Speeches and Interviews
October 23, 2002
The CBC: An Essential Service
Robert Rabinovitch, President and CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at the Chambre de commerce régionale des entrepreneurs de Québec
Mr. President,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for this new opportunity to meet with you following the postponement of last April 18. I'm sure everyone understood that this was not the time for public discussions, during a major labour dispute.
I promised to meet with you as soon as possible, and I am now keeping my word, with the added benefit of lessons learned during the labour dispute. I can also talk about the progress achieved in positioning the CBC as a unique entity in Canada, a public broadcaster serving the entire country in both official languages.
I want to give you my vision of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in a challenging market, characterized by the proliferation of broadcasters and the fragmentation of audiences, against a backdrop of globalization.
Like yourselves, I have a business background. My remarks therefore will focus in part on the type of management we are introducing at the CBC to achieve levels of efficiency comparable to the best broadcasters in the world, both private and public.
I will then be pleased to field your questions and listen to your comments.
But first, let's review the key points of our mandate:
Our first requirement is to air programming in both English and French. This programming must be distinctive, of very high quality and must reflect Canada as a whole. It also must portray our country's regional diversity and cultural components. We have to consider much more than just ratings. This explains certain choices we sometimes have to make.
For example, some programs that do have high ratings occasionally have to be pre-empted for high quality cultural or public affairs programs more compatible with our public service mandate.
As a public broadcaster, we go even further. The very nature of our mission requires us to help train the next generation, develop efficient regional production centres, provide each of our media with its own distinct personality.
Before proceeding, I would like to clarify the CBC's place in Canada's broadcasting system, a unique system based on a partnership between the public and private sectors.
The CBC is Canada's only truly national public broadcaster, providing traditional and new media services in both official languages as well as eight First Nations languages.
In specific terms, the CBC today is:
- Two national television networks, CBC Television and la Télévision de Radio-Canada;
- Four national radio networks: Radio One and Radio Two, plus their French-language equivalents, la Première Chaîne and la Chaîne culturelle;
- Two financially-independent specialized news networks, CBC Newsworld and RDI, focusing on news and current events 24 hours a day, seven days a week;
- In the Far North, radio and television services in English, French and eight First Nations languages;
- Since September 2001, three new speciality television channels:
- ARTV, our very high calibre cultural channel;
- Country Canada, in which we have just acquired full ownership, which reflects all regions of Canada; and
- The Documentary Channel
- Most of these new services are partnerships — a topic I will discuss in greater detail later;
- Finally, Radio Canada International, our international radio service broadcasting around the world in seven languages.
In New Media, our two main sites, cbc.ca and radio-canada.ca, provide information about our programs, the latest news, continually updated headlines and specialized sites on the arts, culture and sports. Our radio-canada.ca is by far the most visited French-language media site in Canada.
We also have four Web services for young people, based on a very popular interactive approach, including bandeapart.fm, a unique multi-platform Web, radio and television site.
In addition, our Galaxie audio service has just celebrated its fifth year and boasts more than three million subscribers. This service provides 30 music channels with no commercial interruptions, 24 hours a day, carried by cablevision and satellite companies.
Our newscasts and other programs are also available through wireless and cellphone services.
That is the CBC in a nutshell.
Now let's turn to money matters. For fiscal year 2002-2003, we are receiving $916 million in public funding. This is supplemented by $258 million in advertising revenue and almost $206 million from specialty channels and other services.
By comparison, the BBC, which broadcasts in English only, has a budget of more than $6 billion.
I would now like to talk about our presence in the Quebec City area. We have been producing and broadcasting radio programs here since 1936. In television, the first local contribution to a national program dates back to 1964 and the program Aujourd'hui hosted by Michelle Tisseyre and Wilfrid Lemoyne.
Today, CBC/Radio-Canada has more than 250 employees in the region to serve more than one fourth the total population of Quebec.
Regional and national news coverage is the key component of our service in the region.
The television team produces local programs such as Québec Ce soir, several network programs, including La Semaine verte, as well as programs for RDI such as Le Québec en direct.
French radio is also very active with programs such as D'un soleil à l'autre on la Première Chaîne and L'échappée belle on la Chaîne culturelle.
Our four media operations also have offices in the National Assembly, to cover the activities of the Government of Quebec in order to inform Canadians right across the country.
The English radio team produces the local programs Quebec AM and Breakaway, and also contributes to regional and network programs. Quebec City is the centre of the Quebec Community Network.
Let's take a look at the CBC's role since it was created.
French television's 50th anniversary celebrations brought back to mind the vast impact Radio-Canada television has had on the social and cultural development of Quebec society.
Since it was founded, our television service has presented Quebecers with often surprising images of themselves. Images that reflected their past and also gave them a window on the world.
Since it first appeared, public television proved very innovative, following the example of public radio in the 1930s. Our New Media are now carrying on this tradition, providing a distinctive, high calibre Francophone presence on the Web.
Throughout our history, the words "Innovation — Quality — Originality" have characterized the CBC's programming in various media, a tradition that provides a solid foundation for the present and great promise for the future.
A few examples are the children's programs Pépinot et Capucine, La Boîte à Surprise, and Sol et Gobelet.
In the cultural sector, we should remember L'Heure du concert and major dramatic presentations, as well as radio rebroadcasts of Metropolitan Opera performances in New York City.
On radio as well as television, our sportscasters literally invented a new language that set the international standard for describing hockey, baseball and football games in French. I am thinking of such greats as René Lecavalier, Richard Garneau and Raymond Lebrun.
In public affairs, since its founding, the CBC has contributed analyses, reporting and commentary on major current issues, thereby enlightening its audiences. All studies have shown this, and the CBC today is still Canada's most credible media source in times of crisis.
The tragic events of September 2001 proved this yet again. Coverage of the events on the various CBC/Radio-Canada platforms earned praise in this country and abroad.
The numbers speak for themselves: on September 11, our four television channels reached a combined audience of 16 million viewers, and our four radio networks drew 4 million listeners. Our Web sites were literally swamped by people wanting to know what was happening, and what the future might hold.
In France, radio and television networks made extensive use of our programs. English television programs were broadcast to almost 80 million American homes. Around the world, our coverage was described as well informed, respectful and balanced.
French television also plays a key role for Francophones outside Quebec. Radio-Canada is the only broadcaster with television stations in every region of Canada, that produce daily programs.
French radio also has deep roots in the regions. More than half the network programming on la Première Chaîne originates from outside Montreal. One of our priorities is to expand French radio services in every region of the country.
The CRTC has just granted us 18 new licences to extend la Chaîne culturelle from Newfoundland to British Columbia, making it a truly national network. In Quebec, this service will soon reach the communities of Dolbeau, Mont-Laurier, Baie-Saint-Paul, La Malbaie, Rivière-du-Loup, Matane and Sept-Îles.
In a nutshell, Radio-Canada television programs are watched by two-thirds of the population. Almost one million Canadians listen to French Radio. This is definitely an important gathering place, a truly public forum for all Francophones in Canada.
I would now like to discuss internal partnerships within the CBC. We consider this type of partnership synonymous with better management of our resources and the optimization of synergies between radio, television and the Web, in English and in French. Here are a few specific examples.
Take the case of our foreign correspondents. Today, most of our correspondents feed the English and French networks, and in many cases, radio, television and New Media. For instance, Céline Galipeau, Patrick Brown, Michel Cormier and Paul Workman, to name just a few. Eight out of 10 correspondents now work in both languages.
This obviously provides major cost savings. More importantly, however, this allows us to expand our coverage by deploying our correspondents to more locations and by covering more hot spots around the globe.
Two other examples of an internal partnership are Le Dernier chapitre and Trudeau, two joint productions by CBC French and English Television.
These examples all provide eloquent illustrations of public broadcasting at its best. All these examples demonstrate the CBC's credo: "Innovation — Quality — Originality."
Of course, only the CBC can take the risk of investing the necessary resources to produce series of this scope. This approach has been our strong suit since the CBC was founded. We are building the future on these solid cornerstones, to serve Canadians better.
Radio-Canada continues to advance in a time of rapidly changing media. The growth in French-language specialty channels will drive major changes in Radio-Canada Television and Radio.
I cannot ignore the increasing concentration of media ownership in Quebec and across Canada, which is raising serious concern.
Freedom of opinion makes a vital contribution to the viability of our democracy. The current concentration may seriously restrict diversity of views. A media monopoly poses a grave threat to democracy because it can erode the public's right to information.
Should this happen, we would have to act quickly and boldly to ensure that all Canadians have access to complete, diverse and high-quality information. We should not wait for the situation to deteriorate too far before acting, because there would be too much at stake.
The high degree of concentration in media ownership dramatically highlights the need to bolster the distinctiveness of public television and radio. More than ever, the CBC provides Canadians with an essential service.
For the Canadian public, our radio and television services provide an ongoing guarantee of very high quality information free of all pressure, featuring full coverage of local, national and international events.
One thing is clear, these sweeping changes are forcing us to re-examine our role in Canada's broadcasting system, in order for us to strengthen the profile of the public broadcaster.
It is time to review the funding rules for the CBC, Canada's largest public broadcaster. We need stable funding to produce the quality programs our audiences expect of us. In this industry, there is vital need for budget allocations over longer periods than a single program season.
To restore the CBC's full impact, we did not wait for change to be imposed from the outside. We resolutely tackled the factors under our control, especially how the Corporation is managed.
One of my first decisions after my appointment was to manage CBC/Radio-Canada like a truly integrated company. This approach allows us to tackle several challenges at the same time.
Last year, we created an independent real estate division. This new unit is responsible for maximizing the benefit from sale or lease of our under-utilized facilities, managing the space we do use more effectively, and cutting our overall costs.
Here as in other areas, our goal is to maintain the same standards of efficiency as in the private sector. Our mission is to produce and broadcast the best programs possible for Canadians.
To provide distinctive, quality programming, we do not need to directly manage the bricks and mortar. We therefore have transferred this specific aspect of our management to specialists, to focus our energy and resources on our core activity.
We are also fostering partnerships to provide new services with companies such as BCE Media, ARTE France, Corus, the NFB, and the Spectra group.
We have also forged a partnership with the Gesca/La Presse group to distribute Voilà !, a TV-Radio guide distributed to more than 650,000 homes in Quebec.
Allow me one last example, our new affiliation with Cogeco in Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke and Chicoutimi/Jonquière. The newsrooms are now fully owned by Radio-Canada, which results in better service for residents of these areas. In turn, Radio-Canada has signed a service agreement with Cogeco in these regions.
Our objective: consistently raise our standards and improve our service while cutting our costs. The avenue of alliances and partnerships is already proving to be a preferred option.
We are seriously committed to this approach. We have chosen to operate CBC/Radio-Canada as a large integrated company. I have just cited a few examples that I believe clearly illustrate our vision.
In closing, I wish to return once again to the three words that summarize my vision of the CBC and lay the groundwork for positioning the Corporation: "Innovation — Quality — Originality."
These three key words guide our work in every sphere of activity. We will be taking calculated risks to provide the public, in all our media, with distinctive, quality programming.
This is just the start. Our ultimate goal is to make the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation one of the best broadcasters in the world, public or private, an essential service for all Canadians.
Thank you for your attention. I will now be pleased to answer your questions.
