News Releases
May 31, 1999
The CBC responds to interventions:
Lower Advertising Revenues Means Yet Another Cut to Our Budget
Hull, Monday, 31 May 1999 — At the hearings on the renewal of CBC licences, President and CEO Perrin Beatty urged the CRTC not to take steps to cut the Corporation's advertising revenue, unless these measures are offset by equivalent funding from the federal government.
"Any cuts to advertising revenue would mean yet another cut on top of the $400 million already trimmed from CBC budgets over the past four years. This would seriously affect the CBC's ability to carry out its mission," Mr. Beatty explained. To support his argument, the President cited survey results that show that the Canadian public is clearly more concerned with Canadian content than with the presence of advertising, which ranked 16th on their list of public.
Michèle Fortin, Vice-President, French Television also took the opportunity to respond to statements made by Quebec private television broadcasters last week on the role of public television. "It is not the place of private broadcasters to set the conditions for the CBC's licences," she claimed.
"We are well aware, as is the CRTC, of the motives driving these private broadcasters when they demand that the CRTC impose highly restrictive licensing conditions on the CBC while denying any intention to marginalize the public broadcaster," Ms. Fortin added.
Representatives of the CBC's French-language television operations reacted strongly to statements made by two private broadcasters: "One would have the CRTC approve specifications to dictate our choice of content, while the other wants us out of the advertising market altogether." The Vice-President of French Television pointed out a similarity in the statements of business association representatives and spokespersons for private television broadcasters. "It is surprising to see the Conseil du patronat and l'Association des manufacturiers du Québec take a stand on the issue of advertising revenue, when their membership includes many major advertisers that capitalize on our drawing power to sell their products," Michèle Fortin added.
On a different issue — complementarity — business representatives have also taken a radical stand. "The concept of complementarity, mentioned repeatedly last week, in fact would subjugate the CBC's mission to private sector priorities," Ms. Fortin shot back. "The Association des manufacturiers actually talks about a subsidiary role, an arrangement in which the CBC would only do what the private sector refuses to do."
"Their proposals would effectively sideline the CBC and seriously weaken "a network that provides a social link and contributes to the vitality of Francophone culture in Canada, through its productions and investments," Michèle Fortin explained.
On the issue of advertising rates and unfair competition, Ms. Fortin refuted the private sector's charges: "We are not contributing to a decline in rates in the French-language market, and as a government agency, we are subject to strict management and business ethics criteria."
Several groups also voiced support for French Television. The most notable were independent producers, artists and, of course, CBC employees, represented by their associations, the APFTQ, SARDeC, the Union des artistes, as well as the industry, represented by Cinar, Coscient or Avanti. All supported the role of the CBC as a strong public broadcaster providing popular mainstream programming. They all voiced support as well for the CBC' s French Television's strengths, in the areas of drama, news, youth and cultural programming.
A global outlook
In closing, Mr. Beatty repeated that "strengthening the French-language broadcasting system is vital, not to achieve a false private/public complementarity, but to foster dynamic growth and mutual emulation that will help raise the quality of our programs in the national and international markets. All this will ensure that the CBC continues to be a driving force for Francophone culture in Canada and abroad," he concluded.
Commitments to strengthen priority areas
In issuing their response, the heads of the CBC announced some changes to their initial commitments (see attachment).
Information:
Laurie Jones
(613) 724-5720
Marie Gendron
(514) 916-3625
Backgrounder
Summary of commitments
French Television will maintain its current percentage of Canadian content in Canadian drama and youth programming. It will increase the number of performing arts presentations (from 12 to 18 a year) and Canadian documentaries aired in prime time. In the regions, French Television has already made a commitment to increase regional contributions to the network from five to seven hours a week, and to spend $7 million over seven years on independent regional productions.
In turn, RDI is repeating its determination to provide better live coverage of current events in the regions, to present more Canadian documentaries, and to make more room for young people. To achieve these goals, RDI is maintaining its request for a rate increase of 10 cents.
Radio
After thanking the speakers who stated their attachment to public radio, the Vice-President of French Radio at CBC reassured listeners of the Corporation's determination to maintain Canadian content at its current level. In the area of French vocal music, CBC French Radio is now committed to maintaining a maximum of five percent English vocal music and a minimum of 85 percent French vocal music, "to be able to accommodate the musical creations of other cultures that in many cases shape modern Canadian reality," Sylvain Lafrance explained.
In the area of corporate partnerships, the Vice-President provided reassurances with a reminder that public radio eliminated all advertising 25 years ago and fully intends to preserve this distinctive characteristic of its programming. Turning to signal reach and distribution, Mr. Lafrance explained that a specific plan has been submitted to the CRTC to support expanded broadcast coverage for La Chaîne culturelle and to close gaps in distribution of La Première chaîne.
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
