Canada’s broadcast regulator may force the country’s networks to spend the same amount on Canadian fare as they spend on Hollywood hits.
The surprise announcement from the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission comes just days after a report that showed local webs spent a record C$775 million ($624 million) on U.S. fare last year, up 7.4% from $580 million in 2007.
Spending on Canadian programming remained essentially unchanged at $498 million.
Producers, writers and actors have tried for years to force the networks to limit spending on Hollywood shows and shell out more for local fare.
Maureen Parker, executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada, said that in 2008, the Canuck networks’ ratio of spending on U.S. drama vs. local drama was 9.5 to 1. She said the local nets have a mission to promote local fare, according to the Broadcast Act.
The proposal comes at a difficult time for the big three commercial broadcasters -- CTV, Global and Rogers -- whose combined bottom lines dropped to $6.4 million last year, down from $91 million a year earlier.
They get their biggest audiences -- and generate the most advertising revenue -- with American shows.
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