Thank you.
Independent producers play a fundamental role in our broadcasting system. We provide Canadian television viewers with a Canadian perspective on our country, our world, and our place in it. We help foster Canadian cultural choices and reflect the rich diversity of this country.
Independent producers are dynamic trade and cultural ambassadors who actively showcase Canadian communities to Canadians and to the world. This vital role has long been promoted through federal policy and is explicitly recognized in the objectives of the Broadcasting Act.
Our sector as a whole is big business and it makes a very sizeable contribution to Canada's economy. The hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses each year generate $2.3 billion in Canadian content production activity. They are responsible for more than $230 million in exports, and they sustain quality jobs for close to 60,000 Canadians in every region of this country and service another $1.8 billion worth of foreign location activity, which sustains an additional 44,000 jobs--over 100,000 jobs in all.
Independently produced Canadian programs are exported to hundreds of countries around the world. They receive critical acclaim both at home and abroad and they achieve audience success.
We have recently begun to see what we call a “reversed simulcast” situation. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new and ongoing trend. This clearly demonstrates what can happen when a Canadian program is properly financed and promoted. There are shows such as Flashpoint, the first Canadian drama series since Due South to air in network prime time in both Canada and the U.S. It airs on CBS in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada. The Listener will have its North American premiere on June 4 on NBC, and it will air, too, on CTV in Canada. The Bridge will air on CBS in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada, and Copper was developed as a series for Global and has been picked up by ABC in the U.S. This production is slated to start shooting in Toronto this summer.
All of these shows were developed and financed by Canadian independent producers.
We firmly believe that the Broadcasting Act's objectives related to the independent production sector are fundamental to the success and distinctiveness of our broadcasting system. The importance of these objectives only increases as the system continues to evolve, in which new forms of content delivery are emerging and borders are evaporating. They help ensure independent producers have access to their own broadcasting system and promote a diversity of voices and ideas from across the country.
We respectfully submit that it must be a priority for the Government of Canada and all its institutions to ensure the long-term well-being of the Canadian independent production sector within a healthy broadcasting system. This can only be achieved through a solid partnership among independent producers, broadcasters, BDUs, and governments, both provincially and federally. In fact, through such partnerships our sector has grown over the last decade. Despite this growth, however, hundreds of small and medium-sized companies in our industry remain financially very fragile, and corporate capacity has not improved overall.
A number of factors hinder the growth of our sector. These include the unprecedented consolidation in the television broadcasting sector, the shift toward digital technologies and the migration to multi-platform distribution, and a significant decrease in foreign sources of financing over the last several years. These factors have a significant impact on producers' businesses. The Canadian independent production sector, which is a key component of our broadcasting system, has never faced greater challenges.
It is against this backdrop that we are surprised and disappointed with the overall direction and tone of the over-the-air television broadcasters' licence renewal applications. As we speak, these public hearings are ongoing before the CRTC. Contrary to what you may hear, the system is not broken. We recognize, however, it is under strain.
Today, rather than addressing what we believe are relatively low regulatory obligations, private over-the-air television broadcasters are attempting to reduce or outright eliminate their priority programming requirements. They also want to step away from having to acquire programming from independent producers and they want to decrease their local programming obligations. In short, independent producers have to fight for their very survival.
We are deeply concerned that broadcasters are using so-called structural problems and the current economic downturn as an excuse to reduce their commitments to Canadian priority programming and independent production. This is a rabbit hole that only leads to the dark side of wonderland. Reduced obligations would become the new status quo. This outcome would represent a significant weakening of the broadcast system that has carefully been built over the years. The current framework has served broadcasters, independent producers, the creative community, and, most importantly, Canadian audiences very, very well.
It is absolutely not the time to throw out the baby with the bathwater. It is our strong view that the solution being proposed by broadcasters to challenges they face is, without a doubt, a wrong one with respect to Canadian independent production. It would be completely inconsistent with the policy objectives of the Broadcasting Act to do so.
We note that the impact of the economic slowdown is not limited to broadcasters. It affects virtually all Canadians and Canadian businesses, including the independent production sector and the creative community. Broadcasters have stopped taking pitches from independent producers for new programs and are holding off green-lighting programs that have been in development. This is causing significant uncertainty in the Canadian independent production sector.
Norm, would you continue?