What of the CBC? by Chris Cobb

As the CBC limps into the second week of a lockout with its unionized employees, the future of the taxpayer-supported broadcaster is looking increasingly fragile.

Disgruntled viewers and listeners, upset at CBC's apparent lack of preparation for massive program disruptions its own management ultimately precipitated, are being forced to look and listen elsewhere for news, information and entertainment.

"The implications are very dangerous for the whole future of public broadcasting, and particularly for CBC television," said former CBC TV executive and national news anchor Knowlton Nash. "It's a shame for radio because it has been doing very well in terms of audience size, but TV is in a much tougher situation. Once you lose an audience, it's very difficult to get them back.

"The whole purpose of public broadcasting, which is to provide a service to the public, means the public is being shortchanged by the lockout."

The main sticking point is CBC's insistence a greater number of new employees be hired on contract rather than as permanent employees.

Union leaders representing the 5,500 employees currently locked out say contract workers would have no job security.

The lockout comes after Hockey Night in Canada was cancelled last season because of the National Hockey League lockout, as well as the loss of rights to broadcast the Olympics and top-flight curling competition.

More important are the continuous complaints from viewers outside Canada's largest cities that CBC's reflection of regions in its daily programming is so inadequate that the broadcaster is not fulfilling its mandate to taxpayers.

CBC executives - who slashed regional programming following a series of government-imposed budget cuts five years ago - told a House of Commons committee earlier this year they will re-establish TV and radio in the regions if the Liberal government delivers an extra $80 million over three years.

The government has yet to come up with additional funding. Currently, taxpayers contribute about $900 million to the CBC's $1.3-billion annual budget.

Regional broadcasting is the critical issue, says former CBC president Tony Manera.

"It isn't economical for larger, private broadcasters to have a significant presence in the regions, so the CBC becomes indispensible and a lifeline to those smaller centres," he says.

"Abandoning or drastically reducing the regionally based services has a negative impact on the roots of the country. When I was president, I argued very strongly to maintain a strong regional presence because the CBC had to be grounded in the regions. But the reality is that the money isn't there, so hard choices have to be made. The government seems to be unable to grasp this very simple fact, so the CBC's choices are not between good and bad, but between bad and worse."

Former Liberal MP Clifford Lincoln, who headed up exhaustive House of Commons hearings into Canadian culture for his report titled Our Cultural Sovereignty last year, says although Heritage Minister Liza Frulla endorsed the report earlier this year, the signs since have not been encouraging.

"The CBC is in a special position as our public broadcaster, because it is mandated to make sure Canadians all over the country get news in their own region," Lincoln said.

"The CBC has almost abandoned that mission, apparently for lack of funds. I imagine the lockout will push it even further back on the list of priorities. And we have an election coming, a new government and maybe a new minister. It will delay any change for at least a year and a half. It's a tragedy."

CBC TV, and its all-news sister station Newsworld, currently have an audience of about eight to nine per cent of English-language viewers.

But about 40 per cent of viewers watching Canadian programming do so on the two CBC channels - a task that became more difficult last fall, winter and spring because CBC filled its empty Hockey Night in Canada hours with aging Hollywood movies.

CBC radio networks One and Two are heard by 10 per cent of the listening audiences, but its local programming, where it exists, regularly grabs larger audiences. In Ottawa, for instance, CBC radio's morning and afternoon magazine shows regularly vie for top spot in the ratings.

Although summer is a low TV viewing period, pressure on the CBC will increase toward the fall with the start of the NHL season and major news events such as the opening of Parliament, installation of a new governor-general, release of the Gomery commission report and the run-up to a federal election.

The longer the CBC dispute continues, the more damage it will do to the network, Nash says.

"We're losing the work of a lot of good journalists," he says. "They aren't being heard. People say the dispute won't bite into any big events until mid-September, but that's a long time to have people on the street.

"You have to hope people keep in mind the purpose of public broadcasting, which is to serve the public."

© Montreal Gazette