Canada’s public broadcaster, CBC, says it can’t offer free television programming because of a precipitous drop in the revenue it receives from advertising. CBC offers services on several platforms including, radio, television, and internet.
It’s funding has been reduced by successive governments and, at the same time, revenues from television advertising have declined because of competition from new television offerings and the internet. CBC faces another huge loss of advertising revenue after it lost the broadcast rights for national hockey games.
Many Canadians don’t need cable or satellite to watch CBC television but only five per cent do watch over the air. The broadcaster would like to turn off that service and have cable and satellite companies start paying fees to carry the signal.
The body that regulates broadcasting in Canada, the CRTC, is holding hearings into the future of the television industry and has heard testimony about new funding models for television.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.