Americanization
...pop culture. Since American artists are more highly known, advertised, and displayed, Canadian adolescents do not know any better. • “US programs account for about 70% of all viewing of English TV in Canada, according to two different sources. Unreleased data from CBC Research for the 1994-95 seasons finds foreign programs account for 70% of viewing time (66% is US programs alone). During prime time, viewing of foreign programs rises to 76%.” (http://www.tv.cbc.ca/national/pgminfo/border/culture.htm) • CBC Research found that when we watch drama, 85 percent of the time it is American (90% foreign). For sitcoms it is 97%! (99.6% foreign). (http://www.tv.cbc.ca/national/pgminfo/border/culture.htm) Where is the Canadian talent going? • Is this preference for American programs a result of viewer preference or is it perhaps more a reflection of the lack of availability of Canadian drama and sitcoms? b) Not only the entertainment industry, but the literature is getting hit hard as well. • 18.5% of the English-language magazines sold on newsstands in Canada are Canadian. (Statistics Canada) • The newsstand market is controlled by the distributors, a sector dominated by a handful of firms (Metro News in Toronto). The distributor decides what the retailer gets and often determines the prominence that a title gets on the rack. The distributors may be compensated by the big magazine publishers for display prominence. Meaning those American magazines have the money and power to knock the Canadian ones off the shelf. • Canadian Magazine’s have roughly 25% of the market. (What happened to the 75%?) • According to Statistics Canada, 27.8% of the trade books sold in Canada were Canadian-authored. Meaning one quarter to one third of books sold in Canada are by Canadian authors. ARGUMENT #2: Canada is now the most export dependent of the G7 nations, and Canada's share of the economy devoted to exports is growing far faster than any other G7 nation. Sub-arguments a) Canadians are being limited to only buying American products • About 80% of Canada's trade is now with the US, according to the Statistics Canada numbers. • Between 1988 and 1999 17% of Canadian manufacturing jobs disappeared because it was cheaper to buy from the states. (CBC) • Slowly by slowly Canadian stores are being over run by American one’s. For example: Wal-Mart, Chapters, Home Depot, Starbucks, Blockbuster Video, or the enormous movie complexes that have arrived in our communities. When one looks closely most of these rapid changes have occurred within the last 10 years. (http://www.tv.cbc.ca/newsinreview/oct%2099/Eatons/changing.html) • US Multinational Corporations are slowly picking off the little (Canadian) guys by buying them out and continuing the business. b) Ever since the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US in 1989 and later on with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 that added Mexico, Canada has become more dependant on their neighbours to the south. Main terms of the NAFTA Agre...