New CanCon TV rules could be tough on smaller producers

While the CRTC’s reset of long-standing Canadian content rules for the small screen is very much a work in progress, some industry insiders already fear for the smaller, independent producer.
The worry is that privately held niche broadcasters in areas such as children’s programming and documentary film making lacking access to capital market funding could be especially vulnerable. Analysts said some specialty channels may disappear altogether.
“Success will not be universal,” Jean-Pierre Blais, chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said Thursday in a speech announcing the changes that follow a public consultation and hearings with industry players.
“Some will thrive, others fail. New players will emerge. But I assure you this is the right way forward.”
The CRTC said it is dropping Canadian content quotas for daytime TV while leaving the 6-11 p.m. high viewership window and overall CanCon spending requirements unchanged.

 MORE froim the Star