The mistake that should not be made would be to comment on the budgetary cuts (sorry… budgetary pressures, as we suggest saying at Radio-Canada) announced by Catherine Tait, CEO of the public broadcaster, by contrasting them with the crisis private sector media in Canada are experiencing.
It would be too easy to minimize these cuts under the pretext that CBC/Radio-Canada is largely financed by public money. The announcement made Monday, a few weeks before the holiday season, affects hundreds of men and women who are committed to their job, which is to entertain and inform us every day.
In short, let’s not shoot the ambulance!
We now know the first objective to be achieved: $125 million to be cut during the year 2024-2025 and 100 million for each of the two subsequent years.
This will be reflected in the loss of 600 positions held by union members, non-union members and managers, as well as 200 vacant positions which will not be renewed. This represents 10% of the workforce of CBC and Radio-Canada, whose number of employees stands at 6,000.
All this can still change, Catherine Tait made it clear several times during the meeting that I was able to follow. This can be for the better or for the worse.
Mme Tait cited various reasons which push the senior management of the state-owned company to make these decisions, including the increase in production costs, the “fierce” competition from digital giants, but above all the drop in advertising revenues from the traditional television.
It is interesting to note that last March, when the first rumors of these cuts appeared, it was only a question of the war effort that CBC/Radio-Canada had to make with the other federal crown corporations to help the government reduce its spending.
But for several months, we have only been talking about the fall in advertising revenue.
I went back to read CBC/Radio-Canada’s 2022-2023 annual report, in which we learn that the state corporation recorded revenues (advertising, subscriptions, miscellaneous) of around 515 million, a drop of 20% compared to the previous year.
However, it states that revenues for the year fell mainly because previous results included “additional advertising and broadcast rights revenues from coverage of the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Olympic Games, which took place during the same financial year due to the pandemic.”
It was not these data that alerted CBC/Radio-Canada executives, but those from the last two quarters of 2023 (April-May-June and July-August-September). Revenues showed a decline of 7.5%, a loss of 18 million compared to the previous year. This result is mainly attributable to a drop in television advertising revenue.
This alarm signal is leading Radio-Canada management to make difficult decisions today. Sources tell me that bosses across all sectors have turned over every stone in recent months. They have increased the warnings. The smallest expenses are scrutinized. Travel and travel are rare. Hiring has been frozen.
The most worrying part of Catherine Tait’s speech focused on the 40 million that will be cut from the programming sector “by reducing the acquisition of content and orders for independent productions”. What does this mean for you and me? That there will be fewer new TV shows and fewer episodes for certain series.
A lot of people don’t care about Radio-Canada like the year 40, its funding and its future. I can’t wait to see their reaction when the decisions announced will have an impact on “their great programs”. Because if there is one thing that is sacred for Quebecers, it is THEIR television.
Yes, the mistake not to make would be to take advantage of these cuts to further hit the head of CBC/Radio-Canada and its public funding, which some describe as excessive. Catherine Tait likes to repeat that Radio-Canada’s funding is one of the least expensive in the world at $33 per Canadian. She is right to say that.
With their $149 and $104 per citizen, Germany and the United Kingdom show that the amount we pay, to have two separate networks (let’s highlight this with a yellow pencil, please), is a real bargain.
That said, if we must debate the financing of CBC/Radio-Canada, its independence in terms of performance and, above all, the advertising revenues that television and digital generate (ironically, the state corporation has become dependent on ‘a system which is at the heart of the private media crisis), let’s do it by protecting this public institution, that is to say by ensuring its sustainability with adequate and stable funding, but above all depoliticized.
For the moment, the cuts that are being made are aimed at avoiding a budgetary catastrophe. But if the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, carries out his threats to cut the funding of CBC/Radio-Canada if he is ever elected, we risk experiencing something else.
We will then no longer talk about budgets and advertising revenues, but about the drift of our own democracy. It will be much less fun than losing some great programs!