The industry effort – largely fueled by the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Telefilm – is taking its message on the road this summer, led by ambassador and veteran broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos.

Already underway, the tour is making stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Saint John, Moncton, P.E.I., and Nunavut, before wrapping up in Toronto in September – collecting stories along the way on how Canadian film and television has shaped Canadian culture and continues to inspire future generations.

Mathieu Chantelois of the Canada Media Fund joins Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to talk about the MADE | NOUS campaign and why there’s never been a better time to celebrate Canadian storytellers.

The post LISTEN: Mathieu Chantelois on taking the MADE | NOUS celebration of Cancon on the road appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.

Watson’s comment arose during discussion about at-risk programs – specifically children’s and youth television programming.

Rogers maintains that children are being well-served by Canadian content, but that viewing has moved outside traditional channels.

“From our perspective, this is not a case of market failure. This is actually a market outcome,” Dean Shaikh, Rogers Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, told the hearing. “This is a response to a functioning market. Audiences – in this case, kids – have spoken, and they’re leaving the traditional system. We know that’s the case. My fear is that because there’s a perceived market outcome that the commission is not satisfied with, it may introduce regulatory tools that really aren’t about market failure, but actually create market distortions and inefficiencies.”

“In the case of kids programming, it’s a demand issue,” Shaikh continued. “Kids don’t want programming from traditional platforms in the way they historically did. The right response to an issue of decreasing demand is not to increase supply. And my fear is, in this hearing, there’s been a suggestion that because kids are leaving the traditional system, maybe we need to fund more or dedicate more funds to kids programming, allocate some CPE [Canadian Programming Expenditures] to kids’ programming. This would be an example, of what we would argue is a harmful regulatory distortion, because you’re actually responding in the wrong way to the wrong problem…if you introduce a new fund or funding commitments or CPE commitments, you’ll be taking money away from things like local news that in our model, we would like to continue to support.”

Watson shared, from personal experience, watching her grandson access Canadian kids programming on YouTube.

“But my grandson takes the remote control and talks into it and calls up his PAW Patrol or his Cocomelon, and up it comes magically. So where we came in, in the regulated system, was created a BDU product that allows for seamless transitioning between a variety of feeds,” explained Watson. “We have to evolve. We all have to evolve whether it’s in point systems or technology to meet the audiences where they are. So as a cable company, we deliver programming seamlessly to all audiences from the three-year-old to the senior citizen…we’re trying. And I guess what we’re saying is, if you try to solve all problems, you will dilute all contributions. And so, we we implore on you to not do the one size fits all.”

Rogers is proposing a framework for supporting Canadian programming that establishes a single financial contribution for each broadcasting ownership group. For Rogers, that would entail a single financial commitment on behalf of both its media and distribution businesses of no more than 5% of total combined BDU and media revenues. Rogers is proposing to focus on local, community and third-language news and information programming (requiring an exemption from the community television policy); and direct expenditures on Canadian programming, including a commitment to independent production and contributions to a private certified independent production fund (CIPF).

The hearing heard that Rogers lost about $10 million on its English-language news production last year.

BCE, which presented on Thursday, wants the flexibility to redirect local expression funding from Bell TV to Bell Media’s news operations. Watson said Rogers is not proposing “like Bell, to shut down in those markets,” but said there is tens of millions of dollars spent on community television access funding that could go to news at the community level.

“My kids live in Stittsville. They get their local news now from Facebook…isn’t that our job to make sure that they get some information, too?” asked Watson.

Rogers is also advocating for mainstream sports services to be maintained in a new regime, including streaming services like its Sportsnet+ direct-to-consumer product.

“Commission intervention is not needed to ensure these services continue to make meaningful contributions to the system,” Shaikh told the hearing during Rogers presentation.

“Canadian broadcast groups are competing directly against global streaming giants for subscribers and audiences. They are doing so while continuing to provide local news programming and wholesale fee payments to services of exceptional importance that no other participants in the regulated system are either willing or required to provide,” he continued. “In a marketplace where foreign streamers are rapidly expanding their share, Canada’s largest broadcasting companies cannot continue to shoulder the entire burden of achieving all the policy objectives set out in the Act. The future of a Canadian owned and controlled broadcasting system is at risk unless we are provided with the same regulatory and financial flexibility as the U.S. streaming giants.”

The post ‘We all have to evolve,’ Rogers’ Colette Watson tells CRTC hearing appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.

Also considering how to support the creation and distribution of Canadian programming in the audio-visual sector, CRTC Chairperson Vicky Eatrides opened the hearings by outlining the commission’s desire to reflect “today’s reality” in its policy.

“The law gives us a mandate to provide a new approach and more flexible approach on broadcasting, taking into account new business models and new technologies,” said Eatrides, in her opening statement.

“Our goal is clear,” she continued. “To modernize the definition of Canadian content to reflect today’s reality, to make sure that it reflects how content is created, financed and shared. Coming out of this hearing, we want to give Canadians confidence that their broadcasting system will produce many kinds of content. Content they have told us they want, they want to be able to find, they want to be able to enjoy.”

The hearing will encompass consideration of intellectual property (IP) rights, spending requirements for Canadian content, and data requirements to ensure any framework is achieving results. The commission also revealed at the outset of the hearing that Netflix, Apple and Paramount would not be appearing, despite being listed on the initial agenda. The streamers were absent from a revised agenda released Wednesday afternoon, with the commission saying it could not comment on behalf of individual broadcasters.

AQPM, the Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM), which represents the interests of more than 150 independent film, television and web production companies in Quebec, was the first presenter. Ensuring IP rights remain Canadian is among its chief concerns, especially in the context of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on foreign location and service (FLS) production happening in Canada.

CAB President @KevinDesjardins, along with Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Tandy Yull, appeared today at the CRTC hearing on #CanCon.

See the full appearance here: https://t.co/dvXR17a1Cz

— Canadian Association of Broadcasters (@CAB_ACR) May 14, 2025

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), representing private commercial broadcasters, called for regulatory fairness.

“Canadian broadcasters will only be able to continue to make meaningful contributions to the public policy goals outlined in the Broadcasting Act if they are able to operate viable businesses that are capable of adapting to the profound structural challenges facing their operations and being responsive to the interests of their audiences,” CAB President Kevin Desjardins told the hearing.

“The modernized framework that is being developed through these consultations must ensure that all players in the system are treated equitably,” he continued. “Canadian broadcasters cannot continue to bear the full weight of supporting cultural policy objectives while they continue to compete with foreign undertakings for programming rights, viewers, subscribers and advertisers. A recalibration of the obligations placed on Canadian broadcasters and foreign streamers is absolutely necessary.”

The CAB is also asking for flexibility, with any contribution framework driven by incentives rather than quotas, in addition to a lighter regulatory approach.

“We believe that going forward, it will be important for the commission to only regulate what truly matters,” said Desjardins. “This means letting go of legacy requirements and taking every opportunity to reduce both the regulatory and administrative burden on regulated broadcasters and allowing the commission to focus its resources on improving its efficiency.”

The CAB says foreign streaming services must be brought into the regulatory fold, while Canadian broadcaster obligations are “recalibrated to the current market realities.”

“Foreign online streamers are here,” Desjardins asserted. “They entered the market on their own terms. They funnelled billions of Canadian dollars out of our system and out of our economy and only invest in ways that ultimately benefit their own global goals and their own bottom line. And as should be clear from recent statements on the world stage, none of the previous investments in foreign productions by these foreign media giants can be assumed in their plans going forward. All the while, and unfortunately for the foreseeable future, Canadian broadcasters continue to be held to obligations instituted well before those foreign players arrived and disrupted our domestic marketplace.”

The post CRTC hearings on modernizing ‘Canadian program’ definition get underway appeared first on Broadcast Dialogue.