Following in Corus Entertainment’s footsteps, Blue Ant Media has also asked Canada’s national broadcast regulator for some relief from how much it’s required to spend on developing “programs of national interest (PNI)”.

In a letter sent to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on June 20, Jamie Schouela, Blue Ant’s president of global channels and media, requested that the company be allowed to reduce the amount it spends producing PNI content for channels such as BBC Earth, Cottage Life, BBC First, Love Nature, Makeful and T+E from 13.5% to 5% of the previous year’s gross revenues.

PNI is a sub-category of Canadian content defined by the CRTC as “primary vehicles for communicating Canadian stories and values.” This type of programming includes long-form documentaries, dramas, comedies and award shows. Reality programming does not fall under the PNI definition. 

Schouela wrote that since foreign streamers have no PNI requirements, this places Blue Ant and other domestic media companies “at a tremendous and existential competitive disadvantage in capturing audience viewing time. Due to our PNI requirements, we are simply unable to create the right mix of content.”

The letter goes on to say that the company has filed the application “to stress the urgency and necessity to address our inability to compete in the marketplace given our current PNI expenditure requirements without further delay. Changes must be made before we suffer material financial hardship and our viability is at real risk. We simply cannot wait any longer.”

In June, the CRTC released a decision granting Corus Entertainment a PNI reduction from 8.5% of the previous year’s gross revenues to 5%. Corus applied for this relief against the backdrop of a precarious financial situation that has led to multiple rounds of significant layoffs. By August, the company is expected to have cut one quarter of its workforce.

While Blue Ant hasn’t taken similar measures to reduce costs, it’s under the same economic strain that all of the country’s broadcasters are facing right now. The Canadian federal government is in the process of implementing an Online Streaming Act, which is intended to modernize the regulation of broadcasting and streaming services. Part of this implementation will involve addressing how much content streamers operating in Canada will be required to produce in the region. But that hasn’t happened yet, and there’s no set timeline for when it will happen. There are also still fine-print details to be worked out regarding definitions, including what constitutes PNI.  

“All Canadian content is up for discussion,” explains lawyer David Zitzerman, a partner at Goodmans who heads up its entertainment law group. “I think at the end of the day, until the Online Streaming Act is fully implemented, and there are no more appeals, and everybody understands what is being contributed by the foreign streamers, what the new definition of Canadian content is and how much everybody needs to contribute—there’s going to be a lot of uncertainty. 

As to whether he expects more companies will apply for relief, Zitzerman says it will be up to each individual broadcaster to look at their own situation and make a determination.

Agnes Augustin, president and CEO of Shaw Rocket Fund, believes the Blue Ant filing is an indicator of things to come. “From our perspective, we have a lot of concerns around the trend of the relief of PNI and Canadian content. We think that the Corus relief is precedent-setting. And beyond Blue Ant, we’re going to see it happening with other broadcasters, which will affect the amount of Canadian children’s programming that’s going to be produced in our country. We’re predicting that this will have a really significant impact.”

According to Jakki Roussel, senior communications officer at Blue Ant, the company has three pillars to its business: Channels, Production and Distribution. While Blue Ant Studios “does actively develop kids content for broadcast and streamer partners, the CRTC application is completely separate. We do not broadcast kids content on our Blue Ant channels.”

In 2023, Blue Ant acquired marblemedia, as well as its Distribution360 global rights management business. Its catalogue of original kids TV titles now includes Live-Action Champion (pictured above and featuring teen athletes trying new sports), Skatoony (an animated/live-action comedy quiz show) and Splatalot (an obstacle-course game show).