News

RJR objects to $100-m broadcasting fee

Jamaica Observer, July 07, 2010

RJR Group executives objected to a proposal that would see the radio and TV conglomerate to pay five per cent of its revenue as a licence fee equivalent to $100 million to its regulator (...) The BCJ has employed the services of Canadian consultants-Nordicity to examine this proposal which would finance the BCJ's budget, however a portion could go into a fund to support local programming. Click here to read more.

Regional Integration No Longer an Option - Mottley

Government of Jamaica, Jamaica Information Service,
July 05, 2010

Regional integration is no longer an option for Caribbean states, but the only way the region will be able to secure and maintain economic and social development, says Leader of the Opposition Barbados Labour Party, Hon. Mia Mottley (...) Other speakers at the forum include representative from Nordicity Consulting Group in Canada, Stuart Jack; Adjunct Professor and Director, Business Strategy Research, Columbia Business School, Dr. Raul Katz; Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, Dr. Hopeton Dunn; and Journalist and Communications Consultant, Dr. the Hon. Barbara Gloudon. Click here to read more.

Was it good for you too? Talking about quality.

Cecilie Stranger-Thorsen, Nordic Game, April 29, 2010

"Public service broadcasters have traditionally been given the responsibility to guide us through big technical changes, but both the broadcasters and the film institutes have missed the train when it comes to cross-media. The independent producers must be given the responsibility to drive this development, and they need new funds to do it."(...) Inspired by Chodorowicz presentation of the new, 2,5 billion SEK cross media fund, the panel agreed on the need for politicians to rethink the mandate for the public funds, and that taking cross-media production seriously demands more funding. Click here to read more.

Building digital Canada

Telecom Trends, April 13th, 2010

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Hubert T. Lacroix: Words won't fix the CBC's business model

National Post, April 01, 2010

Anyone following the fallout from the CRTC’s recent decision on value-for-signal is sure to have noted CBC/Radio-Canada’s forceful reaction (...) The BBC has public funding of $7.5-billion a year, France Television and Radio France together receive $4-billion, Germany $10.7-billion and PBS and NPR in the U.S. receive $1.2-billion from government sources (Nordicity study, fiscal 2007 numbers). Click here to read more.

Collaboration Nation Inspiring Innovations for Digital Britain

March 31, 2010

Nordicity is a strategy, public policy and economic analysis consulting firm in the digital, creative and ICT industries. We work with the private and public sectors to make business and policy decisions, and to understand the impacts of policy and regulatory developments. Click here to read more.

Carr to drive Film New Zealand forward

Screendaily.com, Feb 16, 2010

Gisella Carr has been appointed chief executive of Film New Zealand (FNZ), which is responsible for promoting the region as a location for filming and production (...) Carr replaces Sue Thompson, the former Park Road Post, who has been acting head of FNZ since Judith McCann stepped down from the top job in September. McCann has reactivated her consulting firm MPics, which now has a formal relationship with international firm Nordicity, headquartered in Canada. Click here to read more.

OCAD's Strategic Innovation Lab to lead major foresight project '2020 Media Futures'

ocad.ca, Feb 16, 2010

The Ontario College of Art & Design’s Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab) today announced it will lead a multidisciplinary strategic foresight project called 2020 Media Futures: Strategic Foresight for Ontario’s Cultural Media Industries, designed to understand and envision what media may look like by the year 2020 – what kind of cross-platform internet environment may shape media and entertainment in the coming decade and how Ontario firms can take action today toward capturing and maintaining positions of national and international leadership (...) “In this unprecedented project, initiated and shaped through a close collaboration among Communitech, Nordicity and sLab, we will draw on distinct and diverse capabilities within our own communities and from across the Creative Cluster throughout the foresight scenario process. Click here to read more.

In-depth: Canada’s tax system

Develop, Feb 09, 2010

In Canada, there has been widespread use of refundable expenditure-based tax credits for film and television production (...) So why is the multi-pillar approach – adopted by Ontario and sought by the UK – so important? In Nordicity’s view, the UK film tax credit cannot be simply copied into the video games development industry. Click here to read more.

McCann resurrects mPICS

encore, Feb 02, 2010

Cautious, McCann said she was already working with clients in South America, New Zealand and Australia, but declined to reveal further details about these projects (...) According to McCann, other than the geographical location, the new mPICS now has a relationship with Nordicity (an international consulting firm specializing in economic and financial analysis, business strategy solutions, and public policy and regulatory affairs), which gives them the ability to offer more complex economic analysis. Click here to read more.

mPICS Is Back In Business, With New International Links

Voxy, Feb 01, 2010

Judith McCann is back in business with mPICS, her highly-regarded international consulting firm, which is now based in Wellington. She brings with her the five-year track record of the mPICS Group which she led from Canada until her appointment as CEO of Film New Zealand in July 2004 - a position from which she stepped down in September having ensured that the industry-led national film office was positioned to take on its new strategic directions (...) mPICS Group (NZ) also offers a unique new relationship with Nordicity, a leading international consulting firm specializing in economic and financial analysis, business strategy solutions, and public policy and regulatory affairs, with whom Ms McCann has worked previously. The firm is led by Peter Lyman, co-founder and, from 1998 to 2002, national lead partner for the Information Communications and Entertainment/Media practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting. Click here to read more.

Thoughts on the Westminster eForum

Gamer/Law, Jan 22, 2010

The Westminster eForum discussion in London on 20 January 2010 went over a lot of ground, from digital distribution to games education to tax breaks (...) There was also an interesting presentation from Dustin Chodorowicz of Nordicity regarding the Canadian experience of games tax breaks and the lessons the UK could learn from it. Click here to read more.

MédiadeNovo proposes 'non-simultaneous substitution' ad fix

Marketing Magazine, Jan 18, 2010

A group headed by former Canadian Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Glenn O'Farrell is dangling a $97 million carrot in an apparent attempt to get broadcasters and the CRTC to embrace its plan to open up U.S. ad avails to Canadian advertisers (...) In a December report prepared for the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, consultancy Nordicity pegged the amount lost by broadcasters because of this practice at $97 million a year–an amount validated by the Association of Canadian Advertisers. Click here to read more.

Is there a future for Canadian TV?

macleans.ca, Oct 19, 2009

In late August, employees at CHEK-TV in Victoria gathered in the parking lot for one last goodbye. After 53 years on the air, Canwest Global Communications was about to pull the plug on the money-losing television station in a desperate and ultimately futile attempt to stave off collapse (...) According to a CRTC report prepared by the Nordicity Group, a communications research firm, the number of people in the all-important 18-to-34 age group who tune in to conventional television fell just 2.4 per cent between 1998 and 2007. Click here to read more.

Canada's digital strategy needs "coherent and holistic approach"

Cartt.ca, Oct 02, 2009

A unified vision of Canada's digital future is crucial in the development of a national digital strategy, says a discussion paper issued by consulting firm Nordicity (...) "Canada can ill-afford to languish on its aging digital laurels”, said Nordicity senior partner Peter Lyman, in an announcement. We have the opportunity to draw upon suggestions already made in other jurisdictions and improve upon them. We suggest the creation of a national digital panel that will report directly to a special cabinet committee over the course of 12 to 18 months in order to establish and implement a coherent digital strategy." Click here to read more.

Canada Lacks – But Desperately Needs – National Digital Strategy

Mediacaster, Oct 01, 2009

Countries around the world recognize the need for a National Digital Strategy, but Canada has not yet seen the light (...) According to a new issues discussion paper released today from Nordicity, a unified vision for Canada's digital future is crucial. Click here to read more.

Canada needs a coherent and holistic approach to creating a national digital strategy: Nordicity

TMCnet, Oct 01, 2009

Must be backed by government at highest levels Countries around the world are recognizing the need for a National Digital Strategy, but Canada has not yet embarked on this process. Digital technologies are bringing about transformative change in society; and, according to a new issues discussion paper released today from Nordicity, Canada must develop our own strategy to remain competitive. Click here to read more.

Consulting Firm Nordicity Calls for a National Digital Media Strategy

Village Gamer, Oct 01, 2009

Countries around the world are recognizing the need for a National Towards A National Digital Strategy, but Canada has not yet embarked on this process. Digital technologies are bringing about transformative change in society; and, according to a new issues discussion paper released today from Nordicity, Canada must develop our own strategy to remain competitive. Click here to read more.

Canada needs a coherent and holistic approach to creating a national digital strategy: Nordicity

newswire.ca, Oct 01, 2009

Countries around the world are recognizing the need for a National Digital Strategy, but Canada has not yet embarked on this process. Digital technologies are bringing about transformative change in society; and, according to a new issues discussion paper released today from Nordicity, Canada must develop our own strategy to remain competitive. Click here to read more.

Canada needs a coherent and holistic approach to creating a national digital strategy: Nordicity

AlphaTrade Finance, Oct 01, 2009

Countries around the world are recognizing the need for a National Digital Strategy, but Canada has not yet embarked on this process. Digital technologies are bringing about transformative change in society; and, according to a new issues discussion paper released today from Nordicity, Canada must develop our own strategy to remain competitive. Click here to read more.

Writers Guild's Position on TV Policy

Broadcaster, Sept 15, 2009

The Writers Guild of Canada filed with the CRTC its position on TV policy in Canada and its ideas for a revised regulatory framework that will apply to the conventional and specialty broadcasters (...) To strengthen its economic argument in favour of Canadian drama, the WGC and its partners asked Nordicity to expand and refine its March 09 “Analysis of the Economics of Canadian Television Programming” study. Click here to read more.

CanWest talks bogged down by revival of Australian TV fortunes

ReportonBusiness.com, Aug 28, 2009

CanWest Global Communications Corp.'s efforts to restructure its debt have come up against a series of glitches in the past few weeks that are delaying a deal with bondholders (...) A 2006 study by consultancy Nordicity Group Ltd. determined the tax benefits from this provision are worth between $93-million and $132-million to the broadcasting sector. Click here to read more.

Upstart targets big boys of satellite TV

Grant Robertson and Karim Bardeesy, The Globe and Mail, Aug 19, 2009

The Canadian broadcast industry is witnessing its own version of the space race, with three rival companies vying to launch a new kind of scaled-down satellite TV service aimed at penny-pinching consumers (...) Peter Lyman, a senior partner with Nordicity Group Ltd., a consulting firm that studies the industry, said the cost to sign up for free satellite television is more expensive than buying a new digital antenna. Click here to read more.

Shaw Rocket Fund’s Agnes Augustin: Funding the fight for kids TV

Playback Magazine, July 20, 2009

TAgnes Augustin is an ardent advocate of Canadian children's programming (...) In conjunction with the CFTPA and the Alliance for Children and Television, the fund recently sponsored a Nordicity study that found that between 1998/99 and '07/08, the volume of Canadian production in the children's and youth genre dropped 34%. Click here to read more.

Canadian Kids Fare at Risk, Study Says

Mansha Daswani, World Screen News, June 10, 2009

Canada's broadcast regulator is holding off on introducing new conditions that would change how the country's big television networks buy programming from Hollywood studios (...) according to The Case for Kids Programming: Children’s and Youth Screen-Based Production in Canada, prepared by Nordicity Group for the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), the Shaw Rocket Fund and the Alliance for Children and Television. Click here to read more.

Canadian kids TV production at a ten-year low

TBI Vision , June 10, 2009

Canadian kids TV production slumped to a ten-year low in the latest measurement period and smaller budgets have made Canadian shows less competitive internationally, according to a report from research company Nordicity. Click here to read more.

Protect Quality of Children's TV Urges Study

Broadcaster, World Screen News, June 10, 2009

Canada’s reputation as a world leader in the production of quality children’s and youth programming is at risk, according to a comprehensive study released today by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, the Shaw Rocket Fund and The Alliance for Children and Television. The Case for Kids Programming: Children’s and Youth Screen-Based Production in Canada – 2009 Edition was prepared by Nordicity Group Ltd. Click here to read more.

BANFF 2009: Fewer shows and less money for kids programming

Norma Reveler, Cartt.ca, June 10, 2009

Less children’s and youth programming is being produced in Canada on lower budgets and with less public funding, according to the report, “The Case for Kids Programming: Children’s and Youth Screen-based Production in Canada – 2009,” which was released at the Banff World Television Festival (BWTF) on Tuesday (...) The report was prepared by Nordicity Group for the CFTPA, the Shaw Rocket Fund, and the Alliance for Children and Television. Click here to read more.

Study: Canuck kids TV is 'under threat'

C21Media, June 10, 2009

Canada's central role in the global children's television production industry is under threat, according to a new study published here today (...) The report, titled The Case for Kids Programming: Children’s & Youth Screen-Based Production in Canada - 2009 Edition and prepared by Nordicity Group, was published to coincide with the annual Banff TV Festival here in Banff, Canada. Click here to read more.

The unions address the renewal hearings

Playback Magazine, May 25, 2009

Although he's proven himself to be no lightweight in recent months, CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein doesn't appear to be prone to fits of gratuitous violence (...) TAccording to a joint study by the Nordicity Group, released in time for the hearings by the producers association, ACTRA, the DGC and WGC, Canadian programming is not the burden that broadcasters claim. Click here to read more.

CRTC delays new rules for buying US TV shows

Grant Robertson, Globe and Mail, May 15, 2009

A new study reveals that Canadian children’s and youth content production fell to a ten-year low of C$257 million in 2007/08, after peaking at C$389 million in 1999/00 (...) The study by the Nordicity Group was commissioned by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, the Directors Guild of Canada, the Writers Guild of Canada, and ACTRA – the union representing actors. Click here to read more.

BNN (Business News Network) : Stories

Business News Network, May 15, 2009

Canada's broadcast regulator is holding off on introducing new conditions that would change how the country's big television networks buy programming from Hollywood studios (...) The study by the Nordicity Group was commissioned by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, the Directors Guild of Canada, the Writers Guild of Canada, and ACTRA – the union representing actors. Click here to read more.

Saving local culture one witness at a time: A report from inside the political struggle to rescue Canadian television

Art Threat Magazine, May 2009

The wind was brisk and the day bright. In front of the Canadian Parliament, dapper men and women in their suits and skirts shimmied about, their hands holding flapping ties and dresses down against the wind, faces as serious (no doubt) as the webs of imaginary and real intrigue they weave as minions and titans on The Hill (...) Nordicity Group Ltd. 2006. “Analysis of government support for public broadcasting and other culture in Canada.” Prepared for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation / La Societe Radio-Canada. Click here to read more.

Labor groups issue study

Playback Magazine, May 7, 2009

Canadian programming is not the burden that broadcasters claim, according to a study released Thursday by groups including ACTRA, the WGC and the DGC (...) The groups -- citing research from Nordicity Group -- argue that large broadcast conglomerates that own both conventional and specialty channels are "well-positioned" to profit from domestic programming. Click here to read more.

Canadian programming can be profitable, report says

Tech Media Reports (subscription), May 7, 2009

Conventional broadcasters and their specialty television channels are still well-placed to be profitable through Canadian television programming, according to a Nordicity report commissioned by the Writers Guild of Canada, the Directors’ Guild of Canada, ACTRA, and the CFTPA. Click here to read more.

New Study Shows Canadian Programming Can Pay its Way - Broadcasters do get bang for their bucks

Canada NewsWire (press release), May 7, 2009

A new study prepared by consulting firm Nordicity Group Limited shows that Canadian television programming can be, and is, profitable for Canadian broadcast groups. Click here to read more.

Time to re-think CBC funding?

Sarah Barmak, The Toronto Star, March 15, 2009

Private networks are reeling, newspapers are struggling, so maybe we need public broadcasting after all. But as with public transit, is there a better way? (...) Measured per capita, Canada had the third lowest level of public funding of 18 Western countries in 2004, according to a 2006 Nordicity study commissioned by the CBC. Our $28 per inhabitant was ahead of only New Zealand and the U.S., and far below the $80 average across 18 countries. Click here to read more.

A beleaguered CBC should ask itself: Who cares?

Jeffrey Simpson, The Globe and Mail, March 13, 2009

Heritage Minister James Moore rejected more funding for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. this week (...) Only New Zealand supports its state-financed public broadcaster less, according to a study by the Nordicity Group, a consulting firm specializing in broadcasting. Click here to read more.

CBC tunes in to new reality

Craig Offman, National Post, March 13, 2009

Around two months ago, the CBC had a revealing dust-up with a local paper (...) According to a 2008 study conducted by the media research firm Nordicity Group, the CBC's $34 annual per-capita subsidy is the third-lowest among 18 Western countries - less than half of its French counterpart, which is $77. Click here to read more.

CRTC Releases Study Of OTA Local News

broadcastermagazine.com, Jan 2009

In the context of the 1999 Policy Framework for Canadian Television, the Commission released OTA broadcasters from regulatory obligations to produce a specific number of hours of local news based on the assumption that there would be a strong, sustained business model for conventional OTA broadcasters to produce local news (...) The CRTC engaged Nordicity Group Limited to study economic and audience trends of over-the-air private broadcasters' local news programming. Click here to read more (login required).

Interactive Media Industry Survey Now Online

mediacastermagazine.com, Dec 2008

A new survey on the Canadian interactive media industry will set the stage for important industry hearings on the nature and the future of digital media in Canada planned for the New Year (...) Nordicity has been contracted by the association to conduct the survey, analyze the results and then report on its findings. Click here to read more (login required).

Visually affecting the industry

Playback Magazine, October 13, 2008

Refusing to rest on the laurels strewn on them for their work on films and TV shows like The Incredible Hulk and Stargate: Atlantis, digital producers in Ontario and British Columbia have taken matters into their own hands, forming associations to represent their interests in Canada and abroad (...) In tandem with media-consulting firm Nordicity, CASO generated a survey of its industry in Ontario, which was released last month at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. The survey estimates that visual effects studios employed 1,600 to 1,900 people in the province in 2007. Click here to read more.

Ontario Industry Survey Reveals Picture Of VFX And Animation Economy

Animation World Network, September 19, 2008

Computer Animation Studios of Ontario Association (CASO) President Neil Williamson announced the results of the first animation and vfx industry survey Thursday night at a reception held during the Ottawa International Animation Festival (...) Conducted by Nordicity Group, the project received funding assistance from the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), York University, Royal Bank of Canada, the City of Toronto -- Economic Development, and CASO. Click here to read more.

TV dominates CG industry

James Careless, Playback Magazine, Sep 18, 2008

OTTAWA -- Curb your enthusiasm about the web: TV and movies still pay the bills for Ontario's computer animation and VFX industry. So says a study released at the Ottawa International Animation Festival Thursday night (...) The study, commissioned by the Computer Animation Studios of Ontario Association and compiled by Nordicity Group, found that TV series and commercials accounted for 62% of the computer animation industry's 2007 revenues, with feature films bringing in another 16%. Meanwhile, VFX studios got 29% of their 2007 income from TV series/commercials, with another 44% coming from feature films. Click here to read more.

Study calls for film, TV production centre

The Ottawa Citizen, July 11, 2008

The amount of film and television production in the Ottawa region is significant enough that a multipurpose production centre is needed, a consultant's study recommended (...) The region is developing into a secondary market for film and television productions, said the feasibility study released yesterday by The Nordicity Group for the Ottawa-Gatineau Film and Television Development Corporation. Click here to read more.

Aussie rules eyed for media mergers

Grant Robertson, Globe and Mail Update, August 6, 2007

In the aftermath of three major takeovers in the Canadian broadcasting sector, federal regulators appear poised to consider revamping the rules on media consolidation, using a system pioneered last year by the Australian government. The CFTPA, (…) commissioned Nordicity Group Ltd., a consulting firm, to study the Australian method.

“The application of Australia's points system to seven Canadian media markets shows that the approved and proposed merger transactions should raise serious concerns about cross-media ownership and media diversity,” Nordicity said. Click here to read more.

Broadcasters, BDUs and regulators, don’t forget your Jim exercises

Kurt Eby, Decima Reports, July 5, 2007

Jim seems like a regular guy. He went to university, found a job after graduation, pays rent and would like to own a home someday. But in spite of his regularity, Jim does not have the patience, money, or need for our regulated broadcasting system.

The idea of Jim as the model TV-to-Internet-shifter comes from Nordicity Group Ltd.'s Terri Wills, who presented the idea at the Insight Telecommunications and Broadcasting Conference in May. It stems from her time working in strategy at BBC where they would use focus groups and create case studies to better understand media consumption habits. Click here to read more.

The future of TV? On-demand, and online

James Lewis, Decima Reports, June 22, 2007

Perhaps the most telling aspect of the final session at this year's Banff World Television Festival, billed as a critical look at ‘The Future of Television,' was that it ended with an hour-long talk about the Internet. The panel discussion aimed to address three key questions raised by Nordicity Group Ltd.'s Banff Green Paper 2007 Click here to read more.

Report: Internet threat to TV not imminent

Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, June 7, 2007

TORONTO -- The emerging Internet may be turning traditional broadcasting upside down, but it won't kill the TV star anytime soon. That's the conclusion of a report commissioned by the Banff World Television Festival to spur debate during this year's TV/new-media gabfest,which gets under way Sunday. Click here to read more (login required).

Internet won't kill the TV star, but it could cause disruptions

Grant Robertson, Globe and Mail, June 6, 2007

The Internet has been touted as a rival that could destroy network television, but a new report on the Canadian TV sector suggests the two are destined to live side by side - though not necessarily in harmony (...) "The Internet may be best currently to deliver news clips, but your satellite or cable package [is] best to deliver Corner Gas in HD." The 40-page report was compiled by the Nordicity Group Ltd., an independent consulting firm. Click here to read more.

Big TV changes ahead, says report

Playback Magazine, June, 6 2007

"TV did not destroy radio, as radio did not destroy newspapers," it reads. "There will likely be some form of co-existence." The 41-page report by Nordicity Group -- "Green Paper II: The Future of Television in Canada" Click here to read more.

Seven must-attend sessions

Playback Magazine, May 28, 2007

This year's Banff World Television Festival is so content-rich that narrowing down which sessions to attend might be harder to solve than a murder on CSI. Nonetheless, we've done our investigating, and below present seven must-see events. Too bad you can't set your PVR, because some of the sessions overlap (...) This open-ended forum, in which audience input is being encouraged, will look at the updated version of Nordicity Group's Green Paper on the Future of Television in Canada, introduced at the close of last year's event. Click here to read more.

Nordicity talks media mergers and the future of television with TVO’s Steve Paikin

May 2007

Click here to read more.

Grab kids growing up digital: Nordicity

Decima Reports, March 16, 2007

The Nordicity Group recently released a report on the future of children’s programming. In the section dealing with the current state of the industry, an excerpt from which appears below, Nordicity argues that the genre is the perfect vehicle for reaching younger demographics in the on-demand, multi-platform era. Click here to read more.

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