ABSTRACT
For much of Canadian media history, the story of American cultural imperialism has pervaded cultural policy discourse, communications research and public common sense. While the old and familiar story of American cultural imperialism in Canada can be told, this chapter narrates a new and less conventional story—one about the globalization of Canadian entertainment. It does so by way of an up-to-date overview of the national strength and international scope of the Canadian cultural industries, focusing on the economic and cultural power of the TV sector in particular. Although the story of American cultural imperialism in Canada continues to be persuasive, it fails to address changes in the current political economy of Canada’s TV sector. The US is the world’s strongest media centre, but Canada is much more than a weak media periphery; Canada’s TV sector is substantial, prosperous and growing. There is a near one-way flow of TV shows from the US to Canada; yet, Canada’s TV sector is producing TV shows with partners across borders and exporting them to the US market, and elsewhere. US-based global media giants and the US government push for and pursue cultural free trade with Canada to tear down its protectionist barriers; yet, the Canadian State protects the Canadian TV sector locally from free trade while simultaneously promoting the sector’s business globally.
