News Releases

December 11, 1998

CBC and the Canadian Television Fund

The CBC learned late yesterday afternoon of the decision to eliminate its guaranteed access to the Canadian Television Fund after the 1999-2000 cycle. The change came with the introduction of the Canadian Television Fund's new guidelines for support to culturally significant television and film productions that "speak to Canadians about themselves, their culture, their issues, their concerns and their stories".

"This decision could significantly reduce the CBC's ability to deliver culturally relevant Canadian programming. Our access to the Fund has allowed us to do more than any other broadcaster to deliver audiences to Canadian programs. In the Canadian Television Policy Hearings everyone agreed that increasing viewing to Canadian programming should be a system wide goal," said Perrin Beatty, CBC's President and CEO.

In its final submission to the Canadian Television Policy Hearings the CBC outlined a number of potential impacts if its guaranteed access to the Canadian Television Fund were reduced from 50% to 40%. Key among them were that:

• A reduction to 40% would have a direct impact on the Coporation's schedule, reducing its high quality Canadian programming by 5.5 hours per week. This would be highly visible on its virtually all Canadian prime-time schedules.
• Since other channels do not produce as much viewing to Canadian programs as the CBC, there would be an overall loss of viewing to Canadian programs across the entire system.

Yesterday's decision removes the guarantee entirely. While it is difficult to predict the full impact of removing the guarantee, clearly it would affect the CBC's ability to deliver quality Canadian programming.

"The guaranteed access permits us to fully Canadianize our schedules with culturally significant Canadian content, present a wide variety of programming from dramas to documentaries, and work with independent producers in every Canadian province. With 50% access to the Fund the CBC delivers 65% of the total audience to Canadian drama programs on English Television," said Beatty. "Without it, the government will need to find other ways to meet its stated goal of increasing viewership to Canadian programs".

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. CBC/Radio-Canada reaches Canadians through eight national radio and television networks, its full-service Web sites, local/regional stations and affiliates, as well as the digital television channel Country Canada and the continuous music network Galaxie. In addition, CBC/Radio-Canada has forged partnerships with other broadcasters and is a partner in the satellite radio service SIRIUS Canada as well as in the specialty television services ARTV and The Documentary Channel. Through this array of activities, CBC/Radio-Canada brings diverse regional and cultural perspectives into the daily lives of Canadians in English, French and eight aboriginal languages. (2006)

For additional information, please contact:

Katherine Heath-Eves
Media Relations
CBC/Radio-Canada (Ottawa)
Tel: (613) 288-6235
heathevk@cbc.ca
www.cbc.radio-canada.ca