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Foreign companies spent $274 million on Canadian TV content in 2018

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Foreign companies spent $274 million CAD on fictional English-language Canadian TV production, according to a new report from Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA).

This means that more Canadian TV production investment came from foreign sources than actual Canadian companies. On the Canadian front, $46 million came from private broadcasters, $114 million from public broadcasters and $100 million from the Canada Media Fund (CMF).

Canadian TV production spending

Meanwhile, foreign sources spent $80 million on children’s and youth programming compared to $26 million from private broadcasters, $18 million from public broadcasters and $21 million from the CMF.

As noted by University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist, this demonstrates a continuous drop in Canadian TV production investment from Canadian companies.

In the span of five years, foreign companies more than doubled their funding for English-language fiction programs, while private broadcasters and the CMF reduced their investments by $69 million and $67 million, respectively. Only public broadcasters have invested roughly the same during this time ($114 million in 2018 compared to $116 million in 2013).

The most notable example of foreign companies investing in Canadian TV productions is Netflix. The streaming company created its Netflix Canada division in 2017 and pledged $500 million in funding of original Canadian productions over a five-year period.

Some of the series Netflix has produced in Canada so far include the Toronto-shot The Umbrella Academy (which also stars Halifax’s Ellen Page) and the filmed-in-Vancouver Altered Carbon and Riverdale.

The full CMPA report can be found here.

Via: Michael Geist

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