Policy wags from across Canada handed in a great deal of work to the CRTC late last month, answering the federal regulator’s questions about how to fix English-language drama. Proposals put in by CAB, the CFTPA, CBC and the CCAU call for a mishmash of changes to the broadcast system, running the gamut from a redefinition of ‘drama’ and ‘primetime’ to all-around requests for more money.

Earlier this year the CRTC asked the public and stakeholders for feedback about how to boost production and viewership of homegrown English-language drama – the latest in a series of efforts to turn around Canada’s sagging drama scene. There are only six one-hour dramas on the network skeds this season.

The feds received almost 300 replies from stakeholders and the public.

The Canadian Coalition of Audio Visual Unions – an umbrella group including ACTRA, the Writers Guild of Canada, the Directors Guild of Canada and NABET – filed a similar document to the feds and to Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps in March, and expanded on those proposals in its filing to the commission. CCAU wants to see tougher rules brought against broadcasters to boost production and development funding, and is also seeking better promotion and scheduling of Canuck shows.

‘Incentives alone are not sufficient. They must be accompanied by regulatory requirements,’ says CCAU. The group wants major broadcasters to be required to spend at least 7% of their gross revenues on Canadian drama, echoing an idea put forth by the CFTPA.

CCAU is among the groups that have called for a rethink of the CRTC’s 1999 Television Policy, which many blame for the drama slump, but the Canadian Association of Broadcasters disagrees, arguing in its submission that the controversial policy is ‘still relatively new’ and should not be judged too quickly.

In 1999, the feds removed expenditure requirements for broadcasters and de-emphasized dramas by putting them in the same category as regional programming and entertainment magazine shows. CAB defended the broad definition, but the CFTPA says it wants the genre to be redefined along more traditional lines – covering series, MOWs and minis but ruling out most comedies.

CAB went on to argue that private broadcasters have done all they can to prop up English-language drama, and that more public dollars are needed to finish the job. ‘English drama is not market-sustainable, and therefore requires more public funding,’ says the group.

CBC also says stable funding is of ‘utmost importance’ and, along with continued access to a healthy CTF, wants a separate funding envelope set up for public broadcasters, to be used for shows from third-party producers. The Corp. also pointed a finger at its competitors, calling for a ‘fundamental review’ of regulations governing private-sector broadcasters.

‘Private and public broadcasters operate in fundamentally different circumstances,’ says the filing.