CBC to Sell Assets to Finance Revenue Shortfall
In a note to staff last night CBC President Hubert Lacroix said the board of directors has approved a plan to sell “enough assets to finance our way through this without deeper cuts.”
Lacroix said he would provide an high-level update to staff on Wednesday March 25th, with specific announcements within 24 hours after that.
Nevertheless Lacroix did share a few specifics:
* No ads on radio;
* No more American programming on English TV;
* Executive salaries are frozen, bonus payouts are cut in half;
* New voluntary retirement incentives, aka a package.
Lacroix added that he will not comment on speculative stories that appear in media until the 25th and 26th in order to inform staff of any changes first.
The big question is what assets could the CBC sell to raise what’s expected to be around $200 million? Local stations don’t appear to be an option, there’s no appetite for that right now. Real Estate might have some assets, but I don’t know of any worth $200 million.
The president’s full memo is available to CBC staff here.
|
Email This Post |
| Board of Directors, Executives |
What’s a bonus?
This looks like it may be a plan to sell off CBC prime real estate and lease it back on a long term basis as the Conservatives have already done with several other government buildings. There are reasons to worry about the sale of Crown assets, but if this means limited impact on core services and staff, then it may not be such a bad thing.
You remember that time there was half a sandwich left in that boardroom and you got to it first? That was your 2008 bonus.
Performance pay based upon PMSD achievement.
[...] What Lacroix has already promised is: [...]
Any ideas on how much the top 20 executives make, annual salary and “performance pay?
Yes I know I could head off to goggle but some of you folks must have the info.
How about for each 100 pink slips a top 20 exec goes?
Any employee who posts here ever received a bonus?
The only extra I know most employees receive from the CBC is a small gift after 25 years.
One person’s bonus could equal the salary of another person’s layoff.
With today’s announcement, it truly is “the least they could do”, by any standard.
Are they not listening to the AIG story? Why is senior management so disconnected to what’s going on in the world today?
Seriously. Why can’t Mr. Stursberg do the right thing and announce that he, and the SET, are taking a 20 percent paycut for 2009/2010?
I’m angry. Any one else?
the ceeb should stop running radio and tv promos altogether
It’s a top-heavy organization filled with redundant or overlapping executive positions — people getting paid to have endless meetings about meetings and project managers managing other project managers (etc. etc.). It’s bloated with managers who are riding it out awaiting retirement and have essentially made-up positions.
Television’s Arts and Entertainment division alone has three six-figure executives (and assistants) plus managers to oversee a staff of three to run websites for a handful of TV shows.
I find it remarkable that the execs that made a lot of the decisions that put us in a deeper hole than we would have been in with this economic downturn are the ones that are going to be protected, and the regular staff that make and support the programming that justifies there jobs are going to get the axe.
The most recent Hubert announcement was insulting. “The execs care about you, that is why they are only get half of their bonuses, they will get one less international five star vacation next year, while the rest of you plebes get laid off, and struggle to pay mortgages and feed your kids.”
Not only that but they make people wait another week before they get some clarity about their fate, this on top of months of limbo for people, since the last Stursberg address.
They have fumbled so much of these problems, it is embarrassing.
1/2 a bonus = 1/2 of an effort. If they were really
serious about the $$ problem they would accept
NO BONUS. Hubert you can do better than that.
The CBC needs to make deep, deep cuts to management before a single employee is let go or a single show’s budget is reduced.
I would also say, no bonus ever, for anyone. Do the job you signed on to, for the pay as defined. That is what every single employee does.
I am so tired of the people who mismanage this wonderful organization.
They could easily reduce management numbers by 25% and no one would notice.
Remove a single employee and the viewer / listener will notice.
Content is king. Hire people who create content and get rid of anyone who does not.
If CBC wants to compete with private broadcasters, it’s time for CBC to start acting like a business. When the business isn’t profitable, there must be cuts. It’s anticompetitive to allow CBC to be unprofitable and then unfairly receive federal funding to cover shortfalls. The private broadcasters do not have this ability.
Alternatively, the CBC can start acting like a public broadcaster again, stop trying to compete with private industry for ad dollars, and air commercial-free programming for the betterment of Canada as a whole.
AIG is an extreme example but it is still relevant. Management went in the hole for $ 100-200 million (That must be poor management!) so why bonus payments?
Changes must be made at the top, cut about 50% of them and the rest must accept pay cuts until things get better.
Hhey the thread made the news.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5irva0_ZTubOLDWe_eqv2gZVUJU8A
Mr Lacroix here’s an idea.
The executives should forego the bonuses all together and take the small 1.5% increase we all deserve. I’ll take a week with out pay but I would like it spread over my pay check all year.
Also let’s stop trying to get 20 lbs (9.07 kg) of you know what in that 5 pound (2.267 kg) bag you keep asking us to do on a daily basis.
Thanks for the link, Glad.
I guess what really bothers me is that the mouthpieces, (Dube in this article), keep forgetting or ignoring the portion fg their audience (us) that is totally aware of the internal operation of the CBC. The broad comments just don’t pass the vetting process.
They must think that we are :
a)robots with no awareness of anything outside our jobs.
b)naieve enough to be bamboozled by their spin and dull enough to fall prey to their attempts at secrecy.
c)too bitter to see any other point of view.
or
d) to insignificant to matter.
Now, these may apply in a few cases (and many outside the Corp may think all apply all of the time). In reality they are not that common.
Most of us are conscientous and motivated to improve.
We also have eyes and ears and can count.
We work here, we are all over all the buildings. Some of our friends work directly in the Star Chambers and we occasionally go out to dinner. When we are fixing your problems or obeying your orders, we can hear you.
I’m am not saying that some Sr. Mgm’t does not earn their keep, but C’mon. We know what you do. We. Get. It.
CBC seems to have gone for quantity over quality and, unfortunately, lost a lof of good people in the process.
Saying all Sr. Mgm’t plays an important role, may wash in the papers, or in sound bites. But after years and years, you better back up that statement for anybody who uses a passcard to get into our buildings.
Sometimes we will agree, but we have hall seen too much and a lot of us are of an investigative and enquiring mind by both nature and training.
CTV…. see-tv? Not here! All there is on this network is just American programming… the only worth-watching program is W5… think of it as Canada’s “20/20″. other than that, CTV may as well adopt the branding of “ABC Canada”. CTV also fell into the same pit as Canwest: getting greedy and plaing “white knight” to Chum Limited, who wanted to unload its unprofitable NewNet stations on some poor, unsuspecting sucker… it fits CTV well.
A Channel…. we all know it’s known as “Alberta Channel”… so why does it have NO full-time affiliates in this province? re-branding as A didn’t help it at all, other than gain viewer confusion instead of attention…. why not just rename it “Eh?” and be done with it?
Global and the others created their own problems over years and don’t deserve anything. For the most part there is nothing new or special about the specialty channels they run. They are just collections of similarly themed programs lumped together that 20 years ago would be seen for free over the air, on stations like CHCH in Hamilton ON or the Global Television Network before Canwest took them over. The big media companies discovered that if they package things right people will happily pay for stuff they got for free before, so they bought up independent stations and replaced the Sunday afternoon movie with a infomercial and put the movie on Movietime etc. They’ve been gutting their networks for years on purpose well before the rise of the internet and new media so if they die good riddance.
It’s absolutely ridiculous that tax payers should bail out these networks. The dissatisfaction with Global and CTV is richly deserved. What a useless bunch of inepts running their ships, pirating American shows left and right. Disgusting.
Why do I keep hoping I’ll have a meaningful career with this company? Caring deeply about strong journalism and reporting seems more and more stupid, with each day that goes by.
I started 8 years ago, at age 22. I’ve been a gofer, a chaser, a reporter, a writer-broadcaster, an announcer, and a producer.
If I’m lucky, I’ll maybe get hired as a secretary somewhere. A secretary with really great “communication skills.”
What assets??
Are we selling off chunks of parking lots for condos again?
Dear Pumpkins,
Here’s a little reality check for you. Do you know how Global TV does its news broadcasts? They are all switched from ONE CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM. That’s right. One technical crew, one director switches the programs as they cycle through the time zones. (And no, I don’t work at Global). Now, that’s the way it works in the real world. Time to wake up at the Corporation and smell the reality.
B, you have got to be the most patronizing person out there. Hope you enjoy all the digs you constantly inflict – it must make you happy to think you know how everything works (or doesn’t) at the Ceeb.
Considering the fact that Global’s nightly news gets only 1/4 to 1/3 the audience of CBC’s or CTV’s, I don’t know that I’d be holding them up as a positive example.
Oh Pumpkins,
I suggest you find out what the numbers are for the cbc local shows at six and then compare that with the competitors’ numbers. The CBC numbers are very low — You are in for a shock. And just for fun, compare the Tata car story yesterday on the three networks. CBC – MacMillian from London (a melt) CTV – an Amnet piece — Global – their own reporter based in India – Jaz Johal. I just ask that people really LOOK at what they’re doing at the Corp. Then ask ‘are we really the voice of Canada’ that no one can live without?
Try asking people in Quebec. Try asking people in the north. Try asking people who speak Cree or Inuktitut or Punjabi. Try asking people who like intelligent radio or commercial-free music. Try asking people who want news that doesn’t answer to stockholders. Or does the world revolve around Kamloops?
I don’t think you’ll find anyone here who’d argue that we need *less* effort on local news.
Dear Pumpkins,
Sad news. I have been recruited by the Teamakers website. Watch the site, http://www.teamakers.blogspot.com,
for more cream curdling news and views for Pumpkins. And Anon, never let the facts get in the way of a good story, as they say.
Cheers,
B
Pumpkins,
One final note. The CBC pulled out of Kamloops several years ago, despite protests from locals and continued lobbying by the community. The CBC’s response has been ….sorry, we’re gone.
Oddly, the interior seems to get news anyway.
Everyone find their level. But try not to post those grainy 2MB pictures of yourself.
B…
Holy skewed facts, Batman!! Do you even live in Kamloops?
I worked in Kamloops when CFJC (the local TV station) disaffiliated from the CBC in order to make higher profits from a lucrative advertising deal with CanWest Global. Somewhat ironically they’re now affiliated with Global’s E! Network which is now on its last legs.
95% of people in Kamloops have access to CBC TV on cable or satellite (not to mention the internet). The only people who lost it were a couple hundred homes in the region who were still receiving analog TV (rabbit ears).
Yes, they’re taxpayers too, but you very conveniently forgot to mention the fact that it would have cost taxpayers like you MILLIONS and MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to build a new analog TV transmission tower near Kamloops to ONLY serve a couple hundred rabbit ears users.
It’s a safe bet that you’d have been the first and loudest to complain what a waste of money it was to build a multi-million dollar tower to maintain a long-since-archaic system for a few hundred people.
Oh…and analog TV is going to be extinct in Canada this year. What a great use of my tax dollars, B! You should be a politician!
And, not to gloss over this other idea of yours- You’re telling me Global should be the prototype for the future of broadcast television??? You obviously don’t live in a region where the newscast is about to go belly up because of their sad, sad ratings.
That’s what happens when you staff an an entire province with 2 journalists and have an anchor who sits alone in a room in front of a green screen with a robotic studio camera, pretending to be in a newsroom full of gainfully-employed coworkers. You think viewers can’t tell? You don’t think much of people, do you?
Funny how Global has got a “1-share” in the last ratings period out here. And in case you’re not in the know, no, a 1 share does not mean they’re first in the ratings, friend.
It’s a race to the bottom, with Mr.”B” leading us there. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
PS- If you insist on pushing your BS here, please stop calling me “Pumpkin”. It makes you sound like a real m***n.
Mr. Bumpkin, you don’t know what you’re talking about! You should go check those ratings numbers yourself – bet you haven’t seen them in a while, since you’re spewing incorrect information. Oh, and another reason to see the Teamakers has gone to pot and isn’t worth looking at since Ouimet left…
Funny.
Hundreds and hundreds of people read Teamakers.
And one of the first is the person writing the inside blog.
There’s lots of room on the web. No need to be jealous.
Sorry Kamloops?
Just a small correction (unless you are speaking to us from the future year, 2011). Analog TV will notdie in Canada until August 2011, at the earliest. That is not this year!
Don’t worry it’s a commin misconception caused usually by listening to too much ‘merican TV. See we still need Canadian TV to get to the truth!
Have a food day, eh!
tx guy
Can someone tell me how to launch a campaign to impeach the Board and President of the CBC?
In regards to “impeaching”, please find a letter to the editor submitted to Le Devoir and many other media outlets in ma langue de Molière:
—
Courrier du lecteur: Pour ne plus répéter les mêmes erreurs du diffuseur public
“Si nous n’arrivons pas à vendre 125 millions , il faudra faire des coupures additionnelles pour équilibrer le budget.”
Hubert Lacroix, PDG de CBC/Radio-Canada
J’aurais préféré “il faudrait vraiment que nous consultions notre auditoire pour identifier de nouvelles priorités. Nous avons failli de le faire dans le passé et ne répéterons plus jamais les mêmes erreurs”.
En effet, en 2007, Radio-Canada/CBC n’a pas consulté son auditoire lors de l’enquête du comité parlementaire portant sur le rôle d’un diffuseur public au XXIième siècle. Nous payons maintenant pour cette faillite de gouvernance. Apprendrons-nous éventuellement les leçons de l’arrogance de nos dirigeants déconnectés de la population déservie?
Je réclame donc par la présente auprès de James Moore, Ministre au Patrimoine canadien, le congédiement du PDG ainsi que du Conseil d’Administration de CBC/Radio-Canada.
…
Référence-web: Radio-Canada: la situation pourrait s’aggraver
—
I hope the moderator can stomach this post!