Plus! Censorship scandal as Trudeau senator gets Hill Times to rewrite Opposition op-ed, cash for coverage rocks Irish media and CTV's outing of Lululemon founder
I dusted of my bean-counting skills and reviewed the CBC's annual report and CRTC submissions. My conclusion is that the CBC is a bloated, poorly run organization. Facts to support that conclusion include:
1) CBC English TV averages 108 employees per station, CTV 49. The difference is not spending on news as CTV spent $153M on news while the CBC spent $50M.
2) CBC English TV spent $40M on Sales & Promotion which generated $72M in advertising revenue. CTV spent $44M on Sales & Promotion and had $513M in advertising revenue. Put another way, CTV spent 8.6% of its advertising revenue on Sales & Promotion - the CBC spent 55.6%.
3) CBC's Trade Receivables represent 4 months of advertising and subscriber revenue. That indicates a "pay us when you feel like it" attitude in the collections department.
4) CBC's expenses increased from $493M in Q3 to $574M in Q4 (Jan 1 to Mar 31), an increase of $81 M (The increase was $65M in 2023). CBC's explanation was "Operating costs tend to be higher in the fourth quarter as the Corporation incurs costs preparing for the fall broadcast season and completes project deliverables due by the end of the fiscal year".
The CBC does not explain what costs are incurred for the fall season or what projects must be completed by the end of the fiscal year. Is there a lot of travel? Fancy get togethers to celebrate the fall schedule? Are costs related to cancelled shows and failed pilots written-off in Q4? Is this an accounting issue where costs aren't booked until Q4? Or do they look at their budget and see they have money left so they go on a spending craze in order to use up their budget? My bet is a spending craze.
5) The Rogers/CBC HNIC deal is an epic failure for the CBC. Rogers gets full use of the CBC's network, gets 100% of the advertising revenue, and pays the CBC nothing. The only benefit the CBC gets is plugs for its shows during HNIC.
6) The CBC's 2023/24 financial results were only released last week - that's more than 6 months after their year end. The audit was completed almost 3 moths after year end. The financial results should have been audited and released by the end of April - one month after year end. Virtually every public company does this.
7) The CBC has a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) which they often miss. How do they handle these misses? Do they replace people? No, they lower the target for the following year.
With problems like these, I don't see how the CBC can be reformed. If we want a public broadcaster, I think we need to scrap the CBC and start over.
I like happened w the Knowledge Network a while back. If the CBC is to be salvaged in any form, it's got to be on that same model: entirely self-sufficient, not competing w private networks, focused on quality content with proven demand, etc.
Wow! So far a strong majority of your readers want the CBC to get the Milei chainsaw treatment.
The last part of your column nicely links to the first. A large minority of Canadian see the CBC is biased and want it refunded. Susuki and Mansbridge want to pour tons of fuel on the fire, counterproductively proposing to make it MORE biased, making this outcome even more likely.
Because, of course, the timing and implementation of government policy should always be managed in accordance with the personal lives of government ministers!
Case in point, WWII would have been a lot different if they had paused the fighting every now and then so that the government leaders could tend to their personal lives without all those interruptions.
I made the mistake of listening to Mansbridge Friday on XM driving to Sask, one hour of misdirection and outright false claims, especially from the ever more horrible Chantelle Hebert (Poilievre yelling at CTV for faking his words was strategic?)
Mansbridge gave ip his claim to be a journalist with that moist interview with Justin in the Limo on his Inauguration Day in 2015, a pathetic spectacle
Suzuki should sell one of his four 'homes' to pay for it: the Pt Grey ppty, the Cortez Island one, or either of the condos in Sydney AUS or Toronto might go a long way.
Indeed. Enhanced coverage of the “civilizational threat” - I often wonder how this threat would be bandied about if fossil fuels were in southern Ontario or, lol, actually in Quebec. We all know THAT answer.
I do believe that it is time for a new CBC mandate, but I am not sure that the one to be announced will be in line with what I am hoping to see. I liked the thoughts of the Line team (Gerson and Gurney) around the role that CBC could play on the news side - that CBC would become an organization primarily focused on providing the news, both national, international and local. Including a bunch of smaller bureaus in places like Medicine Hat, Chatham, and other small centres. They would also support journalism by giving independant journalists access to studios, plus work to help foster the craft of journalism.
I do believe we need all three levels (maybe actually 4) - national, provincial, local and international. What there would be less of is the opinion based commentary from the CBC. There still needs to be a level of analysis - for example, if there was a story about the conflict in Sudan, we would need to know more about the history, the people involved, and the potential implications of actions.
This is, I would say, a mandate that would be fully funded by the taxpayer. I think the CBC competing for advertising dollars with other media companies isn't a good idea. I do think that a more decentralized model would allow for reduced operating expenses, and perhaps some real estate could be sold (not sure if they still own any land or buildings)
The value that is provided here - is a consistent set of facts and reporting from all parts of Canada and the world. It is sorely needed - a consistent source of information that can be trusted. As a society, it is an essential building block. And I think we are in that position - where we are rebuilding. If this approach were to be used, it would take time to build trust, but I think in the long term, it would work. I think that over time, CBC can be described as left leaning, more than those on the left would admit, but less than those on the right fear. So part of the mandate needs to be a focus on reporting. But reporting needs to include not trying to be both sides - but to be fair and honest. So if someone screws up four times, it gets reported four times, not just once.
The only other part that does deserve some consideration - in some parts of Canada, where there are few if any over the air options of radio or TV, and maybe there is reduced broadband, that the broadcast channels of the CBC could be used at certain points to transmit some privately produced entertainment, sports or information. I don't know exactly how that looks. Overall CBC should relinquish their current TV programming that is not informational, but I have no problem, for example, some of the Stanley Cup playoffs are available in certain places.
"Torstar news organizations believe in paying the costs incurred in gathering and publishing news". Really? Then why is Trudo giving them taxpayers money, and why are they taking it?
I dusted of my bean-counting skills and reviewed the CBC's annual report and CRTC submissions. My conclusion is that the CBC is a bloated, poorly run organization. Facts to support that conclusion include:
1) CBC English TV averages 108 employees per station, CTV 49. The difference is not spending on news as CTV spent $153M on news while the CBC spent $50M.
2) CBC English TV spent $40M on Sales & Promotion which generated $72M in advertising revenue. CTV spent $44M on Sales & Promotion and had $513M in advertising revenue. Put another way, CTV spent 8.6% of its advertising revenue on Sales & Promotion - the CBC spent 55.6%.
3) CBC's Trade Receivables represent 4 months of advertising and subscriber revenue. That indicates a "pay us when you feel like it" attitude in the collections department.
4) CBC's expenses increased from $493M in Q3 to $574M in Q4 (Jan 1 to Mar 31), an increase of $81 M (The increase was $65M in 2023). CBC's explanation was "Operating costs tend to be higher in the fourth quarter as the Corporation incurs costs preparing for the fall broadcast season and completes project deliverables due by the end of the fiscal year".
The CBC does not explain what costs are incurred for the fall season or what projects must be completed by the end of the fiscal year. Is there a lot of travel? Fancy get togethers to celebrate the fall schedule? Are costs related to cancelled shows and failed pilots written-off in Q4? Is this an accounting issue where costs aren't booked until Q4? Or do they look at their budget and see they have money left so they go on a spending craze in order to use up their budget? My bet is a spending craze.
5) The Rogers/CBC HNIC deal is an epic failure for the CBC. Rogers gets full use of the CBC's network, gets 100% of the advertising revenue, and pays the CBC nothing. The only benefit the CBC gets is plugs for its shows during HNIC.
6) The CBC's 2023/24 financial results were only released last week - that's more than 6 months after their year end. The audit was completed almost 3 moths after year end. The financial results should have been audited and released by the end of April - one month after year end. Virtually every public company does this.
7) The CBC has a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) which they often miss. How do they handle these misses? Do they replace people? No, they lower the target for the following year.
With problems like these, I don't see how the CBC can be reformed. If we want a public broadcaster, I think we need to scrap the CBC and start over.
Thanks for contributing to the conversation!
Excellent stuff. Thanks for the info.
I like happened w the Knowledge Network a while back. If the CBC is to be salvaged in any form, it's got to be on that same model: entirely self-sufficient, not competing w private networks, focused on quality content with proven demand, etc.
Wow! So far a strong majority of your readers want the CBC to get the Milei chainsaw treatment.
The last part of your column nicely links to the first. A large minority of Canadian see the CBC is biased and want it refunded. Susuki and Mansbridge want to pour tons of fuel on the fire, counterproductively proposing to make it MORE biased, making this outcome even more likely.
I suspect Susuki has been in the Joe Biden stage of life for a while.
That’s too bad as I’d like to see him pulling a plow subsistence farming in Cuba such as he wishes for all of us.
Climate Justice indeed
A few slogans for the new CBC.
1 New mandate. Same slop. More money.
2 The same-old, same-old for more money.
3 Meet the new CBC, same as the old CBC. YEAAHHHH!
Why?
Because, of course, the timing and implementation of government policy should always be managed in accordance with the personal lives of government ministers!
Case in point, WWII would have been a lot different if they had paused the fighting every now and then so that the government leaders could tend to their personal lives without all those interruptions.
I made the mistake of listening to Mansbridge Friday on XM driving to Sask, one hour of misdirection and outright false claims, especially from the ever more horrible Chantelle Hebert (Poilievre yelling at CTV for faking his words was strategic?)
Mansbridge gave ip his claim to be a journalist with that moist interview with Justin in the Limo on his Inauguration Day in 2015, a pathetic spectacle
lol you’ll note on his YouTube ‘Good (Liberal) Talk’ that comments are off.
Suzuki should sell one of his four 'homes' to pay for it: the Pt Grey ppty, the Cortez Island one, or either of the condos in Sydney AUS or Toronto might go a long way.
Also - the media campaign against Rustad and one of the BCP candidates is off the charts here in BC.
No surprise there.
Indeed. Enhanced coverage of the “civilizational threat” - I often wonder how this threat would be bandied about if fossil fuels were in southern Ontario or, lol, actually in Quebec. We all know THAT answer.
I do believe that it is time for a new CBC mandate, but I am not sure that the one to be announced will be in line with what I am hoping to see. I liked the thoughts of the Line team (Gerson and Gurney) around the role that CBC could play on the news side - that CBC would become an organization primarily focused on providing the news, both national, international and local. Including a bunch of smaller bureaus in places like Medicine Hat, Chatham, and other small centres. They would also support journalism by giving independant journalists access to studios, plus work to help foster the craft of journalism.
I do believe we need all three levels (maybe actually 4) - national, provincial, local and international. What there would be less of is the opinion based commentary from the CBC. There still needs to be a level of analysis - for example, if there was a story about the conflict in Sudan, we would need to know more about the history, the people involved, and the potential implications of actions.
This is, I would say, a mandate that would be fully funded by the taxpayer. I think the CBC competing for advertising dollars with other media companies isn't a good idea. I do think that a more decentralized model would allow for reduced operating expenses, and perhaps some real estate could be sold (not sure if they still own any land or buildings)
The value that is provided here - is a consistent set of facts and reporting from all parts of Canada and the world. It is sorely needed - a consistent source of information that can be trusted. As a society, it is an essential building block. And I think we are in that position - where we are rebuilding. If this approach were to be used, it would take time to build trust, but I think in the long term, it would work. I think that over time, CBC can be described as left leaning, more than those on the left would admit, but less than those on the right fear. So part of the mandate needs to be a focus on reporting. But reporting needs to include not trying to be both sides - but to be fair and honest. So if someone screws up four times, it gets reported four times, not just once.
The only other part that does deserve some consideration - in some parts of Canada, where there are few if any over the air options of radio or TV, and maybe there is reduced broadband, that the broadcast channels of the CBC could be used at certain points to transmit some privately produced entertainment, sports or information. I don't know exactly how that looks. Overall CBC should relinquish their current TV programming that is not informational, but I have no problem, for example, some of the Stanley Cup playoffs are available in certain places.
"Torstar news organizations believe in paying the costs incurred in gathering and publishing news". Really? Then why is Trudo giving them taxpayers money, and why are they taking it?
Same as last time. I'm subscribed but I can't answer the poll questions.
Strange as the poll was built to be open to everyone
I thought poll was a parody so I didn’t attempt it.