
CBC head warns Netflix poses cultural threat to Canada - pseudolus
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-cbc-head-warns-netflix-poses-cultural-threat-to-canada/
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sovietmudkipz
I fail to see how Netflix is an example of cultural imperialism. Netflix is
just a service that packages up Americana to sell around the world. It goes
through the regular marketing channels, and it’s ultimately up to the consumer
if they purchase a subscription or not. It’s a choice not a mandate.

I’m confused by the imperialist rhetoric in this article. I would think the
more obvious narrative would be “if people buy Netflix they would be less
willing to buy Canadian entertainment.” An economic argument, a numbers thing.
Why evoke thought of imperialist expansion and the negative aspects therein?

I don’t understand the frame of mind that produces these types of utterances.
To me, it seems silly to persuade this way.

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chongli
_Netflix is just a service that packages up Americana to sell around the
world._

And in so doing, drowns out local culture. The CBC has the production of
Canadian cultural content (CanCon) as part of its mandate. Why must everyone
in the world watch American TV? Wouldn't it ultimately be better if every
culture produced their own content and then we could maintain some local
identity?

The word imperialism is not being used lightly, here. TV has an enormous
impact on a society. It influences how people think, which in turn can
influence their politics.

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andrenth
Can't people still choose though? In that sense there’s no “must”. Those who
want to watch Canadian cultural content can freely do so, and the same is
valid for those who prefer Netflix.

Why shouldn’t everyone in the world have the choice of watching American tv?

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chongli
The question is not whether people can choose; people can always choose. The
issue is what choices you give to people and in what prominence they're
placed. Burying a show in the archives is different from featuring it on the
front page. Under what criteria should it appear on the front page? If it's
only popularity, that'll bias in favour of American shows, since the US has
10x the population of Canada.

If Canadian shows are on the front page, they have a much better chance of
getting views and thus surviving, so that people have a choice to keep
watching. Canadians can and will find out about the most popular American
shows through other media channels, so why do those shows also need to be on
the front page?

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andrenth
You say people can always choose and on the next phrase argue for limiting
that choice...

I don’t know to which front page you’re referring but honestly the comments
from the CBC head quoted in the article sound like those of a bureaucrat who’s
seeing her power to influence what Canadians should watch being diminished by
Netflix’s presence, and being angry about it.

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Waterluvian
Personally I've loved discovering more and more foreign content on Netflix.

I'm also really tired of this attitude of protecting our culture and worrying
it'll be swallowed up by foreign culture. What is Canadian culture? It's
always just been a synthesis of foreign culture moulded by our site and
situation.

As a Canadian I want us to scoop up as much foreign culture as possible, mix
it together, bake it in the oven of our environment, and discover all kinds of
new flavours.

~~~
rapsey
> I'm also really tired of this attitude of protecting our culture and
> worrying it'll be swallowed up by foreign culture. What is Canadian culture?
> It's always just been a synthesis of foreign culture moulded by our site and
> situation.

Canadian or any other culture is culture produced domestically. Yes everyone
can watch the higher production and marketing budget from netflix. But that
leaves domestic artists without an audience because they can not afford the
reach netflix has.

This ultimately destroys opportunities for local artists and thus also
destroys local culture. It creates social issues because a segment of the
population is denied a career option they would otherwise be able to pursue.

~~~
Waterluvian
Something feels off that we have to forcibly make room for local culture. It
should stand on its own merit. It even has an advantage of being locale unique
and physically local.

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getaclue
Pains me to see CBC go down this path - from their recent modernization
changes that made their website unusable for basic things like news, to seeing
comments like this. Makes me wonder why "non-tech" companies just copy tech
companies that are able to innovate and move faster without considering their
own fate. But then I remember how they work and that every company is now a
tech company at the apparent mercy of FAANG. I'm seeing a lot of talk about
our neighbours down south but not a lot of action. This piece made it seem
like CBC is losing a piece of the pie and they are salty. Makes me feel sad to
see this from the top down. We have the same tech available and the similar
resources but it seems that we would much rather partner or purchase than take
some risk and try something different. I hope I am wrong.

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52-6F-62
They're not losing a "piece of the pie", though.

They broadcast in HD and SD for free, funded in part by public funding,
advertising, merchandising, and licensing.

Netflix buys CBC content, and they're not the only ones.

While I might not appreciate her crassness, I understood it as a caution-call
for new content delivery companies from other countries not conforming to
Canadian broadcast law. Much like Uber skirted taxi laws. I'm sure most people
here could run with the like examples from there.

As for the CBC site, if you're looking for a pared down version, they provide
rss feeds and their site works perfectly fine as a news reader with JS
disabled.

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ilamont
Echoing what others have said: Netflix is an opportunity to see more
independent and even foreign-produced programming than was ever possible under
the old broadcast/cable regime.

I would love it if the CBC worked with Netflix to offer some of their superior
programming such as international sports including the Olympics here in the
states.

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52-6F-62
CBC also produces a lot of great original content. I echo your sentiment

Is the CBC streaming app available in the US?

Here they offer it all for free* on their own platform and it works great.

*Yes I know we pay for it in taxes and I’m happy to

Edit: Actually the BBC did just what you’ve suggested but rather than sports
or news—which they seem to host themselves— they’ve licensed some shows to
Netflix like the IT Crowd and Still Game.

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nottorp
Funny, because if you check out Netflix they have all sorts of non US movies.
At least in Europe. I'd say a traditional TV network is far more likely to
only have US made content.

~~~
52-6F-62
The issue they’re raising is one that started with the influx of US cable
television. Canadian content was getting drowned out by the raw volume of
other content. It’s one of the main reasons for the controversial requirements
by the CRTC of a certain amount of Canadian-made content aired by Canadian
broadcasters.

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reasonablemann
CBC is so well funded and yet fails miserably to provide good content. This is
just an attempt for this horrifically inefficient media company to extract
even more money from the Canadian people.

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JOnAgain
I read this as, “Netflix doesn’t buy CBC shows because people don’t like
watching them. CBC publicly complains to government to stifle competition.”

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mcphage
Well, the article claims it was the opposite:

> Ms. Tait’s comparison to the Raj came after she had already expressed
> frustration with the marketing success of Netflix, noting that “it was very
> painful” to read a recent Vanity Fair article about Schitt’s Creek that
> thanked the streaming service, even though the show originated with and was
> supported for years by CBC.

Not that it makes her argument any better.

