Transnational over-the-top media distribution as a business and policy disruptor: The case of Netflix in Canada

Abstract

Digital disruption is often characterized as the conflict between the exponential rate of change in technology, and the slower-paced, incremental rate of change in law, economy, policy, and society writ-large (Franklin, 2012). The rapid encroachment of over-the-top (OTT) content distribution raises policy issues concerning jurisdiction, access, pricing, consolidation of ownership, and source diversity (Holt, 2014), while undermining many of the traditional policy instruments. In this paper, we analyze Netflix’s strategic expansion and meteoric growth in Canada, and focus on a landmark event in Canadian broadcasting policymaking: the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) “Let’s Talk TV” hearings of 2013-2014. Through an examination of public documents, we analyze the ways Netflix is considered an opportunity, ally, or a threat by consumers, broadcasters, independent producers, and governments. We show that in a reprioritization of values, many of the principles that motivated legacy broadcasting policy are being sidelined by a consumerist approach that gives freer rein to streamed services. However, Netflix’s refusal to provide the Commission with information it was ordered to produce suggests the most serious disruption is to the notion that online video distribution can or should be regulated in the public interest.

‘If you can’t beat them, be them’

“…Diff erentiation: Broadcasters responded to the threat of global SVODs by emphasizing domestic original programming as a key diff erentiator and highlighted their role as a driver for domestic production (Bengesser, 2019;d'Arma, 2018). Legacy players have actively expressed concerns with policymakers with regard to sustaining their own operations, following increased competition of platforms, and have positioned their own SVOD initiatives as a means to safeguard original domestic content, while at the same time lobbying for investment obligations and quota for global SVODs operating in domestic markets (Kostovska et al, 2020;Zboralska & Davis, 2017) or lobbying for increased government subsidies for original domestic content (Raats & Wauters, 2018). Domestic SVOD alternatives are prioritizing domestic content, often by also marketing original exclusive domestic programming (see Videoland in the Netherlands, Viaplay in the Nordics or Britbox in the UK).…”

SVOD Global Expansion in Cross-National Comparative Perspective: Netflix in Israel and Spain

“…Most scholarship addressing Netflix's global presence examines the company or its streaming service within the context of a specific national market or local television industry, with some notable exceptions (Dwyer et al 2018;Sanz and Crosbie 2016). Regarding the case of Netflix in Canada, for example, Davis and Zboralska (2017) argue that the inability to properly regulate SVOD services presents serious threats to national broadcasters. In her analysis of the British television industry, Steemers (2016) considers how Netflix's arrival impacted different industry segments in their roles as content exporters over a ten-year period.…”

Global streaming platforms and national pay-television markets: a case study of Netflix and multi-channel providers in Israel

“…Some media industry scholarship supports this narrative. Examining the case of Netflix in Canada, Davis and Zboralska (2017) argue that the inability to properly regulate SVOD services presents serious threats to national broadcasters. Using a variety of evidence including publicly available documents, transcripts of government hearings, and leaked e-mails, these researchers convincingly argue that Netflix's initial claims to be a compliment to existing Canadian broadcasting services served only to mask the firm's true interest in deregulation and other free market strategies.…”