All the BDUs are expected to make a 5% contribution to Canadian content every year. Historically, with satellite companies, the whole 5% went to the Canadian media fund or other funds for professional production. Cable companies have the option to retain 2% of that 5% to fund a community channel, with the other 3% going to the other funds.
Last year that 2% amounted to around $120 million. So they're spending money that's earmarked for Canadian citizens to get on and have a voice, but they're spending it on fewer and fewer big-city professionalized channels, and most of their studios in smaller communities have been shut down.
We were trying to create a model. There's money in the system for it already. We're not asking for something new. But this was turned down. The CRTC didn't ask BDUs to redirect any of that money to this new fund, so we're looking for other ways to resource it. There have been station closures. There's still a need for Canadians to learn digital literacy. And there's a big gap in local programming. For all of these reasons, we need to find some other way to fund it.