From Antonia Zerbisias of the Toronto Star:
- Shaw could kill TV fund
“That could mean that independent producers of programs such as Degrassi: The Next Generation, Trailer Park Boys, Little Mosque on the Prairie and most documentaries won’t have the financing they need.” She concludes that it might be time, however, to take a long, hard look at the fund.
From the Canadian Press:
- Videotron suspends contributions to Canadian Television Fund, wants review of fund
“We fully intend to continue being a leading contributor to the financing of Canadian production but we have decided to withhold our monthly contributions to the Canadian Television Fund until significant changes are made to its management and direction.”
I think that Canadian television funding is still at a cross-roads and that its hard to keep up with the changing marketplace when you are a federally mandated organization. That being said, it will be interesting to see how this plays out with the Harper Government if they get involved or not…
Actually, I would support a seperate stream of funding for the CBC, and a seperate stream of funding for the CTF. Why should the CBC get to dip into the well twice? I think the CTF should be reserved for producers working on shows for private networks.