VideoAge International October 2018

32 October 2018 V I D E O A G E A recent announcement by the Canadian government will affect everyone mentio- ned in this article and it is expected that it will have a ripple effect beyond Canada itself. In order tomodernize the legislative framework that governs Canada’s broadcast and telecommu- nications sector, the government has initiated a review of the country’s Broadcasting Act, its Te- lecommunications Act, and its Radiocommunica- tion Act, so that Canada can supposedly advance and thrive in the digital age. The review will fall under the purview of recently-announced Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, whose ministry is responsible for broadcasting. It will include telecommunications, content creation in both French and English, net neutrality, and cultural diversity. The final report with its recommendations is expected by January 31, 2020. Former Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, who initially launched the review, has taken on new ministerial responsibilities, but just before leaving her post, she unveiled a strategic plan to help the country’s content exporters stand out in the global market with a range of government initiatives, including a new funding program of C$125 million over five years. Earlier in the year she announced the appoint- ment of Canadian television and film executive Catherine Tait as the first female president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, the nation’s national broadcaster. In introducing Tait, Joly said, “she is a champion for Canadian content who has successfully navigated the sea of change from traditional media and communications through to today’s digital world.” Tait’s impressive resume includes a stint as manager of Policy and Planning at Telefilm Canada and, from 1989 to 1991, a job as Canada’s cultural attaché to France. Tait leaves behind her board position at Hollywood Suite, a bouquet of movie channels founded by the late Jay Switzer. Continuing on the broadcast front, with bro- adcast revenues declining, the Shaw family is lo- oking to sell its 38 percent stake in its radio and TV broadcaster Corus Entertainment in order to focus on expanding its wireless subsidiary Free- dom Mobile. Toronto-based Corus includes 44 specialty channels (such as The Food Network and HGTV TV), 15 TV stations (including Global TV), and 39 radio stations. A sale of all or some to the big Canadian incumbents such as Rogers Media or Bell Media is unlikely because of the competition issue. No suitor has appeared at the time of this writing (early August). Corus, grappling with the loss of television revenue and the effect of OTT from the likes of Netflix, took a C$1 billion write-down of its TV and radioassets inJune, significantlydiminishing its value, and unveiled new strategies for turning its business around. Other broadcasters have also been coming to grips with reduced revenues. This spring, both Bell Media and Rogers Media let staff go, as did TFO, Ontario’s French-language public broadcaster, while the CBC announced cost- saving revisions to its cable news channel schedule and cancelled its afternoon business show. Bell Media’s cuts included in-house programs, but on a larger programming canvas, in a series of strategic moves, it forged ahead with its intention to be Canada’s leading content creator. It bought a controlling stake in Pinewood Toronto Studios, laying the groundwork to make content equity and licensing deals for Hollywood TV series to be shot on its soundstages. The acquisition is in partnership with Comweb Studio Holdings, Castlepoint, and the City of Toronto. More successful original content would also help bolster its CraveTV online streaming platform. Pinewood Toronto Studios has been the site for a wide range of high-profile shows, including original Bell Media productions such as Orphan Black . In another significant acquisition, Bell Media joined a group of investors buying the production company behind Montreal’s iconic Just for Laughs (Groupe Juste Pour Rire) comedy festival. The BCE Inc. subsidiary and Groupe CH joined talent agency ICMPartners and comedianHowieMandel in the acquisition of Groupe Juste Pour Rire. With this acquisition, Bell Media president Randy Lennox said the company is aligning itself with brands that will have global appeal. Just for Laughs has a large presence in Quebec, but not as much in the rest of Canada. Now, with the backing of a leading broadcaster and content creation company, the potential exists to expand its profile worldwide. The production company will remain Montreal-based. In more production news, Boat Rocker Media, a global producer and distributor of high quality content, has acquired a majority stake in Insight Productions, the Toronto company producing some of Canada’s biggest unscripted series, including The Amazing Race Canada and The Launch. The deal enables Insight to expand and diversify its development slate and “plunge more aggressively into the digital world.” Insight Productions will continue to operate as an independent business unit, with Boat Rocker providing capital investment, as well as business and strategic support. John Brunton, Insight’s chairman and CEO, will continue to run all aspects of the venture and the entire Insight team will remain in place. Last year, Halifax-based DHX Media Ltd., a production, distribution, and broadcasting company specializing in children’s content, bought a majority ownership in the Peanuts and Strawberry Shortcake brands for U.S.$345 million, significantly increasing its revenue but also its debt load. Now struggling under that debt, it has been undergoing a strategic review of its options, including a potential sale of the company, and it sold nearly half of its stake in the Peanuts entertainment business to a Sony Corp. division for C$235.6 million in cash. DHX will retain 41 percent of the Peanuts portfolio, which revolves around characters such as Snoopy and Charlie Brown, while Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. will own 39 percent. The family of creator Charles M. Schulz will continue to own 20 percent. DHX executive chairman Michael Donovan said that the Sony deal will help the Canadian company build the Peanuts brand not only in China and Japan, but throughout Asia, and will help it reach worldwide growth targets in the coming years. Toronto-based animation producer and distri- butor 9 Story Media Group has acquired producer and distributor Breakthrough Entertainment’s kids and family library and development slate, adding 757 half-hours of animated and live-ac- tion content to its growing library. We won’t know how all these companies will function in a new regulatory framework and, with new economic realities, how all Canadian media companies will be affected until January 2020 — which is, in business-speak, a long way off. By Isme Bennie Changing Landscape to Create Future Added Value, Present Uncertainties Canadian Media Randy Lennox, president of Bell Media Catherine Tait, CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada