With fears mounting of sharp staff cuts and a hefty budget shortfall at the CBC, at least one critic is questioning whether the public broadcaster could have done more to avert its financial woes.
Arms-length watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting made the charge in advance of a townhall meeting set for Thursday, where CBC president Hubert Lacroix was to brief employees on “financial pressures” that lie ahead.
Watchdog spokesman Ian Morrison grumbled Wednesday that the public broadcaster has long known reduced federal funds, a softening advertising market, the expense of the Sochi Olympics and the potential loss of hockey broadcast rights could put them in a tough spot for the 2014-2015 budget.
Morrison took greater issue with Lacroix, who he considers “a patronage appointment” who failed to come up with a clear vision for CBC’s future.
Read the full story.
CBC VP Says More Cuts Coming
Be prepared for more cuts at the CBC, says the head of the public broadcaster's English-language services.
"Are there more cuts to come? Absolutely. We have to deal with a really significant challenge in front of us. That means there will be more cuts and a smaller CBC," says Heather Conway ...
"How do we privilege the programming and try and do things with less? is the idea. It won't be about cutting the schedule," she says.
That's going to be a tricky proposition. How Conway will be able to do more with less while protecting Canadian programs is the most challenging job in television. But she is clear that there will be more pain to come for employees at the broadcaster.
The new boss of English services has been on the job for barely six months, but she has already been thrust into one of the most turbulent periods at the broadcaster, with the recent loss of hockey rights to Rogers and a significant downsizing in the workforce.
Read the full story.
"Are there more cuts to come? Absolutely. We have to deal with a really significant challenge in front of us. That means there will be more cuts and a smaller CBC," says Heather Conway ...
"How do we privilege the programming and try and do things with less? is the idea. It won't be about cutting the schedule," she says.
That's going to be a tricky proposition. How Conway will be able to do more with less while protecting Canadian programs is the most challenging job in television. But she is clear that there will be more pain to come for employees at the broadcaster.
The new boss of English services has been on the job for barely six months, but she has already been thrust into one of the most turbulent periods at the broadcaster, with the recent loss of hockey rights to Rogers and a significant downsizing in the workforce.
Read the full story.
Not best of times for CBC
Heather Conway is fairly certain nobody wants to stab her in the back just yet.
Give it some time. It has been less than seven months since Conway became the executive vice-president of CBC’s English services, giving her responsibility for CBC-TV, CBC News Network, the documentary channel, Radio One and 2, cbc.ca, other digital operations, and more than $750-million in annual spending.
And in case you haven’t been paying attention, these are not the best of times for CBC.
Potential critics have been warming up in the wings. Within days of her appointment last fall, some began grousing that Conway – a former marketing executive with no direct programming experience – was a dismaying choice for one of the most powerful broadcasting jobs.
Read the full story.
Give it some time. It has been less than seven months since Conway became the executive vice-president of CBC’s English services, giving her responsibility for CBC-TV, CBC News Network, the documentary channel, Radio One and 2, cbc.ca, other digital operations, and more than $750-million in annual spending.
And in case you haven’t been paying attention, these are not the best of times for CBC.
Potential critics have been warming up in the wings. Within days of her appointment last fall, some began grousing that Conway – a former marketing executive with no direct programming experience – was a dismaying choice for one of the most powerful broadcasting jobs.
Read the full story.
CBC Exposed Book a Canadian Bestseller
This book takes on the holy grail of the Canadian media landscape and lays bare the truth about CBC.
Reckless reporting at the state broadcaster has ruined lives and cost taxpayers millions upon millions in settlement costs yet no one has ever been held to account.
This book does what the consensus media cowards are afraid to do, tell the truth about CBC.
From reporting driven by vendettas to outright biases against conservatives, gun owners, Israel and any other group that doesn't fit their vision of Canada, CBC Exposed is a call to action to rein in this broadcasting giant.
Once you read this book you too will be convinced that the only way to tame the beast is to sell it.
CBC cuts jobs while giving away music
Despite a parliamentary mandate to provide radio and television services to Canadians in exchange for an annual $1.1 billion subsidy, CBC says it will shift more of its resources to web and mobile productions while cutting core services.
By 2020, the CBC could also shed as many as 1,500 jobs through retirement and attrition. The plan also calls for selling off as much as two million square feet of real estate.
In 2012, CBC launched a free online music-streaming service that competes not only with private radio, but other commercial services offering similar products for a fee.
While the service is free to listeners that doesn't mean it is free to taxpayers. CBC pays royalties for each song it plays.
Read the full story.
By 2020, the CBC could also shed as many as 1,500 jobs through retirement and attrition. The plan also calls for selling off as much as two million square feet of real estate.
In 2012, CBC launched a free online music-streaming service that competes not only with private radio, but other commercial services offering similar products for a fee.
While the service is free to listeners that doesn't mean it is free to taxpayers. CBC pays royalties for each song it plays.
Read the full story.
CBC Airs Unsubstantiated Video
CBC National Airs Unsubstantiated Video Alleging Israeli Sniper Killed Palestinian Civilian
Honest Reporting Canada has brought our concerns to the CBC’s attention regarding CBC National’s July 21 airing of a video created by the International Solidarity Movement that it claims shows an Israeli sniper killing an innocent Palestinian man in Gaza.
While CBC prefaced this report with a “warning of graphic images” it did not acknowledge that CBC is unable to verify the authenticity of this video, nor did it verbally tell CBC viewers that the creators of the video are hardcore anti-Israel activists and that the veracity of anything it produces must be questioned. All CBC noted in a super was that this was an “Int’l Solidary Movement Video”. Even Al-Jazeera noted that it can’t confirm the video’s credibility.
Read the full story.
Honest Reporting Canada has brought our concerns to the CBC’s attention regarding CBC National’s July 21 airing of a video created by the International Solidarity Movement that it claims shows an Israeli sniper killing an innocent Palestinian man in Gaza.
While CBC prefaced this report with a “warning of graphic images” it did not acknowledge that CBC is unable to verify the authenticity of this video, nor did it verbally tell CBC viewers that the creators of the video are hardcore anti-Israel activists and that the veracity of anything it produces must be questioned. All CBC noted in a super was that this was an “Int’l Solidary Movement Video”. Even Al-Jazeera noted that it can’t confirm the video’s credibility.
Read the full story.
New CBC five-year strategy universally critisized
There's some good in the CBC's five-year plan, but also a lot of bad, including the defeatism that has marked network president Hubert Lacroix's tenure.
There has been near universal criticism of the new five-year strategy announced recently by CBC. The Star called the strategy foolish. The Globe and Mail poked fun at its bureaucratic jargon and underlying philosophy. The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, among others, called for the resignation of CBC President Hubert Lacroix.
So where does CBC, especially its president, go from here? Hubert Lacroix could follow the advice of his staff and others and resign. His record is dismal. In constant dollars funding from government has declined steadily since he was appointed in 2008.
Read the full story.
There has been near universal criticism of the new five-year strategy announced recently by CBC. The Star called the strategy foolish. The Globe and Mail poked fun at its bureaucratic jargon and underlying philosophy. The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, among others, called for the resignation of CBC President Hubert Lacroix.
So where does CBC, especially its president, go from here? Hubert Lacroix could follow the advice of his staff and others and resign. His record is dismal. In constant dollars funding from government has declined steadily since he was appointed in 2008.
Read the full story.
Senior CBC filmmaker charged with four counts of voyeurism
A senior CBC filmmaker faces accusations that he hid cameras in his Toronto apartment and captured images of unaware guests in their most intimate moments.
Toronto Police investigators executed a search warrant Thursday at The Esplanade-George St. area apartment of Ian Campbell, a 61-year-old associate director with the CBC’s Toronto-based documentary unit.
The accusations come just months after another CBC employee was hit with similar allegations.
Campbell, meanwhile, has been charged with four counts of voyeurism.
Read the full story.
Toronto Police investigators executed a search warrant Thursday at The Esplanade-George St. area apartment of Ian Campbell, a 61-year-old associate director with the CBC’s Toronto-based documentary unit.
The accusations come just months after another CBC employee was hit with similar allegations.
Campbell, meanwhile, has been charged with four counts of voyeurism.
Read the full story.
CBC has ratings issues
With the NHL trade deadline come and gone, many media pundits have declared that George Stroumboulopoulos’ switch from CBC to Rogers is the biggest acquisition of the hockey season.
But the analogy falls short because of how little the CBC is getting in return for the trade of its star. The overarching effects of the CBC losing one of its most visible personalities is a signal that Canada’s public broadcaster is in trouble regarding television.
To make matters worse, HNIC accounted for 50 per cent of the advertising budget for CBC television and without that influx of cash the belts at the CBC just got even tighter.
Ratings have also been an issue for the CBC. Since August 2013, outside of HNIC and the Olympics, the station has only had four programs crack the top 30 weekly TV programs in the country according to broadcast measurement company BBM Canada. These are not promising stats for an organization that is looking to prove its worth to Canadians.
Read the full story.
But the analogy falls short because of how little the CBC is getting in return for the trade of its star. The overarching effects of the CBC losing one of its most visible personalities is a signal that Canada’s public broadcaster is in trouble regarding television.
To make matters worse, HNIC accounted for 50 per cent of the advertising budget for CBC television and without that influx of cash the belts at the CBC just got even tighter.
Ratings have also been an issue for the CBC. Since August 2013, outside of HNIC and the Olympics, the station has only had four programs crack the top 30 weekly TV programs in the country according to broadcast measurement company BBM Canada. These are not promising stats for an organization that is looking to prove its worth to Canadians.
Read the full story.
CBC management are main culprits
It is painful to read former CBC staff and CBC apologists complain, grovel and try to justify the current programming’s poor quality on the lack of federal funding. When one considers that the CBC corporation still receives more than a billion dollars annually, I find their poor-mouthing and painful bleating to be self-serving.
The Harper government may be blamed for various perceived problems, however, the current CBC management are the main culprits for the decline of a once much admired, listened and viewed network. If the country’s other commercial main news and program networks are surviving well without a federal billion-dollar bounty, why are we always subject to the complaining and carping of current and former CBC staffers?
Read the full story.
The Harper government may be blamed for various perceived problems, however, the current CBC management are the main culprits for the decline of a once much admired, listened and viewed network. If the country’s other commercial main news and program networks are surviving well without a federal billion-dollar bounty, why are we always subject to the complaining and carping of current and former CBC staffers?
Read the full story.
How CBC is dealing with employee tension, rage and confusion
CANADALAND has obtained internal CBC documents illustrating how the organization is dealing with employee tension, rage and confusion.
The CBC work atmosphere has by all accounts hit a new low since the town hall, where employees hoped to learn whether or not they would be keeping their jobs. Instead, they were forced to endure President Hubert Lacroix's "Vision 2020" unveiling, a smokescreen of digital futurism bafflegab that obscured the painful truth, that 1500 unspecified positions will be eliminated over the next 5 years. While each employee waits to find out if they're getting the axe, they are expected to internalize and execute the CBC's "digital mantra", which will result in news content designed for phones and tablets, somehow (it has to do with "pillars" and "planks").
A couple of brave (doomed?) workers actually piped up to demand Lacroix's resignation for running the whole enterprise into the ground (he refused) and the whole affair was hustled to a premature close as questions were still being hurled at the stage.
Read the whole story.
The CBC work atmosphere has by all accounts hit a new low since the town hall, where employees hoped to learn whether or not they would be keeping their jobs. Instead, they were forced to endure President Hubert Lacroix's "Vision 2020" unveiling, a smokescreen of digital futurism bafflegab that obscured the painful truth, that 1500 unspecified positions will be eliminated over the next 5 years. While each employee waits to find out if they're getting the axe, they are expected to internalize and execute the CBC's "digital mantra", which will result in news content designed for phones and tablets, somehow (it has to do with "pillars" and "planks").
A couple of brave (doomed?) workers actually piped up to demand Lacroix's resignation for running the whole enterprise into the ground (he refused) and the whole affair was hustled to a premature close as questions were still being hurled at the stage.
Read the whole story.
CBC’s enemies working from within
The CBC’s enemies are not only circling their prey from the outside, including the Conservative government with its unrelenting budget cuts. Its enemies are also working from within. The CBC has a compliant board of directors overwhelmingly stacked with Conservative party donors and a president, also conservative, who appears ready to implement any budget cut in virtual silence.
Lacroix delivered for the government Thursday.
Although confirming the CBC will cut up to 1,500 more jobs in the next five years, including CBC’s renowned documentary unit that produced Canada: A People’s History and other groundbreaking programs, he described it as “a good day, it’s an important day. This is a plan that’s going to work.”
Read the full story.
Although confirming the CBC will cut up to 1,500 more jobs in the next five years, including CBC’s renowned documentary unit that produced Canada: A People’s History and other groundbreaking programs, he described it as “a good day, it’s an important day. This is a plan that’s going to work.”
Read the full story.
Friends say CBC President Hubert Lacroix should resign
The chorus of calls for CBC President Hubert Lacroix to resign are coming from his friends not his critics.
“Lacroix should resign. He is helping Stephen Harper drive CBC into the ground.’ said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting spokesperson Ian Morrison.
“Lacroix has but one move to make: Resign. And if he doesn’t, then the CBC itself should demand that he steps down” wrote The Citizen.
CEC President Hubert Lacroix should resign and the Harper government should find an executive who can grow the CBC from strength to strength. Lacroix is a lawyer who is way over his head and does not have a practical plan to make the CBC strong.
Read the full story.
“Lacroix should resign. He is helping Stephen Harper drive CBC into the ground.’ said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting spokesperson Ian Morrison.
“Lacroix has but one move to make: Resign. And if he doesn’t, then the CBC itself should demand that he steps down” wrote The Citizen.
CEC President Hubert Lacroix should resign and the Harper government should find an executive who can grow the CBC from strength to strength. Lacroix is a lawyer who is way over his head and does not have a practical plan to make the CBC strong.
Read the full story.
CBC faces budget challenges at World Cup
Severe budget cuts mean that the CBC has a lot fewer boots on the ground than it did four years ago in South Africa, a challenge compounded by serious security woes fostered by violent protests in Brazil, the huge distance between host cities and the usual problems with unfinished venues and facilities.
``It's been a challenge," executive producer Paul McDougall said in reference to the recent budget cuts that followed the loss of Hockey Night In Canada.
McDougall says CBC's original plan called for about 15 more people to be in Brazil.
While CBC is stretched a little thin in some areas, viewers shouldn't notice anything lacking in game coverage.
Read the full story.
``It's been a challenge," executive producer Paul McDougall said in reference to the recent budget cuts that followed the loss of Hockey Night In Canada.
McDougall says CBC's original plan called for about 15 more people to be in Brazil.
While CBC is stretched a little thin in some areas, viewers shouldn't notice anything lacking in game coverage.
Read the full story.
Time to re-evaluate CBC’s mandate
The CBC’s mandate says that it should “provide radio and television services incorporating a wide range of programming that informs, enlightens and entertains.” That comes from the Broadcasting Act, which was passed in 1991, when the CBC’s budget was $1.7 billion.
There’s nothing in that mandate about delivering news stories to mobile phones, a key part of the CBC’s new plan. That makes me nervous, since newspapers are desperately trying to make money from that. How can we do that if subsidized CBC reporters are giving away what we’re trying to sell?
CBC, in survival mode, must seek revenue where it can, but it’s past time for the government to re-evaluate its mandate and funding level, and figure out what role the CBC should play in the Internet era.
Read the full story.
There’s nothing in that mandate about delivering news stories to mobile phones, a key part of the CBC’s new plan. That makes me nervous, since newspapers are desperately trying to make money from that. How can we do that if subsidized CBC reporters are giving away what we’re trying to sell?
CBC, in survival mode, must seek revenue where it can, but it’s past time for the government to re-evaluate its mandate and funding level, and figure out what role the CBC should play in the Internet era.
Read the full story.
Cheers follow call for CBC president to resign
The public broadcaster announced its five-year strategic plan Thursday as it grapples with a $130-million budget shortfall due to federal cuts, flagging advertising revenues and the loss of hockey rights to Rogers Media.
By 2020, the broadcaster plans to slash 1,000 to 1,500 jobs, although it says that goal will in part be fulfilled by retirements and attrition. These staff reductions are in addition to the 657 job cuts it announced in April.
In a heated town hall with employees, CBC president Hubert Lacroix faced calls to resign.
During the raucous town hall, Lacroix was grilled by employees. When union president Carmel Smyth suggested he "resign in protest" of the Conservative government's budget cuts, several cheers could be heard.
Read the full story.
By 2020, the broadcaster plans to slash 1,000 to 1,500 jobs, although it says that goal will in part be fulfilled by retirements and attrition. These staff reductions are in addition to the 657 job cuts it announced in April.
In a heated town hall with employees, CBC president Hubert Lacroix faced calls to resign.
During the raucous town hall, Lacroix was grilled by employees. When union president Carmel Smyth suggested he "resign in protest" of the Conservative government's budget cuts, several cheers could be heard.
Read the full story.
CBC planning massive cuts
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is planning huge cuts to its workforce as part of a new strategic vision.
And that has prompted a furious reaction from the union and a group that promotes Canadian broadcasting.
In a video presentation to employees, CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix said the Crown corporation plans to have 1,000 to 1,500 fewer employees by 2020.
Marc-Philippe Laurin, president of the Canadian Media Guild branch at CBC, called these cuts "irreversible", charging that they will "permanently change" public broadcasting.
"We are shocked and outraged that 25 percent of the staff and half the real estate are being cut over the next five years," Laurin said on the union website.
Read the full story.
And that has prompted a furious reaction from the union and a group that promotes Canadian broadcasting.
In a video presentation to employees, CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix said the Crown corporation plans to have 1,000 to 1,500 fewer employees by 2020.
Marc-Philippe Laurin, president of the Canadian Media Guild branch at CBC, called these cuts "irreversible", charging that they will "permanently change" public broadcasting.
"We are shocked and outraged that 25 percent of the staff and half the real estate are being cut over the next five years," Laurin said on the union website.
Read the full story.
Calls for CBC President Hubert Lacroix to resign
Since CBC President Hubert Lacroix announced plans to "ensure the sustainability" of the public broadcaster by radically reducing staff and shifting its focus from television and radio to various forms of Internet delivery over the next five years, there has been a rising chorus of voices calling on him to resign.
"Focused, smaller, more mobile, more relevant," is how Lacroix describes the new CBC he envisions. He calls it a "public media company [that] focuses on partnering to develop content" as opposed to a conventional public broadcaster. And he says that, in the face of dwindling subsidies from the federal government and now a steep decline in revenue from advertisers, who are moving en masse to the Internet, he has no choice but to continue the progressive dismembering of the corporation.
If the CBC is indeed being driven into oblivion by Lacroix and his management team, with the complicity of the Board of Directors, who is morally culpable. Who do we blame?
In other words, what's wrong is wrong, whether at work or in private life, and "I'm just following orders" is never a justifiable reason for performing a morally dubious act.
Read the full story.
"Focused, smaller, more mobile, more relevant," is how Lacroix describes the new CBC he envisions. He calls it a "public media company [that] focuses on partnering to develop content" as opposed to a conventional public broadcaster. And he says that, in the face of dwindling subsidies from the federal government and now a steep decline in revenue from advertisers, who are moving en masse to the Internet, he has no choice but to continue the progressive dismembering of the corporation.
If the CBC is indeed being driven into oblivion by Lacroix and his management team, with the complicity of the Board of Directors, who is morally culpable. Who do we blame?
In other words, what's wrong is wrong, whether at work or in private life, and "I'm just following orders" is never a justifiable reason for performing a morally dubious act.
Read the full story.
CBC to cut 25 per cent of staff
CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix, under fire for a massive and unprecedented downsizing of the Canadian public broadcaster, says he has no plans to resign from the top job anytime soon.
The CBC is at a crucial tipping point that some fear will lead to the eventual dismantlement of the broadcaster. And that has led to more outspoken stakeholders. At the meeting, Lacroix outlined the CBC’s strategy for the next five years that would see workforce downsized by about 25 per cent by 2020. “
We are shocked and outraged that 25 per cent of the staff, and half the real estate, are being cut over the next five years,” said Marc-Philippe Laurin, president of the CBC branch of the Canadian Media Guild.
Read the full story.
The CBC is at a crucial tipping point that some fear will lead to the eventual dismantlement of the broadcaster. And that has led to more outspoken stakeholders. At the meeting, Lacroix outlined the CBC’s strategy for the next five years that would see workforce downsized by about 25 per cent by 2020. “
We are shocked and outraged that 25 per cent of the staff, and half the real estate, are being cut over the next five years,” said Marc-Philippe Laurin, president of the CBC branch of the Canadian Media Guild.
Read the full story.
Peter Mansbridge against new CBC direction
CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix, unveiled the new five-year plan to staff at a town hall meeting on June 26, telling a less than receptive audience that the public broadcaster will be shifting resources out of its television and radio divisions to focus on new mobile-friendly content.
The CBC will be enhancing its market agility even further by slashing its in-house productions, depending far more on outside contractors for documentaries. The CBC’s studio facilities will be reduced to one, with the rest being rented out to other content producers.
The unions representing the production staff are clearly not happy with the plans, as are longtime CBC stalwarts such as Peter Mansbridge and David Suzuki who have placed their signatures on a letter decrying the moves.
Read the full story.
The CBC will be enhancing its market agility even further by slashing its in-house productions, depending far more on outside contractors for documentaries. The CBC’s studio facilities will be reduced to one, with the rest being rented out to other content producers.
The unions representing the production staff are clearly not happy with the plans, as are longtime CBC stalwarts such as Peter Mansbridge and David Suzuki who have placed their signatures on a letter decrying the moves.
Read the full story.
CBC admits to another error
On June 16, Honest Reporting Canada brought to the attention of CBC an error that was stated that morning on CBC Radio’s World Report program where journalist Yolande Knell erroneously claimed that “… no Palestinian militant group has said it’s responsible for the disappearance of the Israelis.”
However, as the Times of Israel reported, “an organization calling itself the “Liberators’ Battalion of Hebron” sent out a message to the press Saturday claiming it carried out the abduction of Gil-ad Shaar, 16, Naftali Frenkel, 16 and Eyal Yifrach, 19, in the Gush Etzion area near Hebron late Thursday night.”
In response to our complaint, CBC broadcast the following on-air correction on June 17: “We’d like to clarify a story we brought you yesterday. In our story about three Israeli teenagers who had been abducted, we said no Palestinian group had taken responsibility. In fact, several claims of responsibility were made in recent days from small organisations, including one by a purported Al Qaeda offshoot.”
We are pleased to note that following our intervention with the CBC, a directive was sent to CBC staff sensitizing them about the importance of being precise with their language.
Read the full story.
However, as the Times of Israel reported, “an organization calling itself the “Liberators’ Battalion of Hebron” sent out a message to the press Saturday claiming it carried out the abduction of Gil-ad Shaar, 16, Naftali Frenkel, 16 and Eyal Yifrach, 19, in the Gush Etzion area near Hebron late Thursday night.”
In response to our complaint, CBC broadcast the following on-air correction on June 17: “We’d like to clarify a story we brought you yesterday. In our story about three Israeli teenagers who had been abducted, we said no Palestinian group had taken responsibility. In fact, several claims of responsibility were made in recent days from small organisations, including one by a purported Al Qaeda offshoot.”
We are pleased to note that following our intervention with the CBC, a directive was sent to CBC staff sensitizing them about the importance of being precise with their language.
Read the full story.
CBC spokesman says everything is on the table
The cash-strapped CBC is weighing the closure of its venerated in-house documentary unit.
The move is the latest sign of a Canadian broadcast sector feeling the strain of a soft advertising market and cord-cutting, and includes rival Bell Media eliminating 120 Toronto TV jobs this summer.
A CBC spokesman on Tuesday told The Hollywood Reporter that "everything is on the table."
The prospect of shuttering the in-house producer of Canada: A People’s History and The Canadian Experience prompted a letter to CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix and newly installed head of English programming Heather Conway signed by 17 leading staff at the public broadcaster.
The CBC has already imposed deep budget and job cuts, and diversified its primetime lineup away from procedurals and shiny-floor reality competition shows, in a bid to close a $130 million (about $121 million U.S.) budgetary shortfall.
The network's blow from a continuing advertising revenue crunch includes losing prized Canadian NHL rights to Rogers Media after the private sector rival signed a blockbuster $5.2 billion ($4.9 billion U.S.) deal with the pro hockey league.
A consolidating Canadian TV market has been buffeted by ad dollars increasingly chasing consumers online, and cable and satellite TV operators facing increased cord-shaving and cord-cutting.
Read the full story.
PS - This brings me back to the purpose of this website. Do we need a publicly funded (to the tune of over $100 million EVERY month) State Broadcaster competing with the private sector???
The move is the latest sign of a Canadian broadcast sector feeling the strain of a soft advertising market and cord-cutting, and includes rival Bell Media eliminating 120 Toronto TV jobs this summer.
A CBC spokesman on Tuesday told The Hollywood Reporter that "everything is on the table."
The prospect of shuttering the in-house producer of Canada: A People’s History and The Canadian Experience prompted a letter to CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix and newly installed head of English programming Heather Conway signed by 17 leading staff at the public broadcaster.
The CBC has already imposed deep budget and job cuts, and diversified its primetime lineup away from procedurals and shiny-floor reality competition shows, in a bid to close a $130 million (about $121 million U.S.) budgetary shortfall.
The network's blow from a continuing advertising revenue crunch includes losing prized Canadian NHL rights to Rogers Media after the private sector rival signed a blockbuster $5.2 billion ($4.9 billion U.S.) deal with the pro hockey league.
A consolidating Canadian TV market has been buffeted by ad dollars increasingly chasing consumers online, and cable and satellite TV operators facing increased cord-shaving and cord-cutting.
Read the full story.
PS - This brings me back to the purpose of this website. Do we need a publicly funded (to the tune of over $100 million EVERY month) State Broadcaster competing with the private sector???
CBC is shifting its priorities
The CBC is shifting its priorities from television and radio to digital and mobile services, a move that will reduce staff, and supper-hour news broadcasts and programs produced in-house, says CBC president and CEO Hubert T. Lacroix.
“We used to lead with television and radio. Web came and then mobility came. We are reversing, we are inverting the priorities that we have,” Lacroix said, referring to the broadcaster’s 2020 strategy. “We’re going to lead now with mobility, we’re going to lead with whatever widget you use.
A number of CBC personalities have gone public with their opposition to the cuts.
Read the full story.
“We used to lead with television and radio. Web came and then mobility came. We are reversing, we are inverting the priorities that we have,” Lacroix said, referring to the broadcaster’s 2020 strategy. “We’re going to lead now with mobility, we’re going to lead with whatever widget you use.
A number of CBC personalities have gone public with their opposition to the cuts.
Read the full story.
CBC privatization makes sense in today's world
In the world of instant News availability for Canadians from a variety of sources, including the internet why do we need a Government owned, taxpayer funded, Liberal biased expensive CBC? The CBC can be successfully privatized to an array of small independent broadcasters and radio stations who can better serve Canadians with programming they actually want without endlessly draining public funds. An analysis done by Google last year showed that more Canadian content has been uploaded to YouTube since it was launched in 2005 than has been created by CBC since the 1950s.
The billions of dollars earned from the privatization of the CBC could help pay down our debt and the $83,000,000 sucked from tax payers every single month could be redirected to our critical Health Care needs, perhaps even adding dental coverage for Canadians. The CBC’s biased approach to news and information content – a failure of Journalism 101 – continues to represent only the left wing despite taxing every Canadian and every cable and satellite user across Canada.
Read the full story.
The billions of dollars earned from the privatization of the CBC could help pay down our debt and the $83,000,000 sucked from tax payers every single month could be redirected to our critical Health Care needs, perhaps even adding dental coverage for Canadians. The CBC’s biased approach to news and information content – a failure of Journalism 101 – continues to represent only the left wing despite taxing every Canadian and every cable and satellite user across Canada.
Read the full story.
CBC Spin is amazing but true
CBC Exposed recently obtained the following information from a CBC insider ...
A few examples of the spin that the CBC management seems to be so adept at:
1) Spin: The CBC No Longer Receives Over A Billion Dollars A Year from the Taxpayers
“Opponents sneer at the hundreds of millions of dollars in public support the CBC receives. (They can no longer bray about the catchy “billion-dollar subsidy” because the Conservative government cuts have taken the figure well below $1-billion.) Accusations of left-wing bias will be shouted. More accusations about overstaffing and overpayment to staff will be thrown around.”
But hold on a minute; the CBC receives other taxpayer funded programs like the CMF. In the 2014/15 budget period, the CBC Television (English/French) will receive over $83 million dollars from the CMF, who’s major funding source is Heritage Canada. Note: this is just the CMF Television funding we receive; it doesn’t include the CMF Digital and Convergence funds.
So on a $15 million television series, only 1/3 or $5 million comes from the actual CBC budget that is provided by Federal funding. The rest, $10 million, is from the CMF and tax credits.
A quote from Hubert Lacroix:
The actual ad revenue was $120 million to $135 million over the last few years. The rights fees paid to the NHL have been over $100 million US per year. The cost of production has been $30 million a year (that figure does not include the number of full time positions that must be maintained year round even though the hockey season is 9 months – add another $4 million). The cost of sales, promotion and advertising was another $40+ million a year (those huge Hockey Night in Canada billboards on the Gardiner aren't cheap).
So now the spin is has turned into, “Hey, take it easy with those government cuts as we were just hammered by losing the NHL!”, when in fact the loss of hockey saves money.
The Rogers negotiating team (Keith Pelley and Scott Moore) absolutely took the CBC to the cleaners with this deal. Of course they did, just look at the two CBC executives that were negotiating as they were hardly qualified to do the deal, 1) Neil McEneaney, a CPA, bright man but a true bean-counter who knows very, very little about the world of hockey and is not part of the extremely small NHL inner circle, and 2) Jeffrey Orridge, a trained lawyer and CBC newbie who was made head of Business for CBC Sports without ever having spent a minute in the broadcast industry and had never produced a second of TV in his life. This position was created due to politics by Kirsten Steward as she knew the head of sports would always be powerful with the board so she divided up the Executive Director, Sports position into two (business and production) to limit their power. When Orridge was hired, he had never done a single broadcast/production deal…and he was the CBC negotiator on the NHL deal? The CBC never had a chance.
Side note: Orridge's first rights deal at CBC was with the IOC for one Winter and one Summer Olympics. The CBC was the only entity bidding (both Bell and Rogers publicly stated they would not be bidding) and the IOC still managed to get three bids out of CBC. The CBC was bidding against itself. The IOC is still telling that story in the back rooms and laughing. Needless to say, the Olympics are a money-loser for CBC.
Rogers made out like a bandit as they get 350+ hours per year of CBC prime time to broadcast their NHL games for 4 years which gives them time to build Citytv into a national network. They keep 100% of the revenue, control all the content and they use CBC production facilities and staff at discounted rates (CBC is still paying for many of the staff for the 4 years).
So how did the Canadian taxpayer make out in the Rogers deal? CBC loses a revenue source of more than 1,400 hours of prime time ad inventory over the 4 years, pays for production staff and facilities and controls none of the content on Canada’s public broadcaster. Why was this just given away to a private corporation? To save jobs? Mr. Lacroix again:
“While this deal will result in job losses, the staffing impact would have been much greater had we lost hockey entirely, as CBC is still producing hockey.”
So CBC saved some union jobs and gave away the farm to do it. Many people wonder out loud if the CBC is even allowed to give over 1,400 hours of airtime away to a private corporation under their mandate – but then again, the management would just find a way to spin it as a good agreement for the CBC.
These are just a few of the ‘amazing but true’ situations at the CBC, but what is most amazing is that the vast majority of the media in Canada buy the spin. Why?
CBC Insider
CBC criticized for secretiveness
A new report on Canada's freedom-of-information laws slams the federal government for its poor performance in making computer data public, even as the Harper administration touts its 'Open Data' policy.
The report especially criticized the CBC in a section about whether released records were excessively blacked out under the exemptions provided by the laws.
"One of the greater ironies of the audit was the secretiveness of the CBC, whose journalistic arm routinely probes other government agencies for information and makes extensive use of freedom of information laws," says the audit.
The public broadcaster was asked for information about the possible addition of advertising to CBC Radio, for example, but declined to provide much.
"Briefing notes for CBC president Hubert Lacroix ... were almost completely blacked out, including everything in sections labelled 'transparency and accountability'," the researchers noted.
Read the full story.
The report especially criticized the CBC in a section about whether released records were excessively blacked out under the exemptions provided by the laws.
"One of the greater ironies of the audit was the secretiveness of the CBC, whose journalistic arm routinely probes other government agencies for information and makes extensive use of freedom of information laws," says the audit.
The public broadcaster was asked for information about the possible addition of advertising to CBC Radio, for example, but declined to provide much.
"Briefing notes for CBC president Hubert Lacroix ... were almost completely blacked out, including everything in sections labelled 'transparency and accountability'," the researchers noted.
Read the full story.
CBC planning a fresh round of service cuts
A watchdog group says the CBC is planning a fresh round of service cuts, including making Radio Two online-only and merging some English and French programming — but the public broadcaster denies the claims.
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting says executives are set to propose several major cuts when the board of directors meets in Ottawa on June 17 and 18. The group says they learned of these plans through “high-level sources inside the CBC.”
According to the watchdog, the proposed cuts include a plan to shut down over-the-air distribution of Radio Two — CBC’s FM radio network that plays primarily adult contemporary, classical and jazz — in favour of distributing music solely online.
CBC/Radio-Canada spokesperson France Belisle called the claims “speculation, inaccurate and misinformation.”
The public broadcaster announced in April it would cut some 657 jobs amid federal budget cuts and lagging TV ratings. It has also lost the rights to “Hockey Night in Canada” to Rogers Media, which paid a whopping $5.2 billion for a 12-year deal.
Read the full story.
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting says executives are set to propose several major cuts when the board of directors meets in Ottawa on June 17 and 18. The group says they learned of these plans through “high-level sources inside the CBC.”
According to the watchdog, the proposed cuts include a plan to shut down over-the-air distribution of Radio Two — CBC’s FM radio network that plays primarily adult contemporary, classical and jazz — in favour of distributing music solely online.
CBC/Radio-Canada spokesperson France Belisle called the claims “speculation, inaccurate and misinformation.”
The public broadcaster announced in April it would cut some 657 jobs amid federal budget cuts and lagging TV ratings. It has also lost the rights to “Hockey Night in Canada” to Rogers Media, which paid a whopping $5.2 billion for a 12-year deal.
Read the full story.
Time to let CBC die on the vine
At a workshop nearly two weeks ago, members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) suggested letting the post office provide banking services through its 6,500 retail offices.
At about the same time, over at the CBC, its largest unions were simply demanding that Canadian taxpayers increase Mother Corp’s subsidy by 50%. Nothing remotely innovative about that.
Meanwhile, the French-speaking union said Canadians were going to have to ask themselves if they want a CBC and whether they were prepared to fund it properly.
Well how about no and no?
An argument could be made that Canada Post still has a function to perform in rural and remote areas; that no one else could guarantee mail delivery to every address in the country.
But there is not a single thing the CBC does – not news, not drama or public affairs, and certainly not sports – that private broadcasters cannot do. And without tapping taxpayers.
It’s time to let both Canada Post and the CBC die on the vine.
Read the full story.
At about the same time, over at the CBC, its largest unions were simply demanding that Canadian taxpayers increase Mother Corp’s subsidy by 50%. Nothing remotely innovative about that.
Meanwhile, the French-speaking union said Canadians were going to have to ask themselves if they want a CBC and whether they were prepared to fund it properly.
Well how about no and no?
An argument could be made that Canada Post still has a function to perform in rural and remote areas; that no one else could guarantee mail delivery to every address in the country.
But there is not a single thing the CBC does – not news, not drama or public affairs, and certainly not sports – that private broadcasters cannot do. And without tapping taxpayers.
It’s time to let both Canada Post and the CBC die on the vine.
Read the full story.
CBC lacks common sense
Over the last three years, the federal government has cut more than 20,000 public servant jobs and made cuts of 10% or more to many departments and Crown corporations.
Years after the announcement of such cuts, guess who are the only ones still blubbering and refusing to make an effort to balance the books? Those who have a microphone in their hands paid by your taxes!
If the employees of CBC/Radio-Canada are so concerned about the loss of jobs, why don’t they propose a 3% cut to their own income, which could save all the 657 jobs at risk?
Why didn’t the union initiate the reopening of the collective agreement since their members are the best-paid of the industry?
Why? Because it’s always easier to syphon off the taxpayer’s wallet than their own.
Let’s also not forget that CBC’s managers gave themselves over $18 million in bonuses over the last two years and CBC’s president, Hubert Lacroix, had to recently repay $30,000 in expense claims that violated the corporation’s own spending rules.
What CBC/Radio-Canada desperately lacks these days is not public money but common sense, decency, transparency and political neutrality.
Read the full story.
Years after the announcement of such cuts, guess who are the only ones still blubbering and refusing to make an effort to balance the books? Those who have a microphone in their hands paid by your taxes!
If the employees of CBC/Radio-Canada are so concerned about the loss of jobs, why don’t they propose a 3% cut to their own income, which could save all the 657 jobs at risk?
Why didn’t the union initiate the reopening of the collective agreement since their members are the best-paid of the industry?
Why? Because it’s always easier to syphon off the taxpayer’s wallet than their own.
Let’s also not forget that CBC’s managers gave themselves over $18 million in bonuses over the last two years and CBC’s president, Hubert Lacroix, had to recently repay $30,000 in expense claims that violated the corporation’s own spending rules.
What CBC/Radio-Canada desperately lacks these days is not public money but common sense, decency, transparency and political neutrality.
Read the full story.
CBC's new reality
No one can say they didn't see it coming. The writing has been on the wall at the CBC for quite some time.
For a long time, the network was known as the place for hockey, The Simpsons reruns and Coronation Street.
And this is a public broadcaster?! Their existential crisis isn't just starting -- they lost their way years ago.
Perhaps if the CBC privatizes or reinvents itself to be like TVO or PBS they could work with a smaller budget.
Read the full story.
For a long time, the network was known as the place for hockey, The Simpsons reruns and Coronation Street.
And this is a public broadcaster?! Their existential crisis isn't just starting -- they lost their way years ago.
Perhaps if the CBC privatizes or reinvents itself to be like TVO or PBS they could work with a smaller budget.
Read the full story.
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