The Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy

Progressive Dialogue and Policy for a Better Canada

Canadian Public Broadcasting Re-envisioned

By

July 23, 2015

Canadian Public Broadcasting Re-envisioned

By John P. Roman

The following is a summary of a proposal presented to the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV Hearings in September 2014 and to the Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications as part of its review of the challenges confronting the CBC/Radio-Canada. It proposes a new format for the English-language segment of Canada’s public broadcasting service.

Context

The CBC/RC is a made-in-Canada solution for public broadcasting – currently a hybrid of public funding and private commercially-driven content. The CBC was created in 1936, and since then no other country as adopted our model. Perhaps that should be a hint that, though a valiant effort, we didn’t get it 100% correct on our first try.

Some have said that, if we throw more money at the CBC, we could fix the problem. That’s decidedly unlikely. At its last network licence renewal hearing before the CRTC, a very senior CBC executive described the CBC as “a publicly subsidized commercial broadcaster”. With that mentality, it’s clear that CBC’s senior management just doesn’t get it. When I was before the Senate Committee for Transport and Communications, one Senator called the CBC (our national public broadcaster) “an arm of the government.” Well, which is it? A commercial broadcaster or an arm of the government?

Our present system, which no other country has thought effective enough to imitate, has lost its identity. We have to accept that it’s time to go back to the drawing board and try again if we want to make this potentially great national institution work.

For two reasons, this proposal almost exclusively addresses the English-language component of public broadcasting, CBC Radio, CBC Television and News Network (aside from the fact that, going forward, the APS would produce content in both languages). First, according to audience numbers, Radio Canada is still widely enjoyed in Quebec and by Francophone communities throughout Canada. Secondly, CBC-TV’s audience numbers are way down because they must compete for viewers with the best programming from the international broadcasting community (while, for reasons of language, this has far less impact on Radio-Canada), and program quality on CBC-TV has been declining as a result of budget reductions. .

The Plan

I propose the following restructuring plan for the English services of the CBC:

CBC RADIO

CBC Radio 1 would remain largely unchanged. Radio 2, the now partly commercial music service would be eliminated. Resources currently directed to Radio 2 would be re-invested in Radio 1 and enable it to enhance its depleted news, information and entertainment content. Radio 1 currently achieves a very respectable 15% audience share and if its budget had not been repeatedly raided in recent years to shore up CBC-TV, it would doubtless be doing even better.

CBC-TV

Details of the role of the National Public Broadcasting Service are laid out in the 1991 Broadcasting Act. Its English television services currently consist of 14 digital CBC-TV stations delivering a mix of programming and its BDU-delivered specialty service, CBC News Network (formerly News World). I propose that CBC-TV’s general programming service (which now achieves an audience share of only 3%) be discontinued and that CBC News Network be repositioned as the primary over-the-air/BDU delivered national public television service. Its programming would be adjusted to include news and information in the style of BBC News and BBC International and provide local, regional, and national news, current affairs programming like Power and Politics and The Exchange in addition to documentary and other series on which citizens can depend to address public concerns (e.g., Nature of Things, Marketplace, etc.)

THE ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMMING SERVICE

The APS: the Alternative Programming Service would be introduced to supplement CBC-NN. It would be streamed, (i.e. accessed online), like a combination of BBC 3 + 4 and Netflix but provide the highest quality original Canadian entertainment. This content would be acquired, banked and made available commercial-free for streamed reception by any Canadian free-of-charge on their computers or mobile devices and be exempt from data and broadband bandwidth caps.

The APS would provide a home for a range of Canadian programming not currently offered to audiences either by commercial broadcasters or by CBC-TV. It would have a mandate to ‘engage, entertain, and challenge’ Canadians and achieve this by pursuing a programming mission to enable Canadians to enjoy lifelong learning, a broad range of popular cultural content, and a variety of programs that will engage audiences with challenging concepts and ideas.

Its programs could afford to be distinctive – even challenging – because, as a fully-funded public service, it would not be advertising-driven. This will allow development of a wide range of programming, all of it high quality and much of it dealing with the popular arts, history, culture, comedy, nature, discourse, and drama for audiences of different ages and interests.

Most programs would be produced in either French or English, with soundtracks always available in the other official language and access ensured for the hearing and visually impaired. As the service develops, alternative sound tracks or sub-titles in a number of minority languages would also be made available. By providing simultaneous access in multiple languages, the APS would be able to draw together and inspire an increasingly diverse population in ways no conventional service is currently able or prepared to do.

Initially the APS would (daily) release two hours of new acquired programming on its streaming service, six days a week on a predicable schedule. The growth of its on-line catalogue will ensure audience interest and quickly build a diverse national library with which audiences can engage at their convenience.

The APS will deliver original content that meets the criteria of Section 3(r)v. It will function as a support to CBC-NN with a broadly based schedule of programs of a kind that CBC-TV cannot or will not any longer do.

Ultimately, this new public broadcasting system will become the cultural hub of Canada. Much as the BBC is identified as a core element of the UK’s identity, this contemporary online service focused on new (or forgotten) forms of entertainment and ideas-based programming, will evolve into a unique public service that appeals to all people of all ages and interests, helping them share in what it means to be a 21st century Canadian.

Budget

The CBC has had its parliamentary grant stagnate, which effectively means a cut of 50% since 1991. This lapse of budgetary growth despite inflation is not a Conservative failing or a Liberal failing. In 1991 the CBC received roughly $1b. Today, that number is largely unchanged, but had the Corporation been granted just the normal cost of living increases over that 24 year period, its Parliamentary appropriation this year would have been in the neighbourhood of $2 billion. Effectively, then, the CBC has had to cope with a budget reduction of far more than the actual cuts imposed by various governments.

If we are to have a new (non-commercial) public broadcaster, it will have to be adequately funded to do its job. And one billion dollars a year simply isn’t sufficient to achieve that objective. An effective Canadian national public broadcasting service (in French and English) will require roughly $2.6b-3.2b to meet the information and entertainment needs of Canadians coast to coast and achieve a standard that is comparable to the BBC (which operates with an annual budget of £5.07b). Furthermore, this annual budget should be pegged to inflation.

Programming for the APS

Below is a sample of the APS’s program release schedule averaged at 2 hours each day. Its content may, at first glance, appear similar to that of existing CBC-TV programming but, because of its different mandate, APS programs would take a more engaging approach to content, assuming an age-appropriate intellectual level and acknowledging the curiosity of audiences.

Sample Weekly Schedule for Release of Acquired Programming

Monday: ARTS: popular performance, concerts, dance, theatre, etc.
Tuesday: CHILDREN/YOUTH : music, stories and drama of all genres
Wednesday: COMEDY: scripted and live performances, sit-coms, etc.
Thursday: DEBATE/DISCUSSISON: different points of view on topics of public concern
Friday: REGIONAL/LOCAL: bringing these events and issues to the national stage
Saturday: DOCUMENTARY: feature length and shorter, addressing topics of interest to Canadians
Sunday: No acquisitions or releases.

CONCLUSION

While elements of this new public broadcasting model may generate antagonism in certain predictable quarters, the existing English-language system has clearly failed and its television component is barely used by Anglophone households.
There is, however, no serious suggestion that public broadcasting no longer has a role to play in the national life of this country. Indeed, any threats to the services of Radio-Canada generate instant and energetic opposition. But both of our official language communities deserve high quality public broadcasting services. To achieve this, we need to rebuild the English-language component to properly address the needs of contemporary Canada. — and it’s clear this cannot be done by a “publicly subsidized commercial”, “arm of the government” radio and television service masquerading as a public broadcaster.

I believe the model outlined above has the potential to provide the public broadcasting service worthy of a G7 nation. Canadians deserve no less.

After completing his law degree in the UK, John Roman became a policy and regulatory consultant with a focus on Broadcasting and Telecommunications

Filed Under: Uncategorized