With the CBC facing a $65 million revenue shortfall, the federal government shows no signs of offering a lifeline – and that has me both worried about the fate of the CBC and disappointed in the Canadian government.

According to CBC president Hubert Lacroix, the corporation is facing the shortfall due to decreased advertising revenues and increased programming and administrative costs – not to mention the prospect of reduced revenues from licensing and rebroadcasting rights.

The CBC has requested a loan, or an advance on their funding, to cover the shortfall but Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has argued that the CBC already receives $1 billion in funding, along with $60 million in non-recurring funding.

And so the inaction in Ottawa has put the rumour mill into overdrive – CBC insiders say that up to 700 jobs are on the chopping block, local operations could be merged, and there’s a possibility of ads running on English radio and the sale of Radio 3.

In a recent press release, the CBC maintains that for the current fiscal year, ending March 31, they will remain in the red. But given the current economic climate and the dire picture painted by private broadcasters and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, things are looking bleak for 2009-10.

Of course, once the request was made public, a number of news outlets jumped on the anti-CBC bandwagon, decrying the request. Many of the columns and op-eds argued that the CBC should be privatized or weaned off public dollars over a 7 to 10-year period.

And as someone who watches and listens to the CBC, I found it problematic that there is even a discussion about altering the CBC.

For starters, placing ads on English radio means that the CBC will be at the mercy of advertisers – and their critical, hard-hitting journalism will suffer. Selling Radio 3 means that Canadian arts and culture will suffer, as Radio 3 has done an admirable job of giving emerging artists national and international exposure.

And adding more American content, while it will bring in large audience numbers for primetime, moves the CBC away from its core mandate to provide programming that is “predominantly and distinctively Canadian”.

And given that the CBC, under the Broadcasting Act, is entrusted with ensuring their programming contributes to creation, flow, and exchange of culture, consciousness, and identity, I don’t see any other network ready or willing to accept these responsibilities – CTV and Canwest Global are simply too concerned with their own falling profit margins.

Frankly, the request for the loan has me worried. It is a well-known fact that the CBC is underfunded – in constant dollars, their funding hasn’t been increased in years. And the government seems content on allowing the CBC to continue to flounder, despite its important role. Bob Rae, the MP for Toronto Centre, has gone on the record, criticizing the government for using the recession to “gut the CBC”.

I’d hate to see this happen – I remember watching a slew of CBC programmes, including Jonovision, Street Cents, and Degrassi High. Many of these shows are cultural icons or have inspired other networks to produce similar programming.

And I’m pretty sure that everyone has at least seen or listened to a CBC programme – after all, it’s a well-known Canadian institution, much like Tim Hortons, the RCMP, or beavers.

Not only does the CBC entertain, educate, and inform, but it also inspires Canadians everywhere.

But in order to do so, it must be properly funded and supported by the government. We can’t afford to play politics with the CBC.

Because if we do, the cultural, political and social quilt of Canada risks being ripped apart and I can pretty much guarantee that no other network will be able (or want) to fill such a gaping hole.

Related posts:

1. Heading Non-Stop to the Land of No CanCon Recently, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that...
2. New Budget Leaves CBC in the Dark The budget released last month by Mr. Jim Flaherty and...
3. Finally, the CRTC Gets it Right … Well, Sort Of! I’ve always been sceptical of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications...
4. Sexism and Canadian Politics Media The other day on Power and Politics, Evan Solomon discussed...
5. Michael Ignatieff is Playing the Waiting Game As we’re all probably aware of by now, (since NOTHING...

Tags: broadcasting, cbc, hubert lacroix, Media, recession

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 8:21 am and is filed under Federal Government, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.