Canadian content
Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; French: contenu canadien) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (including cable and satellite specialty channels) must produce and broadcast a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from Canada. CanCon also refers to that content itself, and, more generally, to cultural and creative content that is Canadian in nature.
Current Canadian content percentages are as follows: radio airplay is 35% (with partial exceptions for some specialty formats such as classical). Some stations are required to air a higher percentage based on their "promise of performance" information during their license submission. Broadcast television is 55% cancon yearly or 50% daily (CBC has a 60% CanCon quota; some specialty or multicultural formats have lower percentages).
The loss of the protective Canadian content quota requirements is one of the concerns of those opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.[1] Canada entered into the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral free trade agreement, in October 2012.[2][3][4]
Origins
In enforcing the
Radio
Music radio
For music, the Canadian content requirements are referred to as the MAPL system, referring to the music, artist, performance and lyrics.
Criteria
To qualify as Canadian content a musical selection must generally fulfil at least two of the following conditions (one if recorded prior to January 1972):
- M (music) — the music is composed entirely by a Canadian
- A (artist) — the music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian
- P (performance) — the musical selection consists of a performance that is:
- Recorded wholly in Canada, or
- Performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada.
- L (lyrics) — the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian[6]
For the purposes of MAPL, a "Canadian" refers to a citizen, permanent resident, someone whose "ordinary place of residence" has been in Canada prior to their contribution to the musical selection, or someone who is a CRTC licensee.[7]
A musical selection may also qualify as Canadian content if it:
- Is an instrumental performance of a composition by a Canadian.
- Is a "performance of a musical composition that a Canadian has composed for instruments only."
- Was performed live or recorded after September 1, 1991, meets the criteria for either artist or performance, and a Canadian receives at least half of the credit for music and lyrics.
Some stations – especially those playing formats where there may be a limited number of Canadian recordings suitable for airplay, such as
On
History
Following an extensive public hearing process organized by the CRTC, the MAPL system, created by
Before the MAPL system was established in 1971,
Artists who were active in the early CanCon era in the 1970s and 1980s have noted that their music was often dismissed by Canadian audiences as inferior product, propped up by quotas rather than quality, if they were unable to replicate their Canadian success internationally.[10] Yet, at the same time, artists who did break through internationally also ran the risk of becoming dismissed by Canadian audiences as no longer truly Canadian.[10]
By the 1980s, there were a range CanCon requirements depending on the radio band (AM or FM) and music programming format.
The 1991 half credit for music and lyrics provision was added after Canadian Bryan Adams' album Waking Up the Neighbours did not qualify as Canadian as Adams co-wrote both the music and the lyrics with South African producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and he did not primarily record the album in Canada, and therefore only fulfilled one of the criteria fully. It was noted that if Adams had written all the lyrics, and Lange all the music (or vice versa), the collaboration would have counted as Canadian content. As a result, under CRTC regulations of the time, none of the album's songs were considered Canadian content.[14][15]
In December 2022, the CRTC announced a proposal to update the MAPL system to account for changes in the music industry and reduce regulatory burden. The proposal would remove the "performance" condition entirely, and only require lyrics and music to be principally (at least 50%) written or composed by a Canadian to qualify as Canadian content.[16]
Talk radio and American syndicated programming
Unlike music radio, the rules on talk radio are more ambiguous. The vast majority of Canadian commercial English-language talk radio stations operate with local talk for most of the daylight hours, with the exception of two nationally syndicated Canadian talk show hosts: news/talk personality Charles Adler and sports talk host Bob McCown. The lone restriction is that the station must have a working studio within the region it broadcasts, which prohibits the use of entirely satellite-operated stations (which are commonplace in the United States).
Syndicated programming from the United States invariably airs after 7:00 pm local time in virtually all markets, and usually features non-political programs such as
As in the United States in the 1980s, the trend for
American shows that combine talk and music, such as
A notable exception to the majority-Canadian spoken word programming came in 2012 when
Film and television
To an even greater extent than on radio, Canadian television programming has been a perennially difficult proposition for the broadcast industry, particularly dramatic programming in prime-time. It is much more economical for Canadian stations to buy the Canadian rights to an American prime-time series than to finance a new homemade production. Perhaps more importantly, given the reach of the major U.S. broadcast networks in Canada, it is virtually impossible to delay or modify a U.S. program's broadcast schedule, as regularly occurs in other foreign markets, to weed out failures or to otherwise accommodate homegrown programming.
In English Canada, presently only the public network, CBC Television, devotes the vast majority of its prime time schedule to Canadian content, having dropped U.S. network series in the mid-1990s. The French-language industry, centered in Quebec, similarly places a larger emphasis on original productions, as they have historically been more profitable than dubs of imported English-language programming, and to prioritize the province's insular "star system" of local talent.[17][18] The English commercial networks (CTV, Global and Citytv), conversely, rely on news and information programs for the bulk of their Canadian content while running mostly American network series, but have still occasionally commissioned domestic productions for prime time broadcasts.
Some have suggested that Canadian content minimums be enacted for movie theatres, in order to improve the visibility and commercial viability of Canadian film,[19][20] although none have ever been put in place. Most film festivals in Canada devote at least a portion of their schedules to Canadian films, although this is by choice rather than government regulation; a few film festivals are devoted exclusively to Canadian films, although most screen a mix of Canadian and international films. However, as movie-based premium television services such as Crave, Super Channel, Hollywood Suite and Super Écran operate on television and thus must follow Canadian content regulations, they do acquire and program Canadian films; this often still represents a Canadian film's best opportunity to attract an audience beyond the film festival circuit.
Criteria
What is considered Canadian content is determined by either the CRTC, or the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) for film and television productions that are seeking its tax credit. The CRTC's requirements for a television program to be considered Canadian content include that:[21]
- The producer of the program must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and hold "full responsibility" in overseeing development, creative and financial control. The producer must also receive a remuneration that exceeds the aggregated remuneration of all foreign producer-related positions.
- The production must employ a minimum number of Canadian citizens or permanent residents in key creative positions, as determined by a points system.
- The director or screenwriter for live-action productions, or the scriptwriter or storyboard supervisor for animated productions, and at least one of the two highest-paid lead performers, must be Canadian.
- For animated works, the key animationmust be performed in Canada.
- Non-Canadians may not be credited as a producer, co-producer, line producer, or production manager
- At least 75% of all costs incurred for production services, as well as 75% of all costs incurred in post-production, must be for services provided in Canada.
- The program must fall within a CRTC-defined program category.
Examples
Early Canadian programming was often produced merely to fill content requirements, and featured exceedingly low budgets, rushed production schedules, poor writing and little in the way of production values, and as a result did not attract much of an audience. One Canadian series,
In the 1980s and early 1990s, distinctly Canadian drama series such as CBC's
To complement their airings of American or British versions, Canadian networks have also produced local versions of unscripted
Canadian networks have sometimes fulfilled Cancon requirements by commissioning series filmed in Canada, but intended to be sold to broadcasters in larger foreign markets such as the United States and United Kingdom, such as CTV's (which was partially funded by the CBC) are also common.
A few Canadian drama series, including
The CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek was co-produced with U.S. cable network Pop as its first original scripted series, but its later addition to the streaming service Netflix helped to bolster wider public awareness and critical acclaim of the series in the United States and worldwide.[25] This culminated at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2020 following its final season, where Schitt's Creek became the first series to sweep all seven major awards in their respective genre in the same year, and Dan Levy became the first to win awards for acting, directing, producing, and writing in the same year.[26][27][28]
Canadian commercial television networks schedule a large percentage of their Canadian productions to air in the summer season; although traditionally a season of low viewership, this practice has actually been beneficial for Canadian television productions, influenced by widespread viewer preference for new programming over off-season repeats, as well as an increased chance of gaining a lucrative sale to one of the big four American networks—a revenue stream which is generally unavailable during the fall and winter television seasons.[29]
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television in the United States provided a major exception, with NBC importing the CTV medical drama Transplant (which premiered at midseason in Canada) for its fall primetime lineup, filling the timeslot normally filled by its own medical drama New Amsterdam (whose premiere was deferred to 2021).[30][31][32] NBC subsequently picked up another Canadian medical drama from Global, Nurses,[33] and ordered the second season of Transplant for a mid-season premiere in 2022.[34][35] The third season would also be picked up by NBC, with its U.S. premiere held back to fall due to the WGA and SAG–AFTRA strikes.[36][37]
Children's programming
Canadian studios have had a significant presence in the
The Montreal-based studio
Regulations
The CRTC presently requires that at least 55% of all programming aired annually by broadcast television stations, and at least 50% of programming aired daily from 6:00 pm to midnight, must be Canadian content.[46][47] In May 2011, the annual CanCon requirement for private television broadcasters was lowered from 60% to 55% yearly. The CBC remains subject to the 60% quota.[46]
Historically, much of these requirements have been fulfilled by lower-cost non-scripted programming, including networked
Further complicating matters for Canadian content is the existence of simultaneous substitution, a regulation that allows over-the-air broadcasters to require the substitution of feeds from American broadcast channels on local multichannel television providers if they are airing the same programming in simulcast, thus protecting their exclusive rights to earn revenue off such programming whenever it is broadcast in Canada. Therefore, Canadian networks have made significant effort to import popular American series to take advantage of the rule, which in turn crowds out Canadian programming to less-desirable time slots.
Over the years the CRTC has tried a number of strategies intended to increase the success of Canadian programming, including expenditure requirements and time credits for productions with specific requirements. In 1999, the CRTC mandated that stations owned by the largest private groups air at least eight hours of Canadian "priority programming" per-week between the hours of 7 and 11 p.m.; priority programming included scripted programs, documentaries, entertainment news, and variety programs.[48]
In 2011, as part of its new "group-based" approach to licensing of television services owned by the largest private broadcasters (such as
All services must also invest 5% of their revenue towards the production of "programs of national interest" (PNI), which include comedy, drama, long-form documentaries, children's programming, and qualifying awards presentations honouring Canadian creative talent. In 2017, the CRTC instituted a further requirement that 75% of the PNI expenditure must fund productions by independent companies. The CRTC also added credits on CPE for the involvement of producers from Indigenous (50%) and official language minority communities (25%; French outside of Quebec, and English within Quebec).[49][48][50]
Trans-Pacific Partnership
There is concern about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Intellectual Property Provisions[1] of the TPP in terms of CanCon.[2] In October 2012, Canada formally became a TPP negotiating participant.[3][4] In order to enter into the TPP agreement, Canada had to accept the terms agreed upon by the nine original signatory countries: Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Peru, United States, and Vietnam. According to MP Don Davies, Canada had no veto power over these terms and accepted the "existing unbracketed text, sight unseen and without input."[51]
In September 2012, the
After the replacement of the TPP with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2018, it was reported that Canada had secured an exemption from a clause in the agreement that prohibits discriminatory rules on foreign audio-video services in order to ask services to financially support the creation of Canadian content.[54][55]
Theatre
In 1971, a group of Canadian
Reception
University of Ottawa professor
See also
References
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- .
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Further reading
- Armstrong, Robert (2010), Broadcasting Policy in Canada, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 9781442640962
- Edwardson, Ryan (2008), Canadian content: culture and the quest for nationhood, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-0-8020-9759-0
External links
- MAPL system (CRTC)
- CBC Archives Sam the record man) talks about his support for CANCON in 1971