Recently I flipped through channels (I receive my TV over-the-air with an antenna) looking for something on Canadian conventional stations during prime time. It was a disheartening experience. Global (Corus), CTV (Bell), and City (Rogers) served up a wide range of inexpensive American shows, mostly of the reality or police procedural variety. As Soraya Roberts notes in her recent article in the Walrus, there is precious little scripted Canadian television on offer. The low point in this brief tour of contemporary Canadian broadcasting for me was Holy Moly: a mini golf show. It brought back childhood memories of five-pin bowling shows that were then mercifully relegated to weekend afternoons. Holy Moly was prime time on CTV.
It is not my position to critique one’s choice of entertainment (indeed, this was mini golf with high production values); however, the fare offered up by the major private Canadian broadcasters called into question why we have struggled to maintain Canadian ownership when this is the best they can do. In its own daft way, Holy Moly is at the core of many of the issues surrounding C-11. Why do we insist on regulating broadcasting (pretty much all countries do) if this is the end result? For years Canadians have been told by these protected media companies that they need policy support to compete in the global media environment.
There have been numerous calls to scrap Bill C-11 altogether and leave Canadian television to the whims of the marketplace. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Canadian media history knows this is nonsense. Since the arrival of radio in the 1920s it has always been easier for broadcasters to buy American media products off the shelves. There is no market-based solution to the challenges of providing a platform for Canadians to tell their own stories. There never was.
Here’s a unique take: how about instead of trashing the premise of Bill C-11, which is to bring streaming under the auspices of Canadian regulation, why not also insist on a greater effort made by the private broadcasters to provide unique Canadian content? If we are going to bring the force of regulation to protect domestic media industries, it is fair to ask that we get something in return beyond economic protection for integrated communication companies.
It is difficult to argue for the continued place of Canadian-owned broadcasting if the result is American mini golf TV,
Gregory Taylor 