Foreign companies spent $274 million CAD on fictional English-language Canadian TV production, according to a new report from Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA).
This means that more Canadian TV production investment came from foreign sources than actual Canadian companies. On the Canadian front, $46 million came from private broadcasters, $114 million from public broadcasters and $100 million from the Canada Media Fund (CMF).
Meanwhile, foreign sources spent $80 million on children’s and youth programming compared to $26 million from private broadcasters, $18 million from public broadcasters and $21 million from the CMF.
As noted by University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist, this demonstrates a continuous drop in Canadian TV production investment from Canadian companies.
Some argue Netflix is to blame for Cancon challenges. Here’s the actual data on funding for English-language fiction programs (2013 => 2018):
Foreign: $131M => $274M
Private b’casters: $115M => $46M
Public b’casters: $116M => $114M
CMF: $167M => $100Mhttps://t.co/blaLgwofLQ pic.twitter.com/Am9KcFNTwZ— Michael Geist (@mgeist) March 28, 2019
In the span of five years, foreign companies more than doubled their funding for English-language fiction programs, while private broadcasters and the CMF reduced their investments by $69 million and $67 million, respectively. Only public broadcasters have invested roughly the same during this time ($114 million in 2018 compared to $116 million in 2013).
The most notable example of foreign companies investing in Canadian TV productions is Netflix. The streaming company created its Netflix Canada division in 2017 and pledged $500 million in funding of original Canadian productions over a five-year period.
Some of the series Netflix has produced in Canada so far include the Toronto-shot The Umbrella Academy (which also stars Halifax’s Ellen Page) and the filmed-in-Vancouver Altered Carbon and Riverdale.
The full CMPA report can be found here.
Via: Michael Geist
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
