R ogers Communications said an initial base contribution of 2% of Canadian revenue from foreign-owned undertakings would be fair, in its testimony to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on Tuesday (Nov. 28) during the Path Forward hearings in Gatineau, Que.

Rogers proposed applicability thresholds of $50 million for online video services and $25 million for online audio services, “based on revenues earned at the level of an individual online undertaking,” Pam Dinsmore, Rogers’ VP of regulatory, told commissioners.

The proposals are lower than what others in the industry have called for, which have ranged from 5% of revenues to 8%. The CRTC has set a $10 million revenue threshold for online services.

Dean Shaikh (pictured), Rogers’ SVP of regulatory affairs, said that the Toronto-based media and telecommunications company examined the traditional broadcasting industry’s level of direct financial contributions as a percentage of total revenue, which he claimed was close to 2.7% in 2021 and 2022. “It is no longer fair or sustainable for Canada’s broadcasting industry to be the primary source of funding for all stakeholders in the system,” he said.

Shaikh said that, since 2012, Rogers’ broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) and radio stations paid nearly $2 billion in direct mandated financial contributions to support the Canada Media Fund, Certified Independent Production Funds (CIPFs), the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF), local expression and through the Canadian Content Distribution (CCD) requirement under the Broadcasting Act.

Susan Wheeler, VP of distribution and regulatory at Rogers, said “the modernized contribution regime must include new mechanisms to provide long-term, financial support for high-quality, Canadian-produced broadcast news from credible outlets.”

This, she said, would be achieved by directing 30% of online video and audio undertakings’ initial base contributions toward an interim News Fund, accessible by all private television and radio stations producing news, and administered by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.

Paramount Global, which runs two streaming services in Canada, Paramount+ and Pluto TV, pushed back against an initial base contribution, adopting the approach taken last week (Nov. 20) by the Motion Picture Association-Canada.

“We agree with MPA-Canada’s position that an initial base contribution is based on the false premise that Canadian broadcasting undertakings are the only ones contributing to the Canadian broadcasting system” and that “there is no urgency to establish a mandatory base contribution before the commission fully considers and establishes the overall contribution framework in the months ahead,” said Doug Smith, SVP of streaming and content licensing for Paramount Global Canada.

He said that such a contribution could force Paramount to divert financial resources from projects it has developed, such as 500 Days in the Wild, a Paramount+ original documentary that has its world premiere this Friday (Dec. 1) at the Whistler Film Festival.

“Worse, it may lead to rate hikes for Canadian subscribers and require another generation of Canadian producers to become specialists in drafting fund paperwork instead of pitching us the next great Canadian program,” said Smith, who added that “the future success of Canadian content requires reach, discoverability and commercial viability.”

But CHCO, a non-profit community television station in New Brunswick, would like to receive funds through the Online Streaming Act that focus on “hiring more staff, training volunteers, and creating even more genuinely local content reflecting our communities,” and not “on replicating American reality shows or giving executives bonuses,” said Vicki Hogarth, news director at the station, which she noted has three full-time staff members and more than 25 volunteers.

“While Bill C-11 is well intentioned,” said Hogarth, “it risks benefitting only vertically integrated, for-profit models that have drained community television funds, yet still request relief from delivering local content in what they view as non-desirable marketplaces.”

She said that although Canada’s media conglomerates “claim to be the Davids to the Goliaths of YouTube and Netflix in the context of Bill C-11, they are still the giants on their home turf and resist sharing the pie.”

The Path Forward hearings are scheduled to continue until Dec. 8.