When he was Minister of Heritage, Steven Guilbeault announced that the digital giants would pay us $800 million a year.
• Also read: $100 million deal between Ottawa and Google for journalism
While the Online News Act (C-18) is set to come into force in mid-December, Ottawa just reached a last-minute agreement with Google. The multibillion-dollar company pays $100 million (indexed) annually in compensation for the news it shares through its search engine, by far the first to do so, with a 91% market share.
Google is an “extra large” giant. The company made a profit of $60 billion last year, this year profits are expected to rise to over $76 billion and even exceed the $76 billion mark in 2021. This is despite the high fines the company had to pay in Europe for abuse, market dominance and various offenses. If this trend continues, Google’s advertising revenue will reach $200 billion or $272 billion Canadian. An astronomical sum.
When Steven Guilbeault did his “calculations,” he estimated that Google’s contribution to our news media would be at least $172 million per year. His calculation was very conservative, considering that last May Google had committed to paying the New York Times alone $100 million (136 million Canadian dollars) over three years.
- Listen to the exchange between Guy Fournier and Pierre Huet and Richard Martineau QUB radio :
METAS STRENGTH
For Meta, negotiations are out of the question. Facebook has insulted us by simply “blocking” Canadian news. Despite this resounding slap in the face, hundreds of Canadian companies, several of our governments and political parties, including Québec Solidaire, continue to purchase advertising space there.
Since November 20 and continuing for another week, the CRTC has been holding public hearings to determine who will inherit royalties from Netflix, Disney+ and other major digital platforms. The problem is that we still don’t know whether they will contribute to our broadcasting system and how much they will pay. The CRTC must also determine how Google’s contribution will be divided, as the giant refuses to negotiate individually with the news media.
The jackpot of 800 million per year that Steven Guilbeault hoped to find in the pockets of the giants has already been reduced to zero. If the agreement concluded with Google is any guide, it will certainly have to be cut by a third, if not half.
Archive photo, Stevens LeBlanc
GABRIELLE ROY IN HALFTONE
Last year I didn’t say much about The World of Gabrielle Roy series. ARTV had broadcast the eight episodes in batches over two days after discreetly broadcasting them on Ici Télé last winter.
The second season, which we still have to thank the writer and director Renée Blanchard, will be broadcast from December 8th on ICI TOU.TV EXTRA before being broadcast on the main channel. Like thousands of other Canadians, I regret that Radio-Canada continues to “entertain” a class of privileged viewers who, for a fee, can discover series before others and without advertising.
Anyone who subscribes to Extra will enjoy watching the second season. The pacing is still a bit slow, the dialogue is still thin, but the whole thing has picked up speed and the visuals are great. The series recalls the life of Gabrielle Roy from 1929 to 1937, when she discovered the theater and became aware of her talents.
It is high time we made known this extraordinary writer, who has left the Quebec intelligentsia somewhat in the background because of her Manitoban origins.