The CRTC’s decision yesterday to let broadcasters air more commercial minutes is “a great day for broadcasters airing U.S. programming,” says a statement from the CBC. “But the future of Canadian programming is much less promising.” It says:
By increasing the number of advertising minutes in American programming aired by Canadian private conventional broadcasters, both English and French, the CRTC has effectively increased the value of this programming, and removed the incentive for private broadcasters to create more Canadian drama.
The statement, which isn’t signed by any particular CBC executive, continues on to comment on the CRTC’s denial of a CBC/Global TV request to charge cable and satellite TV operators fees for carriage of their local conventional television signals. “While recognizing their full jurisdiction in this area, the Commission has missed another opportunity to help ensure a sustainable future for Canadian programming,” the statement says. “CBC/Radio-Canada is disappointed in today’s decision. Over the longer term, the net result will be fewer opportunities for Canadian stories to be told.”
What do you think? Was the CRTC right in its decision? How do you think this will affect “opportunities for Canadian stories to be told” — or will it?
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On first reading the headline sounded happy. Only after reading carefully did I detec the sarcasm. I think that headline will be lost on most people.
Sadly, the headline probably will be lost on most.
In ten years though, I’m sure some Canadian somewhere will be asking his friend… “why do governments allow broadcasters to air 22 minutes of commercials an hour? This is ridiculous!” And the friend will respond “they can air as many as they want. There’s no rules!” And the first person will respond “really, then what’s the CRTC for?”
Sadly, this probably also means the end of “news briefs” and the like.
The CRTC has made it clear that those of us worried about Canadian programming had better start barking up some different trees. The CRTC’s priority is the health of the private broadcasting and cable sectors. Last week, before the report dropped, the new chair of the CRTC said “we must avoid suffocating the forces of the market” and “give fuller play to the energy and creativity to market forces.” Translation: more ads, more US hit shows and more crumbs for Canadian production.
Parliament could help buck this trend (and it seems like three of the four parties there might actually be in favour) by increasing funding to the CBC and insisting on the importance of a wide variety of Canadian content accessible to all Canadians everywhere.
Under the present circumstances, I can’t say that I’m entirely surprised. Annoyed and saddened, but not surprised. Not sure that my reasons are the same as those of upper CBC management yet.
The decision that broadcasting channels cannot charge cable companies for rebroadcasting their signal is not a new one. The US Supreme Court made a similar decision in the 1980s.
Unlimited advertising and American content on private broadcasters should be considered a positive thing for the CBC. TV viewers, fed up with un-original content and excessive advertising will turn to the CBC for intelligent and original programming. Thus, CBC should drop ads altogether and stop with their mind-numbing commercial-type shows (ie the Gil Deacon Show, Test the Nation) and patriotism fests (Seven Wonders of Canada, etc).
If the CBC wants TV viewers to pay fees, they should lobby the government to institute a license fee like they have in the UK.
More commercials? Can you say click?
This news was front page of the Toronto Star, but it’s really quite boring isn’t it?
Let them have all the commercials they want, I won’t be watching them and neither will the public, so who cares. It’s so 1990.
The more intriguing part is the statement
“fewer opportunities for Canadian stories to be told”
Was airing The One the CBC’s idea of telling more Canadian stories?
How much of the evening on The Hour is devoted to Americans and selling their products and culture?
Does anyone even care anymore?
What purpose does the CBC serve anymore?
Unsigned and silly statements like the ones quoted above read more like opinions than reasoning, and tries to connect one fact to another without explanation or obvious justification.
Are we to believe that more commercials are permitted for CSI but not for Mosque?
CBC television has managed the impossible - to make news as dull as possible.
They make it seem like a chore to cover their own country and artists.
To then lament the loss of Canadian stories is one more bad joke that only Doyle could find funny.
Who is going to replace Pierre Berton and Peter C. Newman?
Strombo and Avi Lewis?
Give me a break.
We should have had a hundred years of CBC radio before we had one minute of CBC Television. Evening edited re-runs of morning radio shows really illustrates how little CBC management and the CRTC thinks of Radio. Daily full-length plugs for ‘This I Believe’ in the morning, noon, and pre-supper rolling-home shows with Preston Manning makes it unlikely that people haven’t already heard it once or twice during the day. Even if they spaced it’s re-run one day later- that would make sure the same day program isn’t done to death all day and at night too. We hear our kids complain that they can hear the same computer driven daytime commercial and song combos at night from private radio stations. What’s wrong with fresh CBC Radio progamming throughout each day? Radio is capable of regaining much of the intellectual attention of the people who are simply bored and turned off of wacko television… Radio once delivered this before the boobtube half century. The fact that CBC radio and a few University programs are commercial free makes them administrative White Elephants the CRTC ignores totally and has also made them fair game for anyone with a taxsaving bullet and hair-triggers for media competency. Radio out-processes information 100 to 1… compared to butt-dragging commercial television and day-old print media.
I am not sure which needs to be disbanded first the CRTC or the CBC. (no sarcasm)
Not surprised that “some” executive at CBC lacked the courage to sign their name.
Re: CBC Forced into airing Catholic Sitcom.
I will be writing the Prime Minister and my member of Parliament demanding to know why this happened and why my tax dollars were put into this “celebration of being Canadian” and giving “Canadians a voice that otherwise would not be heard.”
Jason Paris predicted that ” In ten years though, I’m sure some Canadian somewhere will be asking his friend… “why do governments allow broadcasters to air 22 minutes of commercials an hour? This is ridiculous!” ”
What a world we (will) live in where the government is expected to control every aspect of our lives through their little rules. Please Mr./Ms. Government, tell me how many commercials I can watch in an hour. I’m unable to choose between free broadcasters who might understand that quality will attract viewers.
This reminds me of the Kurt Vonnegut story - Harrison Bergeron - about the Handicapper General.
Finally, all people were equal thanks to the US Handicapper General. All competition is stifled and individual strengths are removed by government imposed physical and mental handicaps. CanCon, CRTC, and the CBC are almost there.