1/24/2007 - Canadian TV Fund In Trouble?

As you may or may not know original Canadian television, such as our beloved Degrassi, is actually not funded by the networks unlike in the US. In other words neither CTV or The N actually fund the production of Degrassi. Instead since 1995 in Canada there has been what is known as the Canadian Television Fund or CTF. The CTF was created to promote the production of high-quality and culturally significant programming in Canada. It is funded partially by the Canadian government with tax dollars, but a majority of the funds come from Canadian cable and satellite providers, at least until now.

Shaw Communications from Calgary, the number two Cable provider in Canada after Roger's Cable, last month withdrew their $56 million annual contribution and stated they will no longer support the fund. Shaw's contribution makes up 20% of the fund's $250 million dollar annual budget. Shaw is taking the stance that the fund should be supporting itself by now and that maybe the networks should also foot more of the bill for their programming. In their letter to the CTF in December they stated "(The CTF) was never intended as a permanent source of funding to subsidize broadcasters' and programmers' acquisition of Canadian programming. Our understanding was that after the initial five-year period, the fund would be self-sustaining and self-financing from a return on investment in successful productions.''

In light of this news it was feared by many in the production industry that other Canadian cable or satellite companies may follow suit. Tuesday those fears were realized when Videotron, a cable company that's part of the Quebecor group and the third largest cable provider in Canada joined Shaw. They stated that they would begin suspending their monthly payments to the fund, calling for a review of how the fund is managed. Thus now two of the top three cable providers in Canada no longer support the fund.

This all couldn't have come at a worse time for the fund as the CTF is up for renewal this spring, and in light of the new circumstances something will definitely have to be done. In the meantime the production industry and broadcasters are worried over the uncertainty of funds for the 2007-2008 season.

What this all means for Degrassi and a possible season 7 is still uncertain, as everyone is waiting to see what will happen next. One thing is for sure Canada's television production system seems to be in line for a definite overhaul. As always we will keep you posted.


Sources: The Toronto Star
Jam! Showbiz

NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOO

ask my bro theres tears in my eyes noooooooooo IF DEGRASSI ENDS I WILL die..... no they cannot do this THE-N PLEASE DONATE MONEY cmon everybody lets go have some bakesales lol nonononononononono

first JT, now this...

I cant beleive there not funding it its so sad, I'll give them some money lol, darn videotron I dont like them

well they didnt say they DEFF arent funding Degrassi SOOOO who can we email or contact 2 tell em screw other canadian shows and make Degrassi lol im trying to nmailed The-Mary askin her if they dont fund it if theres anything the-n or american TV can do lol but its sayin i put a curse url or 2 much ifo i just copy n pasted and asked if they can do anything they better not end Degrassi!!!!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooomg

yeah i heard about this a few months ago.
i hope degrassi finds a partner soon.

season 7 NEEDS to happen otherwise i fear our palex reunion will be a one ep deal. i'll throw down some money to keep it alive

yea i say we ALL offer money lol ill have bake sales and go door to door for donations, get a job give all that money plus birthday christmas blah de dah to them oo and i have $1000 in the bank!(if i can convince my parents lol) they HAVE to find a sponsor what else can we do??....

guys chill.......i kno it sounds bad but these things always happen, so it may not be the end for degrassi, if there legit abt having a s7,and the ratings were good, worse comes to worse theyll prolly find another partner.


can any1 plz tell me wen CTV are playing the next eppie or has all this crap put s6 to a halt??? i hope not??

Well that sucks. I hope they find funding somewhere else then, cause season six looks like it's gonna end in a cliffhanger......and that won't be good, lol!

that would be terrible, that's for sure, lol.

well i'm guessing that degrassi is one of the highest rated shows so they're probably ok...if not...maybe the n will fund them because i know it's one of the highest rated shows on that channel

thats what i was thinkin bout cuz Degrassi is prob the biggest show Canada has cuz its sounds like your not a true Canadian if u dt watch it, plus its huge in the US

some theories...

this would be terrible to the infinity power if season 6 is left as a cliffhanger and they're wont be no season 7 because of this.

or if it does come back it maybe less episodes, and this time probably they will have hour episodes.

and if it doesn't come back, the movie would probably take 2 yrs to come out, some of the actors may not be interested, and some of the fanbase may not come back ONLY IF all the ORIGINALS couples reunite and that would be even more stupid! because that's beyond unrealistic.

i feel if they come back for a season 7, Linda and Stephen should make it their last. not because the show is bad, but if they're funding their success as a popular television show in their country, as well as ours, they should call it a day. because Linda has worked too hard to have this show go to waste.

What do you guys think???

i think ur nuts degrassi should NEVER end lol well im kidding bout u being nuts, but degrassi should never end!!

oh come on, someone has to get my drift somewhere!

all good things eventually end...even "friends" eventually had to end. but i don't think that they've set up season 6 to be a final season. they need one more to have things work out. like...palex needs to pull it together for a whole season of cute love, emma needs to realize she's a trainwreck and stop being an idot. spinner and mia need time to start a relationship. and ellie and marco need to find love that lasts. then it can end and i won't flip out:big-smile:

ROFLMAO! I love the Palex and Spia part that made my year and we're just getting started. Yes, I agree one day it will have to come to an end, but not like this! That would be beyond tacky if season 6 is left as a cliffhanger for it to be cancelled.

I agree. I think they will be able to find some funding. Especially as popular as the show is.