Evidence of meeting #27 for Canadian Heritage in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was media.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:55 p.m.
Bloc
Roger Pomerleau Bloc Drummond, QC
It concerns the audio-visual archives, Mr. Mattocks. You said that, most of the time, when it's not digitized, it's because there are copyright issues that have not been entirely resolved. Artisans may not want things to be digitized.
What is Radio-Canada's long-term strategy for those specific archives? Will there eventually be marketing strategies to make those television series accessible to the public? Are there any strategies?
4:55 p.m.
Executive Director, Internet and Digital Services, CBC/Radio-Canada
I have a small piece of the answer. We recently entered into an agreement with the Institut national de l'audiovisuel, the Ina, in France, which is establishing a platform to commercialize archives. Some of Radio-Canada's French archives will appear on it. We've also reached an agreement with the NFB, which also has a platform for commercializing certain archives. Some of our content will appear there. On the French side, there's definitely a will to try to use that and to find ways to commercialize it, where possible.
As part of our programming, we have a program called Tout le Monde en parle,which is really designed to go into the archives of the events that we want to emphasize and re-examine, etc. It's very popular. People love it. These are processed archives. There's no guarantee that everyone would be interested in an entire program, so we're trying to exploit our archives in all kinds of ways.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Thank you, Ms. Rossier and Mr. Pomerleau.
Mr. Del Mastro, go ahead, please.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
Thank you.
Thank you to the witnesses.
First of all, I think it is only appropriate to congratulate the CBC for the work it has done on a number of its shows, whether it's Battle of the Blades, Hockey Night in Canada, Being Erica, or any of these shows.
I think your approach on digital has kept up and in some cases has exceeded what we see with others, in what is really a competitive space in Canada. That's really quite an effort that you've undertaken. I must say I'm pretty impressed with it. I would be remiss if I didn't say that if I miss Don Cherry when he's on, I want to be able to watch him later. In Peterborough, we love the Don.
Mr. Mattocks, you mentioned a little while ago that you started out with the CBC climbing broadcast towers. At the time, that was the lifeblood of a television network and a radio network. Without towers, you couldn't get the message out.
4:55 p.m.
General Manager, Media Operations and Technology, CBC/Radio-Canada
That's right.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
Now we live in an era when anybody can be a broadcaster. A little while ago Mr. Angus talked about how he put something up on Facebook. He broadcast that to the world. He didn't have a tower. He didn't have anything other than maybe his BlackBerry.
It's a radical new environment that we live in. With so many platforms out there, is the CBC fighting for space? Is it fighting for relevance? Is that something you're finding yourself up against?
4:55 p.m.
General Manager, Media Operations and Technology, CBC/Radio-Canada
I think there are more and more choices that people can make. One of the things we say internally is “In a world of choice, why us?” That is a question we have to be able to answer every day.
At the end of the day, the simple answer is that it's something that guides our thinking. It's a reality. If you're going to be a media company, and particularly a media company in the interests not of a marginal niche audience but in the interests of the citizens of this country, then you have to be relevant. That's our currency. That's our stock in trade.
You can't be relevant unless you're engaged in providing people media they want in the ways that they want. Multiple platforms aren't a problem. They're actually an opportunity for us. We need to be smart about how we use them. We need to be smart about how we produce them. We need to be smart about the choices we make. We see it as an opportunity.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
One last question. We have two stations in Canada that still operate under licence, one in Kingston and one in Peterborough. I'd argue that they assist the CBC in getting ratings for its shows, introducing that programming to Canadians.
There's always been concern as the CBC has withdrawn from an awful lot of licence agreements across the country, which in my own opinion has been to their detriment in many ways. Are you looking at that situation? Are you looking at continuing those agreements, or are we under negotiations to that effect?
5 p.m.
General Manager, Media Operations and Technology, CBC/Radio-Canada
We're in discussions as we speak.
5 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Thank you very much.
We're going to adjourn now, because Madame Lavallée has indicated to me that she's not going to move her motion. So there's no need to go into discussion and a vote on her motion.
I want to thank our witnesses, Mr. Mattocks and Madame Rossier, for their testimony.
Without further ado, this meeting is adjourned.