[LINK] "The CBC Wants to Cancel Your Favourite Shows"

[rfmcdonald]

Barry Kiefl's Huffington Post article about how the CBC's decision to transfer funds from existing programs to new services is fundamentally wrong-headed.

The president of CBC, Hubert Lacroix, made the announcement in a recent speech: "If we can't generate new revenues or our funding model doesn't change, we'll need to take existing dollars away from services we're currently offering, to pay for those we need to be offering in the future." He also makes a very good case for why Canada needs a public broadcaster. I feel for Mr. Lacroix. He is faced with a financial conundrum that seems unsolvable. But he must tread carefully and not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The problem with planning for 2020 is that no one knows what the future holds. Five years ago there was no such thing as an iPad, the smartphone had just been introduced and Netflix delivered movies by mail. Technology is changing so rapidly, the best laid plan is to not commit past the current year but be nimble, allow creative people to take control and respond to new inventions as they are introduced.

Besides, most of the cool new technologies don't impact the way traditional radio and TV content is made but rather affect how content is distributed. Netflix figured this out and produces original series such as Orange is the New Black and House of Cards, series that could run on any TV network. Similarly, the music and the podcasts we stream from the internet are basically the same content that we consume on the radio. CBC bureaucrats, who have been called much worse here, need to be wary of the 'Steve Jobs syndrome' which convinces them they have the insight of Mr. Jobs.

The truth is that traditional radio and TV have not been replaced by the internet or other new technologies but instead have maintained their central role in our lives. Traditional TV viewing levels have, if anything, increased slightly in recent years. This is partly the result of improvements in picture quality (HDTV) and the inherent quality of programming. We are in the golden age of TV. Internet TV services, such as Netflix, are adding to our viewing time but mostly with old TV programs and movies.

Radio listening levels have waned slightly but CBC Radio's audience share has grown in the past decade. CBC presented the chart below to a Senate Committee earlier this year. Of the four CBC/SRC Radio services all but CBC Radio 2 increased audience substantially in the past decade. Radio 2 tried and failed to attract a younger audience, as radio listening by young people is in decline.