Canada's entertainment industry is under fire. The web is the
shooter. And, if you hear it from Quebecor's chief executive, our nation
currently has little armour with which to defend itself.
Pierre Paeladeau warned this week that web-based providers are
penetrating the Canadian market - and could overtake it if we don't act
fast. His solution? Create globally appealing content, television shows
that reach far beyond our country's borders.
“How TV is watched and distributed is changing rapidly,” Mr. Peladeau
said at an annual industry even in France. “TV networks are not the be
all and end all anymore."
“If we still want a vibrant Quebec and Canadian TV industry in 20
years, we have to start developing strong original concepts that will be
popular across platforms and across markets," he continued. "This is
the only way we’ll be able to make a mark in the world of digital
distribution, [and] generate the necessary funding to keep our local
industry going.”
“Audiences are rapidly changing, and if you want to keep up with
them, you have to program on YouTube,” affirmed Robert Kyncl of Google
said during an afternoon presentation at the event.
Building on the launch of 100 dedicated channels last year at a cost
of $100-million, Google has added new YouTube channels with popular
celebrities such as British chef Jamie Oliver and U.S. comedian Sarah
Silverman. Two new offerings from BBC Worldwide, one dedicated to
science the other to nature, have been launched as well among others.
Mr. Kyncl says that YouTube’s top 25 channels receive more than one
million views worldwide per week. That's about a third of what a hit TV
show usually draws on a weeknight in Canada. On YouTube, 800 million
viewers are watching four billion hours of content per month.
“So great is YouTube’s audience, many content brands already view it
as the most important platform to which to publish their work,”
PaidContent claims.
“We want the next Office, Big Brother, Top Chef to be Canadian,” Mr.
Peladeau said. “For that, we need to really [focus] our funding
infrastructure from being strictly locally focused to also being export
focused. We need to position our industry on the global scene or face
extinction,” the executive said."
“We lived through it with music," he pointed out in conclusion.
"There’s no reason why technological distribution alternatives will not
apply to television shows the same way – we’re living through it at the
cable business right now.”
