"Netflix, Inc. Tells Canadian Regular Not To Subsidize 'Old Media'"
By Aman Jain
Netflix, Inc. informed Canada's broadcast regulator on Friday that it is opposed to subsidies which support "old media," meaning broadcast television. Netflix does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), meaning that it is offered no financial aid for air-time. Some politicians have argued that Netflix should be subjected to the same rules and regulations as other Canadian broadcasters, but the Federal Conservative government has no interest in regulating this.
This debate over whether or not subsidies should be given to non-traditional television services such as Netflix brings to mind Toby Miller's investigation of whether or not TV is truly dead in the conclusion of his book Television Studies. Jain's article describes Netflix's business model in a nutshell. It is one which "does not require millions of audiences to watch a "single show at once and at a predetermined time."" (Jain) This directly correlates to Miller's claim that "(t)he time of watching is varied, from live to on-demand." (Miller 177) Netflix's on-demand feature has always been its focal selling point. It is here that we may observe a new medium toppling an old one. In the traditional model, or "old media," a TV program would have to be seen on its premiere night. This all changed with the dawn of the new millennium and the arrival of Netflix. Programs can now be streamed at the viewer's convenience on a TV set or even on a computer.
In the article, Corie Wright, director of global public policy at Netflix said that ""We are moving from a period of broadcast scarcity to one of Internet abundance."" (Jain) Thanks to more advanced forms of entertainment such as Netflix, along with the aid of the Internet, broadcast TV is only a step away from being a relic of the past.
Works Cited
Jain, Aman. "Netflix, Inc. Tells Canadian Regulator Not To Subsidize 'Old Media'." ValueWalk. 22 September 2014. Accessed 22 September 2014.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/09/netflix-regulator-subsidize-old-media/
Miller, Toby. Television Studies. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.
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