The CBC wants an extra $400 million so they can go Ad Free

[Boges]

WOW the CBC has some huge stones. 

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/11/28/cbc-asks-for-400m-more-in-funding-to-go-ad-free.html

Quote

 

The CBC is asking for an increase of roughly $400 million in government funding as part of a plan to go ad-free on all platforms.

A proposal paper posted to the national broadcaster’s website outlines how the CBC/Radio-Canada wants to follow the example of the BBC, the United Kingdom’s national broadcaster, and be fully funded by the federal government instead of partially relying on ad revenue.

“We operate under a business model and cultural policy framework that is profoundly broken,” the paper says.

“The BBC offers a compelling example of how a strong, stable, well-funded public broadcaster can serve the interests of domestic audiences and diverse communities, support the global ambitions of its creative and cultural sectors, and provide a strong foundation for Britain’s creative economy.”

The CBC/Radio-Canada currently receives $1.215 billion in government funding, but to go ad-free, the paper proposes the amount go up to $1.633 billion, or a $418 million increase.

Of that, $318 million would be replacement funding: $253 million to make up for lost advertising revenue and $105 million to create Canadian content to replace ad slots. The amount takes into account a savings of $40 million that would have otherwise been spent on selling ads.

The CBC is also asking for an additional $100 million “to face consumer and technology disruption” — or, in other words, to help the CBC/Radio-Canada adapt to the digital age.

 

They already have a huge competitive advantage over their competition. Now they want full advantage by not having to justify their programming by selling ads. Who cares about ratings or who watches 100% of our revenue is guaranteed! 

The BBC is a subscription service. User pays. My cable provider has actually allowed me to no include CBC News on my cable package, it used to be mandatory carriage. 

This government has increased funding to a certain level after the CPC actually cut funding. So I guess with JT in power they feel emboldened to ask for even more. Pretty ridiculous actually. AND if they do go this way, there's no way they should be able to bid for sports programming and have Hockey Night in Canada shown on their network. (even though it's a Rogers production now anyway)

If they go this route, I suspect less people will watch the CBC, not more. 

[msj]

you do realize that for the CBC to go ad free it would be a good thing for their competitors who would take the entire ad market? 

[Boges]

So we'll have a system where the government subsidizes the other media outlets (more than they already do) by fully funding their competition? 

Advertisers should be able to choose where they want to go based on who watches what shows. 

If the CBC gets the taxpayer to completely subsidize them then they'll have no incentive to put on anything entertaining or useful. No one could watch them and they'll still be fully funded.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Boges

[Moonlight Graham]

How about I just give the CBC free access to my bank account?  Yes, dare the CBC have to operate in any kind of business reality! Dare they be concerned with ratings and revenue.  From the article:

Quote

To get this funding, the CBC is proposing a $12 increase in the amount it currently receives from each Canadian per year — from $34 to $46.

I could almost afford regular cable TV at this price!  Dozens and dozens of channels!  As long as CBC is monitored so to remain independent from the conflict of interests, especially in the news reporting, that can come from ads, there shouldn't be much of an issue with ad revenue.  CBC already has a conflict of interest from being funded by the government, so who cares.  Maybe private interests competing with government interests is even a healthy thing!

[The_Squid]

Good idea.  The BBC is ad free.  It's a good model to follow.  

[Boges]

3 minutes ago, The_Squid said:

Good idea.  The BBC is ad free.  It's a good model to follow.  

BBC is actually a subscription service, like HBO. The catch, you have pay that subscription if you want to watch TV. 

I'm sure Cord Cutters in the UK are finding ways to avoid that charge. 

[?Impact]

It has been the competitors that have been lobbying for this, they are whining that the CBC is taking their ad revenue. If you think this is a silly idea, then tell the whiny children in the competitive market to suck it up and offer better programming so they can win over the ad revenue.

[Boges]

3 minutes ago, ?Impact said:

It has been the competitors that have been lobbying for this, they are whining that the CBC is taking their ad revenue. If you think this is a silly idea, then tell the whiny children in the competitive market to suck it up and offer better programming so they can win over the ad revenue.

I suspect they do. The CBC can offer much lower rates because they don't require as much ad revenue. It's not a level playing field.

Given the CBC more money doesn't change that, it makes it worse.  

Edited November 29, 2016 by Boges

[cybercoma]

1 hour ago, The_Squid said:

Good idea.  The BBC is ad free.  It's a good model to follow.  

The BBC also has a market with twice the population of Canada and a fraction of the locales to cover.

[?Impact]

BBC budget is £4.722 billion or about $8 billion Canadian. 

[The_Squid]

2 hours ago, cybercoma said:

The BBC also has a market with twice the population of Canada and a fraction of the locales to cover.

It will be more expensive to fund the CBC if we are expecting the same level of products as the BBC.  The CBC has to cover the entire country, including the arctic.

Quote

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation#Corporation

• reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions

 

We would not get the types of broadcasting the CBC produces from any private companies if the CBC was eliminated.  Outside rural areas, this would be a disaster.  

I have no issue with increased funding for the CBC and a move away from commercials so they can do what they're mandated to do.

Edited November 29, 2016 by The_Squid

[Guest]

2 hours ago, cybercoma said:

The BBC also has a market with twice the population of Canada and a fraction of the locales to cover.

 

1 hour ago, ?Impact said:

BBC budget is £4.722 billion or about $8 billion Canadian. 

The BBC does cover the entire planet, though.  I wouldn't want to be without the World Service.

[Boges]

The BBC's funding model is not what is being proposed here. They want to increase their direct subsidy. 

Since user pay is all the rage to get people to pay for things on the left. How about the CBC offer a subscription service? 

[?Impact]

14 minutes ago, bcsapper said:

The BBC does cover the entire planet, though.  I wouldn't want to be without the World Service.

We used to have Radio Canada International. If you drive into Nova Scotia, you will see their shortwave antennas on the way. I believe their funds have been cut significantly in recent years so I don't know what is really left of them. Years ago when I was living in Europe I used to listen to them occasionally, that along with McLeans magazine gave me my fix of news from home.

If CBC makes any programs that can earn money in other jurisdictions then I see no problem of syndicating them, but that should not be their focus. I also don't see the need for CBC television channels in other markets. The Internet allows CBC programming to reach foreign markets just fine. I believe some of it is subscription based, but expats can pay the fee if they choose. 

[-1=e^ipi]

Well, the CBC is trying to take advantage of the recent complaints about it unfairly competing with the private sector.

 

Ultimately, market conditions for the market for information have changed a lot. If you go back 70 years, the costs of entering the market were extremely high and the market more closely resembled a natural monopoly, so intervention in the form of the CBC made sense. But in today's society, where there is easy access to the internet, where there are tens of thousands of news sources to choose from, the market is highly competitive and the economic justification for publicly funding both the CBC and the BBC no longer make sense.

[taxme]

14 hours ago, Boges said:

WOW the CBC has some huge stones. 

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/11/28/cbc-asks-for-400m-more-in-funding-to-go-ad-free.html

They already have a huge competitive advantage over their competition. Now they want full advantage by not having to justify their programming by selling ads. Who cares about ratings or who watches 100% of our revenue is guaranteed! 

The BBC is a subscription service. User pays. My cable provider has actually allowed me to no include CBC News on my cable package, it used to be mandatory carriage. 

This government has increased funding to a certain level after the CPC actually cut funding. So I guess with JT in power they feel emboldened to ask for even more. Pretty ridiculous actually. AND if they do go this way, there's no way they should be able to bid for sports programming and have Hockey Night in Canada shown on their network. (even though it's a Rogers production now anyway)

If they go this route, I suspect less people will watch the CBC, not more. 

I cannot understand why Harper and the conservatives didn't get rid of the CBC when they had the chance. They should have put it up for sale or let the employees buy the dam thing. But they didn't. And there were a lot of other liberal/socialist programs and agendas that the conservatives could have done away with their majority but they didn't. So, I suspect that the liberals will give them what they want, no questions asked. Another billion and a half of tax dollars gone down the drain. Why complain, I should be use to seeing my tax dollars continue being washed down the drain. Politicians are the problem. The people need to be the solution to the problems that they create. But when will that ever happen? The taxpayer's never seem to be in too much of a hurry about doing anything that the government does with our tax dollars. 

[overthere]

Quote

If the CBC gets the taxpayer to completely subsidize them then they'll have no incentive to put on anything entertaining or useful. No one could watch them and they'll still be fully funded.

Hate to break this to you, but CBC TV  currently does very little that is entertaining or useful.  And that is not my opinion, that is the reality of their dreadful TV ratings in every major CDN market.

 

Nobody watches now and their funding increases.  

Quote

It will be more expensive to fund the CBC if we are expecting the same level of products as the BBC.  The CBC has to cover the entire country, including the arctic.

Welcome to 1958.  As noted, the BBC has an entirely different funding model.  And newsflash- all those people up North have broadband, satellite or both  and they  do not watch CBC either because their offerings are of no interest there either.

Quote

How about the CBC offer a subscription service?

Yep.  It requires that people put their money where their mouth is, and drop the hypocrisy of having others pay for their news and "entertainment'.  An example for the CBC is CKUA in Alberta , which is the oldest public broadcaster in Canada.  They are directly supported by supporters now, are a huge voice for the arts in AB, and get $20/month from me.

[poochy]

13 hours ago, The_Squid said:

Good idea.  The BBC is ad free.  It's a good model to follow.  

It's a model that is crumbling, look into it.

[poochy]

12 hours ago, ?Impact said:

It has been the competitors that have been lobbying for this, they are whining that the CBC is taking their ad revenue. If you think this is a silly idea, then tell the whiny children in the competitive market to suck it up and offer better programming so they can win over the ad revenue.

Here's a solution, no CBC.  But then they wouldnt be able to provide all the free advertising for liberals, which is your biggest concern.

[poochy]

1 hour ago, taxme said:

I cannot understand why Harper and the conservatives didn't get rid of the CBC when they had the chance. 

Politics, they didnt do a lot of things because they were under the illusion that if they played nice they wouldnt get burned at the stake in the media on a weekly basis for doing the things that the liberals will and are also doing and getting away with.  They betrayed us in that way, they should have killed the CBC and also, just bought the goddamn right airplane.

[The_Squid]

The quality of the CBC has dropped over the years.  And it's because of cuts to funding.  The CBC should be restored to past levels of funding.

Edited December 1, 2016 by The_Squid

[Ash74]

The BBC is funded by a £145 fee a year TV license fee.

Nothing would kill the cbc faster than a government trying to force that on the people of Canada. 

I don't care how many Dr Who or Top Gear quality shows they create (Top gear before clarkson got fired not the one with Joey from friends)

Everyday more and more people are cutting their cable. What is the point of funding the cbc if nobody is Watching? 

[?Impact]

11 hours ago, Ash74 said:

Everyday more and more people are cutting their cable. What is the point of funding the cbc if nobody is Watching? 

If there is any relationship between the two, then is more than likely the complete opposite of what you suggest. If you cut the cable, then you are more likely to be watching over the air broadcasts from CBC and others. Cutting the cable is about all those hundreds (thousands) of useless cable only channels that nobody wants. Youtube has replace the sewing channel, not the CBC.

[Ash74]

2 hours ago, ?Impact said:

If there is any relationship between the two, then is more than likely the complete opposite of what you suggest. If you cut the cable, then you are more likely to be watching over the air broadcasts from CBC and others. Cutting the cable is about all those hundreds (thousands) of useless cable only channels that nobody wants. Youtube has replace the sewing channel, not the CBC.

I don't watch over the air nor do I use a telegraph machines. 

I can watch everything streamed and I am not hindered by the Canadian Gestpo on how much content is Canadian. 

[Boges]

On 1 December, 2016 at 10:59 AM, ?Impact said:

If there is any relationship between the two, then is more than likely the complete opposite of what you suggest. If you cut the cable, then you are more likely to be watching over the air broadcasts from CBC and others. Cutting the cable is about all those hundreds (thousands) of useless cable only channels that nobody wants. Youtube has replace the sewing channel, not the CBC.

You mean useless Cable Channels like CBC News Network? 

TMN/HBO, TSN, Sportsnet, AMC etc are all still very popular cable options. 

No one is relying only on OTA broadcasting to watch their TV. If you've Cord-Cut you probably have an Android Box or something to get pirated shows OnDemand. And you're certainly not pining to stream the shitty shows on the CBC.