In its presentation on Thursday, the Writers Guild of Canada called on CRTC to increase the expenditure requirements of Canadian broadcasters on Canadian original content if a pick-and-pay policy is mandated and other proposed regulatory changes are implemented.

“If the commission is putting more of its regulatory eggs in the expenditures basket, the basket must be strong enough to hold all the eggs,” said Maureen Parker, executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada.

The Writers Guild of Canada also suggested that if pick-and-pay and other changes are implemented by the CRTC, such as eliminating genre exclusivity or reducing exhibition requirements, that Canadian programming expenditure requirements for broadcasters be revamped so that they apply only to new, original Canadian programming.

The guild also asked the CRTC to strengthen its rules around how broadcasters report their Canadian programming expenditures.

“It will not work unless it goes hand-and-glove with reporting,” said Parker of the Guild’s proposed changes to Canadian programming expenditure requirements.

Joining a call voiced by many other interveners for a slow rollout to any proposed changes, Parker also said the Guild is not completely against the idea of pick-and-pay cable packages, but is more concerned that too many changes will be implemented simultaneously.

“What we want to ensure is that all the checks and balances are not eliminated at the same time,” Parker said.

Earlier in the day, John Brunton, CEO and president of Insight Productions, spoke to the concerns of the independent production sector, warning the commission of the impact that unbundling will have on the independent creation of Canadian content. Not only will less revenue for specialty mean fewer Canadian shows, the reduced ability of broadcasters to cross-promote across channels will impact discoverability.

In turn, it will not only affect viewership, but potential sponsor integrations that have become valuable to shows like Insight/CTV’s Amazing Race Canada, he said.

“To me, the value to these programs – this point of discovery with all these different platform to me is critical to the success in promoting our Canadian television shows,” Burton added.

– Script image courtesy of Shutterstock