Why is it so hard to find Canadian content online?

Many critics and commentators are saying we’re in the golden age of television.  I for one have to agree with them.  In the last fifteen years, we’ve seen some pretty revolutionary television being produced.  Television that tests new story telling techniques, complex story plots, character development.  These are the hallmarks of successful television today.

Look at the Emmy winners for the past ten years:

2005 – Lost

2006 – 24

2007 – The Sopranos

2008 to 2011 – Mad Men

2012 – Homeland

2013 & 2014 – Breaking Bad

2015 – Game of Thrones

This list can of course be debated.  I’m sure you’re reading it and thinking some are worthy, some aren’t.  You might be thinking you’ve seen better television produced.  Feel free to post your list in the comments below.  My point though, is that it is far easier to debate the merits of a television show today.  There is so much great content being produced south of the border for all genres, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

Which now makes me look around Canada and ask, where is the great Canadian equivalent?  Take a look here at a list of top Canadian tv shows being followed online.  Seven out of twelve are no longer producing new shows.  It’s indicative of how our television industry has failed to live up to viewer’s expectations.  Three years ago, John Doyle wrote this column in the Globe and Mail.  We didn’t do well then with originality.  It appears that three years later, we aren’t any better.  Instead our industry cries to the CRTC about the need for protective tariffs and tax benefits to protect their monopolies all in the name of a ‘level playing field’.

The argument isn’t on how best to divide up tax dollars.  It’s now a basic free market one.  Produce the best content you can, and compete for customers alongside everyone else.

 

 

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