It is time for the CBC to change and modernize, says Senate Committee
Published on 20 July 2015 News Releases by Senator Dennis DawsonOttawa, July 20, 2015 – Today, the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications tabled its report Time for Change: The CBC/Radio-Canada in the Twenty-first Century.
The Committee undertook an extensive study into the viability of the CBC/Radio-Canada in a changing media environment. Over the past several decades, the communications landscape has experienced explosive growth in the number of television channels available, the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications enterprises, and the introduction of Internet-based video and audio services. In this highly fragmented landscape, the role of a public broadcaster becomes less clear.
Throughout this study, the Committee assessed what types of Canadian content were being underserved by the private sector, and how the CBC/Radio-Canada can fill the market gaps and avoid redundancies in content that is already available to Canadians.
“The report provides a roadmap of 22 recommendations the committee believes are necessary for CBC/Radio-Canada to operate as a modern public broadcaster today and in the future. The industry is changing and we believe that the CBC/Radio-Canada must change too.”
“Our recommendations focus on four main areas – mandate, governance, funding and programming – which we believe will help the CBC/Radio-Canada increase viewership and become more relevant to Canadian media consumers.”
- Senator Dennis Dawson, Chair
“The CBC’s [English] ratings are below those of its private-sector competitors, and its audience has been falling over time, as Canadians find alternative sources for the programming traditionally supplied by the public broadcaster. Canadians are entitled to ask whether the more than $1 billion of taxpayers’ money now going to the public broadcaster could be reallocated and used more efficiently in providing and promoting Canadian content.”
“We learned that the CBC/Radio-Canada must improve in the areas of transparency and accountability. Facing declining ad revenues and increased competition from Netflix and YouTube, things cannot be ‘business-as-usual’ at the CBC. Our report includes several recommendations aimed at bringing Canada’s national public broadcaster into the 21st century.”
- Senator Don Plett, Deputy Chair
The Committee notes that CBC/Radio-Canada French language services maintain significant ratings.
The committee held 46 committee hearings, and heard testimony from 107 stakeholders. The committee also undertook several fact-finding missions, during which the members consulted with 177 people. These trips included site visits to and consultations with public and private broadcasters. Consideration of all witness testimony and consultations with broadcasters and other stakeholders have shaped this report and, specifically, the committee’s recommendations.
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