A Colossus Under Siege: The Trial By Fire of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Published for RIPE@2004

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University of Montreal and University of Calgary, Canada

Abstract

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is one of the world’s venerable public broadcasting institutions. According to OECD statistics, it is also one of the most underfunded. Public expectations of the CBC run high, but audience figures are low. The CBC is meant to be all things to all Canadians, but it is increasingly absent in local and regional markets. The CBC is an innovator, pioneering specialized television channels and Internet programming. But its regulator, the CRTC, would like it to focus on conventional services. The CBC has both friends and enemies in high places, and a public which clamours for more and for better from the CBC.

Last June (2003), a parliamentary committee reported that “the CBC continues to represent an important public policy instrument that not only nurtures, but helps to promote Canada’s vibrant and diverse cultures.” It concluded that “the time has come – and that it is entirely possible – for Canada’s national public broadcaster to be re-invigorated with a new mandate – one that would meet with general acceptance from Canadians.” The Committee made a series of precise recommendations designed to address some of the dilemmas the CBC has faced over the past dozen years or so. As required by law, the Government responded to the parliamentary committee report, reaffirming “that the CBC is a unique and essential instrument in the Canadian broadcasting and cultural landscape”. In line with the committee report, the Government further stated “that it is particularly important that the CBC better communicate its plans and priorities, and that its accountability for results to Canadians be improved.

The issues facing the CBC underscore the central problem of performance measurement and justification of public support that face all national public broadcasters in the new media environment. The Canadian situation may be a harbinger of things to come for public broadcasters everywhere. The proposed paper will examine these issues in depth, with a view towards better understanding of the role of public broadcasting in the 21st century.

Paper not available.