Thank you, Brad.
My name is Mike Keller. I'm vice-president of industry affairs at Newcap Broadcasting. I've been working in the broadcasting industry, in both television and radio, for my entire career, starting in 1971, at MCTV in northern Ontario, then at Baton Broadcasting, CHUM, and now Newcap Broadcasting.
I'm currently on the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, and I've held positions on the boards of the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, the Television Bureau of Canada, and the Radio Marketing Bureau.
Newcap is an Atlantic Canada success story. It now has the second largest complement of radio stations in Canada--75--serving 56 communities, from large cities, such as Ottawa, Edmonton, and Calgary, to tiny villages, such as Springdale, Newfoundland, and Blairmore, Alberta. Over 800 employees come to work at Newcap each day and make their communities better places to live. We are the largest radio operator in Atlantic Canada and the Maritimes.
As has been noted, I'm going to further illustrate the depth of contribution that Canadian broadcasters make to the music community in Canada. Broadcasters provide publicity and direct cash investments for musicians. This is done across the industry through such programs as the Big Money Shot in our Ottawa station, Live 88.5, which invests $500,000 worth of grants in Ottawa area artists every year. Through this program, Newcap Radio has already added 10 artists in full rotation and 100 artists in feature spins on its radio stations, putting unsigned Canadian artists on air alongside the world's most popular musicians.
We also have a program called Rock Star, in Calgary, that provides $500,000 in direct funding to local artists to help them tap into financial and management resources to bring their musical aspirations to the next level and beyond. The unique financial coaching, mentoring, networking, and on-air resources of these Newcap stations have enabled local musicians to realize their dreams of launching successful careers as Canadian recording artists.
Newcap is there every step of the way, from song writing to recording, album production, performance coaching, touring, marketing, and ultimately cross-Canada airplay, both in full rotation and as feature spins that put these unsigned artists next to the world's best recording artists.
Over a 10-year period, Newcap alone has contributed over $30 million in contributions to CCD, $5.7 million to FACTOR, $8.5 million to Starmaker, and another $16 million to local artists and initiatives.
In just the last year, private broadcasters as a whole contributed $51 million to CCD through programs like FACTOR, MusicAction, and the Radio Starmaker Fund. On top of these investments in local communities and artists, private radio broadcasters are also paying $64 million, which is growing every year, in copyright royalties to authors, composers, publishers, performers, and makers of sound recordings for broadcast. This copyright payment will not be affected by Bill C-32.
It has been said that granting the broadcaster an exception will mean that broadcasters will get a free ride. We think that contributing over $115 million to artists in a single year is hardly a free ride. We believe that we are doing an exceptional job in our support of Canadian artists. In reality, broadcasters are an essential catalyst for the success of artists. The broadcasting industry must remain healthy in order to continue to provide this tremendous level of support for Canadian artists.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. We are happy to answer any questions you might have.