The Audience Lab's Irene Berkowitz explains implications of Online Streaming Act in four-part podcast series
Senior Policy Fellow (opens in new window) of the Audience Lab Irene Berkowitz wants the media industry to be aware of the implications of the Online Streaming Act on media professionals, content creators and the broadcast industry as a whole. Her goal to spread awareness led the RTA Media instructor to executive produce and host The Sessions (external link, opens in new window) , a four-part podcast series created in partnership with Playback, Canada’s leading film, broadcasting, and interactive media trade journal, examining Bill C-11, the new additions to the Online Streaming Act and their implications for the creative industries. The collaboration between The Creative School and Playback (opens in new window) was one that quickly accelerated into a podcast series to discuss the details and nuances of the updates to Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act.
Bill C-11 grants the CRTC regulatory powers over radio and television to cover and moderate all audiovisual content on the internet, including content on platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Spotify.
Long before the podcast, Berkowitz frequently contributed opinion editorials to Playback - as well as other media outlets, including The Globe and Mail - regarding media policy. When the news of Bill C-11 was announced, she was ready to take on a project that would fill the knowledge gaps surrounding media policy in the broadcasting industry.
Berkowitz was mentioned this week in the House of Commons (external link, opens in new window) as an expert in broadcasting policy, in a debate surrounding the Online Streaming Act. She may soon be called as an expert witness to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which studies the policies and programs of the Department of Canadian Heritage to promote the fields of culture, heritage and human rights.
Implications for media content creators
For those who are unfamiliar with policy, new legislation l can be difficult to understand, says Berkowitz. Presenting the information through the podcast in a digestible format was of utmost importance to Berkowitz, Playback, and her team at Audience Lab in The Creative School.
Host of The Sessions, Irene Berkowitz
Producer of The Sessions, Samantha McNulty
Producer of The Sessions, Ethan Geoffrey Lee
Berkowitz explains how the newly proposed regulations would require streaming platforms and creators of user-generated content (USG) to contribute part of their revenue to the production of Canadian content. The bill also purports, in the service of obligatory discoverability, to interfere with the algorithm of Canadian content that is shown to Canadians, potentially overriding the natural trajectory of content according to audience demand. Berkowitz points out that artificially regulating discoverability will not benefit Canada’s new media entrepreneurs, because their compensation is directly tied to audience popularity. For example, Canada’s YouTube creators are the #1 exporters on the platform, with 90% of their views coming from outside the country. Their revenue depends on their content organically rising in Canada and around the world.
“I really wanted to unpack this bill for this first season, because policy isn’t a mass market hot topic. Producers and content creators need to know how they will be affected.” she said. “A lot of content creators are way ahead of legislation and are killing it on the global stage. They want to make a living but they don't really know the details of how this policy is going to impact them.”
The Sessions is a four-part podcast series about the Canadian media industry as it leans into the global, online era. It focuses on the tabling of The Online Streaming Act
Integrated classroom learning
As an instructor in the RTA Media program, Berkowtiz teaches courses in audience research at the undergraduate level and media innovation for graduate students. Acknowledging that the updates to the Online Streaming Act will impact student’s career trajectories for years to come, she says she makes it a priority to introduce these topics early on in her classes.
“I take the time to introduce this to my students, because my personal mission is dual,” she explains. “It's to help the Canadian industry adapt to the global online era, and to help students make their way in this thrilling, but often daunting, media universe. Although it is complex, I want my students to understand and get involved in this conversation.”
Berkowitz, along with her team of producers from The Creative School, fourth-year RTA Media student Samantha McNulty and RTA Media alum Ethan Geoffrey Lee, produced the series that is now available to stream online.
The Sessions is available for streaming on the Audience Lab website (opens in new window) , Playback website (external link, opens in new window) , Spotify (external link, opens in new window) , Apple Podcasts (external link, opens in new window) , Google Podcasts (external link, opens in new window) and Amazon Music (external link, opens in new window) . 
About The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University
The Creative School is a dynamic faculty at Toronto Metropolitan University making a difference in new, unexplored ways. Comprised of Canada’s top professional schools and transdisciplinary hubs in media, communication, design and cultural industries, The Creative School offers students an unparalleled global experience in the heart of downtown Toronto.