Canadian Heritage committee  They justified it by simply saying that they're not interested in LGBT content. One American company, one South Korean company and one Chinese company, all of whom you would know by name and through function, simply said, “We won't put that content on our platform.” That is one of the bigger problems that I see us having in Canada.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. Thank you for getting this back to broadcasting. With no disrespect to our friends in YouTube and TikTok and such, the platforms that we need to access for greater revenue from what we're making in content are Amazon, Apple TV+, Roku and such, and they don't just admit your content directly, as YouTube and TikTok do.

Canadian Heritage committee  Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for letting me appear today. My name is Brad Danks. I'm CEO of OUTtv Network, which is both a regulated linear TV channel in Canada and an online streaming platform in Canada and around the world. By way of background, I worked in the entertainment industry in Canada for more than 25 years, first as an entertainment lawyer and later as a broadcasting executive.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think there are two issues. We need to develop the technology better and bring it in, but we also have to open ourselves up to more price discrimination. The problem in the broadcasting system, for example, is that you negotiate your fee with a BDU; you don't negotiate with a consumer.

Canadian Heritage committee  In my opinion, it's an ongoing problem. It's something that falls out of the realm of what we talk about, but it is really a huge issue. The notion that “free” is a business model has leaked into the idea that you should be able to stream stuff. We can't calculate what we lose every year, but we know that some of our premium shows are up online.

Canadian Heritage committee  I absolutely think they do. It's interesting, because we work with some Quebec producers and we do some shows in Montreal. They do have the advantage of the second language. This is something that you see globally when you go into.... I was just in the Czech Republic, and they're not as worried about things in certain areas of Eastern Europe because the language is such.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's intermediation, really, which means acquiring premium American content and then reselling it in Canada, which is the primary business model of the major over-the-air broadcasters in Canada—CTV, Citytv and Global. The supply of content is gradually getting choked off. The American studios are going to hold on to that for their own offerings.

Canadian Heritage committee  In May every year, they go to the screenings in L.A. and they buy the best shows. I go there as well, and every year there are fewer and fewer products available. They're already gone. Such-and-such has already gone to so-and-so. It means that the premium aspect of those business models will be challenged.

Canadian Heritage committee  I can give you two answers. If you're at the international markets—in MIPCOM and such, as I was in October—there are a lot of Canadian producers. Most people would say that Canada punches above its weight, from a global perspective. On the other hand, there wasn't anyone there from Bell Media.

Canadian Heritage committee  We forget that we function on such a high level. You talked about my career. I met 16-year old Ryan Gosling on a show. I knew Nelly Furtado when she was 18. You work with a DOP, a director of production, like Greg Middleton who does independent shows in Vancouver. Last year he was the DOP on Game of Thrones, the largest series in the world, a Vancouver guy.

Canadian Heritage committee  We forget how much talent we have in this country. We have done everything possible to destroy the innovative side in the last decade in order to try to protect what we had and keep us more insular. We need to open up and say, “You know what? We can play really well.” It's like the Olympics.

Canadian Heritage committee  The CMF has to be, I believe, realigned—by the way, I was in front of them this morning. They have to be realigned to fit with the government's goals, which are around export and creating these opportunities. Right now the way to increase your CMF envelope is to replay Canadian content over and over and over again on the 20 or so channels you have that nobody watches.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. It would also go to all kinds of different producers instead of two or three of the top ones in the country all the time.

Canadian Heritage committee  Accurate reporting.