Not sure where you’re getting that from—this isn’t about anyone helping radio stations. The idea is that the government would impose laws and taxes on large streaming services operating in Canada that are somewhat similar to those currently imposed on radio stations in Canada.
The actual relevant source document appears to be this: https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2024/2024-121.htm. Judging from that, some of the money will go to funds that subsidize the production of local news programs in any medium (including radio), and there’s a small amount earmarked for community radio. It’s supposed to encourage the stations to create and broadcast content that’s beneficial to the general public but not as profitable as what they might otherwise air in its place. If you consider that to be “helping” radio stations, then fine, I concede, but to be honest, the specific details of where the money ends up aren’t the major point here, and will probably change over time.
I expect domestic radio stations pay into many of the same funds, although to be honest I’ve never checked. If we actually had a Canadian-owned streaming service that was willing to produce news programs or one of the other categories the government wants to encourage, they might get some money too. Including some of what’s coming from the radio stations, because no one is making an attempt to keep the revenue streams coming from different sources separate . . . and really, why should they? It’s extra administrative overhead to no real benefit.
Not sure where you’re getting that from—this isn’t about anyone helping radio stations. The idea is that the government would impose laws and taxes on large streaming services operating in Canada that are somewhat similar to those currently imposed on radio stations in Canada.
Oh ok, I thought I read that a small percentage of those taxes would go to local radio somehow.
The actual relevant source document appears to be this: https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2024/2024-121.htm. Judging from that, some of the money will go to funds that subsidize the production of local news programs in any medium (including radio), and there’s a small amount earmarked for community radio. It’s supposed to encourage the stations to create and broadcast content that’s beneficial to the general public but not as profitable as what they might otherwise air in its place. If you consider that to be “helping” radio stations, then fine, I concede, but to be honest, the specific details of where the money ends up aren’t the major point here, and will probably change over time.
I expect domestic radio stations pay into many of the same funds, although to be honest I’ve never checked. If we actually had a Canadian-owned streaming service that was willing to produce news programs or one of the other categories the government wants to encourage, they might get some money too. Including some of what’s coming from the radio stations, because no one is making an attempt to keep the revenue streams coming from different sources separate . . . and really, why should they? It’s extra administrative overhead to no real benefit.
It’s fine by me, I misunderstood the ‘helping’ radio station part so it’s irrelevant. Thanks for the clarification!