If Canada’s public broadcaster went ad-free, private media in Canada would reap $158 million of its advertising revenue, a study commissioned by CBC/Radio-Canada found.
A position paper released by the broadcaster late Monday afternoon says that the CBC would lose $253 million in annual ad revenue if the broadcaster switched to an ad-free model — but two-thirds of that revenue “would migrate to other Canadian media.”
Private television networks would receive $138 million, $4 million would go to private radio, $3 million to digital outlets and $13 million to newspapers, according to a Nordicity study cited in the paper. Foreign media would pick up $86 million and $9 million would go unspent.
The release of these numbers comes as parliamentarians and media outlets are sparring over the CBC’s mandate and use of digital advertising. The broadcaster’s managers — in response to claims that the CBC has got an unfair competitive advantage over competitors — have insisted they’re not the source of the Canadian media industry’s struggles.
“The challenges facing media in Canada are many but they are not being caused by the public broadcaster,” Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/Radio Canada, said in a letter addressed to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Nov. 21, 2016.
iPolitics asked the CBC for a copy of the Nordicity study used in the position paper and its price tag, but was turned down.
“It’s an internal study that contains confidential information; the relevant data is contained in our report,” CBC spokeswoman Emma Bédard replied in an email.
In its paper, which the CBC says was delivered to the federal government, the broadcaster argues in favour of moving to an ad-free model and states that doing so would “provide stability for CBC/Radio-Canada and for our cultural ecosystem” and would “create more room for distinct Canadian programming … and telling the stories Canadian creators want to tell.”
“Beyond the financial benefits of this model, it would allow us to put even more emphasis on our public service mandate, provide a more distinct and engaging offering for Canadians, and become a stronger and more valued partner to communities, individual artists and creators, universities, culture organizations, and the sector’s commercial players,” the document reads. “We would focus less on commercial return and more on cultural impact, exploring more ways to help Canadian content and creators thrive and grow.”
These statements are a reversal of long-standing CBC policy positions in that they open the door to getting rid of advertising altogether. They contradict another Nordicity study the broadcaster released five years ago to the day which argued that eliminating advertising on CBC/Radio-Canada services would be “bad public policy.”
“There is no good public policy reason to eliminate or seriously reduce advertising on the TV services of CBC/Radio-Canada,” reads a CBC news release from Nov. 28, 2011. “Removing ads from CBC/Radio-Canada’s services would result in a significant reduction of Canadian content and have serious consequences for both the independent production sector and advertisers.
“CBC/Radio-Canada would face severe challenges if a decision to force it to exit advertising was taken. Its programming would be weakened and its contribution to the economy diminished. There would be a significant reduction of its support of independent producers and any Canadian content loss would not be made up by private television. The models developed in other countries to raise funds are not realistic in the Canadian context.”
The 2011 study assumed that the federal government would not make up any revenue lost from the elimination of advertising.
Six months ago, Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor in chief of CBC News, told the heritage committee that she thought moving to an ad-free model would “not (be) feasible in the current economic climate.”
The position paper released Monday evening says having the public broadcaster go ad-free would require $318 million in additional government funding — $253 million to replace ad dollars, plus $105 million to “produce and procure additional Canadian content which is required to replace the advertising programming.” The broadcaster says it would see $40 million in savings “associated with the reduced cost of sales.”
In addition, the CBC is requesting another $100 million in “additional funding of new investments to face consumer and technology disruption.” This brings the broadcaster’s request for new annual funding up to $418 million and its total proposed annual government funding to more than $1.6 billion — up from approximately $1.2 billion.
“We are at a critical juncture in our evolution, continuing to operate under a business model and cultural policy framework that is profoundly broken,” the paper says. “At the same time, other nations are moving their cultural agendas forward successfully — and reaping the benefits of strong, stable, well-funded public broadcasters.”
An extra $400 million in CBC funding would require increasing Canadians’ contribution to the broadcaster to $46 per person, per year. Each Canadian currently contributes $34 every year to the CBC.
Another Nordicity study prepared for CBC/Radio-Canada several years ago showed that Canada ranked third among 18 major Western countries “in terms of the lowest level of per-capita public funding for public broadcasting in 2011.”
The proposal released Monday argues that a public broadcaster operating on an ad-free model also would benefit the Canadian economy.
“The economic upside of moving to an ad-free model would be a net total GDP gain of $488M, a total labour income impact of $355M and the creation of 7,200 new jobs,” the paper says.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca/
Author: Beatrice Britneff
A position paper released by the broadcaster late Monday afternoon says that the CBC would lose $253 million in annual ad revenue if the broadcaster switched to an ad-free model — but two-thirds of that revenue “would migrate to other Canadian media.”
Private television networks would receive $138 million, $4 million would go to private radio, $3 million to digital outlets and $13 million to newspapers, according to a Nordicity study cited in the paper. Foreign media would pick up $86 million and $9 million would go unspent.
The release of these numbers comes as parliamentarians and media outlets are sparring over the CBC’s mandate and use of digital advertising. The broadcaster’s managers — in response to claims that the CBC has got an unfair competitive advantage over competitors — have insisted they’re not the source of the Canadian media industry’s struggles.
“The challenges facing media in Canada are many but they are not being caused by the public broadcaster,” Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/Radio Canada, said in a letter addressed to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Nov. 21, 2016.
iPolitics asked the CBC for a copy of the Nordicity study used in the position paper and its price tag, but was turned down.
“It’s an internal study that contains confidential information; the relevant data is contained in our report,” CBC spokeswoman Emma Bédard replied in an email.
In its paper, which the CBC says was delivered to the federal government, the broadcaster argues in favour of moving to an ad-free model and states that doing so would “provide stability for CBC/Radio-Canada and for our cultural ecosystem” and would “create more room for distinct Canadian programming … and telling the stories Canadian creators want to tell.”
“Beyond the financial benefits of this model, it would allow us to put even more emphasis on our public service mandate, provide a more distinct and engaging offering for Canadians, and become a stronger and more valued partner to communities, individual artists and creators, universities, culture organizations, and the sector’s commercial players,” the document reads. “We would focus less on commercial return and more on cultural impact, exploring more ways to help Canadian content and creators thrive and grow.”
These statements are a reversal of long-standing CBC policy positions in that they open the door to getting rid of advertising altogether. They contradict another Nordicity study the broadcaster released five years ago to the day which argued that eliminating advertising on CBC/Radio-Canada services would be “bad public policy.”
“There is no good public policy reason to eliminate or seriously reduce advertising on the TV services of CBC/Radio-Canada,” reads a CBC news release from Nov. 28, 2011. “Removing ads from CBC/Radio-Canada’s services would result in a significant reduction of Canadian content and have serious consequences for both the independent production sector and advertisers.
“CBC/Radio-Canada would face severe challenges if a decision to force it to exit advertising was taken. Its programming would be weakened and its contribution to the economy diminished. There would be a significant reduction of its support of independent producers and any Canadian content loss would not be made up by private television. The models developed in other countries to raise funds are not realistic in the Canadian context.”
The 2011 study assumed that the federal government would not make up any revenue lost from the elimination of advertising.
Six months ago, Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor in chief of CBC News, told the heritage committee that she thought moving to an ad-free model would “not (be) feasible in the current economic climate.”
The position paper released Monday evening says having the public broadcaster go ad-free would require $318 million in additional government funding — $253 million to replace ad dollars, plus $105 million to “produce and procure additional Canadian content which is required to replace the advertising programming.” The broadcaster says it would see $40 million in savings “associated with the reduced cost of sales.”
In addition, the CBC is requesting another $100 million in “additional funding of new investments to face consumer and technology disruption.” This brings the broadcaster’s request for new annual funding up to $418 million and its total proposed annual government funding to more than $1.6 billion — up from approximately $1.2 billion.
“We are at a critical juncture in our evolution, continuing to operate under a business model and cultural policy framework that is profoundly broken,” the paper says. “At the same time, other nations are moving their cultural agendas forward successfully — and reaping the benefits of strong, stable, well-funded public broadcasters.”
An extra $400 million in CBC funding would require increasing Canadians’ contribution to the broadcaster to $46 per person, per year. Each Canadian currently contributes $34 every year to the CBC.
Another Nordicity study prepared for CBC/Radio-Canada several years ago showed that Canada ranked third among 18 major Western countries “in terms of the lowest level of per-capita public funding for public broadcasting in 2011.”
The proposal released Monday argues that a public broadcaster operating on an ad-free model also would benefit the Canadian economy.
“The economic upside of moving to an ad-free model would be a net total GDP gain of $488M, a total labour income impact of $355M and the creation of 7,200 new jobs,” the paper says.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca/
Author: Beatrice Britneff
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