CBC says foreign programming key to its revenue, mandate

Non-Canadian feature films and other foreign programming is an important source of revenue and part of the public broadcaster’s mandate, CBC/Radio-Canada said. In advance of its CRTC licence renewal hearing scheduled to start Nov. 19, CBC filed reply comments with the commission to respond to about 8,000 interventions. In the 55-page reply, CBC said one aspect of its mandate is to bring “the best of foreign programming” to Canadian viewers. Shaw Communications Inc. and the Directors Guild of Canada, in submissions filed with the CRTC, argued that CBC’s new licence should limit the public broadcaster from airing foreign programming. Shaw said CBC should be barred from airing American content every evening from 6 p.m. to midnight. The Directors Guild added that “non-Canadian feature films have no place on the CBC’s prime time schedule.” Both interveners proposed the CRTC discuss, at the upcoming hearing, the elimination of foreign programming on CBC’s prime time schedule. In its reply comments, filed last Friday, the public broadcaster said Canadians enjoy watching non-Canadian feature films on CBC. “The airing of this content is an important source of revenue for the Corporation, which the Government of Canada and the Commission have long acknowledged cannot fulfill its mandate based purely on its Parliamentary appropriation,” CBC added. CBC received $1.1 billion in annual parliamentary appropriations last year. The Conservative government announced in its 2012 spending-cutting budget that CBC's annual public funding will be cut by $115 million by 2014-2015. The public broadcaster said in April that it would cut 650 positions, shut down its analog transmission system, emphasize access to Radio Canada International (RCI) online and introduce advertising on its two national music networks, CBC Radio 2 and French-language Espace Musique, to deal with the budget reductions. Shaw said in its intervention that CBC is close to achieving the non-U.S. content rate in the evenings. “This would still allow the corporation to air U.S. programs during other day parts, and non-U.S. foreign programming (including Coronation Street) at any point during the broadcast day,” Shaw said. CBC said it could not “both deny Canadians access to this content and forgo revenues required to subsidize programming that is uneconomic but that serves the needs of Canadians, especially given its present financial situation.” The public broadcaster also defended its proposal for advertising on Radio 2 and Espace Musique, saying there is “almost a non-existent” commercial radio market for radio formats like Radio 2 and Espace Musique. CBC said the licence request will complement the radio market by increasing "the size of the pie by bringing new advertisers to the market and benefitting the radio industry as a whole.” The approval of the advertising proposal "will meet a specific market need for the programming and audience profile in national advertising strategies,” CBC said. In its licence renewal application filed with the CRTC, CBC requested fees for broadcast distributors' carriage of its local TV signals. Those signals are now carried free according to the regulations. CBC, in its reply, defended that position against opposition from Shaw, Rogers Communications Inc. and Bragg Communications Inc. The public broadcaster compared broadcast distributors to a "middleman" who "sells someone else’s product and keeps all the money for himself" and is "free-riding on the efforts of the person who makes the product." news@thewirereport.ca

CBC says foreign programming key to its revenue, mandate

Broadcast | October 25, 2012

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CBC says foreign programming key to its revenue, mandate

Broadcast | October 25, 2012

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