ABSTRACT
Canadians are avid television watchers. On average they watch about 23 hours per week. However, producing television programs that represent Canadian perspectives on the world has been an ongoing challenge. Geographically, Canada is the second largest country in the world, but has a population of only 31 million. With two official languages, more than 60% of Canadians share English as their primary language with their U.S. neighbors, whereas almost 25% speak French. Eighty-five percent of the population lives within 200 miles of the border with the United States, Canada’s main trading partner and the world’s largest producer and exporter of television products. In this context, Canadian ownership and control of media properties has been viewed for decades as key to cultural sovereignty. Just as in the late 19th century, the railway was envisioned as binding the disparate colonies of the northern half of North America in the common political economic cause of Canadian nationhood, so too broadcasting, at first radio and later television, has been seen as a vehicle for developing and distributing a common culture across the country.
