The Canadian Television Fund and the Canadian New Media Fund have been combined to create the Canadian Media Fund. According to Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, the new fund will be " 'reformed and rebranded' " through a different partnership with the groups who provide the funding (government, DTH, cable and telecommunication TV providers) and those who spend it (the production community). Its mandate is to ensure the production of quality content and to make it available on multiple platforms. The new fund will launch on April 1, 2010.
Any company that wants to take advantage of the new fund has to plan for at least two platforms (one of which has to be television), and commit to making the TV portion in high-definition.
According to Cartt, " 'the funds announced for the broadcasting and new media sectors in the 2009 Budget will be combined and joined through this partnership with the industry. By adding an ongoing allocation of $20.4 million to this funding each year, the Government will contribute a total of $134.7 million annually to support the production of Canadian programming - through the work of Canadian producers - over the next two years. Added to the $150 million coming from distributors, that makes the new fund worth nearly $285 million.' "
Source: Cartt, 03/09/2009