Canadians to watch.
Yes exactly… Canadian content is just that. Anytime you watch, read or listen to it… You’re like what, why is this so terrible, how do I change the channel.
It’s been like that for decades.
Whose fault is this? Arranging things so that anyone getting cable channels they wanted also had to pay for a bunch of extra channels they didn’t want in “packages”. Getting all sorts of specific channels to be included in basic cable. Getting the cable companies to charge consumers a fee for channels they could get free over the air. Consolidating stations branding them as networks and taking away their local identities. The Canadian broadcasting industry, including Bell, have brought this on themselves and after decades of trying to force people to pay for things they don’t want or should be able to get over the air, this is finally coming to a head.
What is Canadian content? Movies and documentaries about indigenous people? Nah, this is not for me! When the USA have like 10 HBO channels filled with almost the latest movies and Canada has this… things I don’t like, then nope, I’m not gonna pay for this.
Canadian Content: Trailer park Boys, Corner Gas, Shoresy, LetterKenny, Kenny vs Spenny.. Just to name a few.
Well, enjoy those shows. I would still like 10 HBO, Starz, Showtime, etc.
I didn’t say I watch those.. I have some of them in the past, but you asked what Canadian content is, and I told you…