Hardly a week goes by that I’m not asked what the future of our television looks like. As if the question were easy to answer.
This is all the more difficult as television in Quebec is exceptional. Nobody has the listening success like us. Considering the population, listening to New Year’s programs on Radio-Canada is an all-time record. The same goes for Révolution or Chanteurs Masques on Sunday nights on TVA. Viewership of our drama series has declined but still surpasses that of any western country. All in all, of course.
Can this phenomenon last? Without guessing, we can predict that interest in our television won’t be the same as baby boomers die out. For viewers who are in their 40s or younger, it’s quite different. Young households cannot do without the Internet, but are not very interested in the traditional channels that are broadcast via Hertz waves, cable, fiber optics or satellite. The kids watch YouTube, Disney+ or TikTok and spend the rest of their free time playing video games.
No television without subsidies
Today’s television was made possible by the creation of the Canada Television Fund in 1998. Funded by cable companies and the Ottawa government, the FTC (which became the Canadian Media Fund in April 2010) contributes a significant amount (about $100 million a year for French). (German-speaking television) to our dramas, documentaries, children’s programs and variety shows. As production costs continue to rise, the contribution of the fund (or any other organization that could replace it) must become increasingly significant to maintain the quality of the programmes.
With the passage of the Online Continuous Broadcasting Act, the digital giants, which are traditional television’s fiercest competitors, must also contribute to the creation of Québec programming. When he was Minister for Heritage, Steven Guilbeault estimated that the contribution from Netflix and the other giants would reach $800 million a year. This is twice the media fund’s current budget. Under the fund’s current allocation rules, such a sum would mean between 265 and 325 million more per year for Quebec television.
THERE IS MUCH UNKNOWN
But that’s all theoretical. It is not yet known whether the cable companies and even the government will continue to contribute to the media fund. Since we don’t know if the digital giants will be able to draw on the fund’s money to produce programs whose content is Quebec. But to what extent Quebec?
Currently, to benefit from the media fund, a producer must be Canadian, which is not the case with the giants. That’s at least one rule that needs changing if they’re going to benefit from it, not to mention the point scales in place at the CRTC and Revenue Agency that determine whether the work is Canadian or not.
Traditional television will increasingly be reserved for news, public affairs and live events. Pretty much anything entertainment will be reserved for on-demand television, such as Netflix, illico, Crave, and the like.
As for the sports channels, it will be difficult for them to keep their rights to popular sports. The big leagues will prefer to broadcast them through their own paid channels.
