The future of Radio-Canada made headlines this week as the Crown corporation announced major layoffs following declines in its advertising revenue. And as is often the case, reality was experienced very differently depending on the language of the viewers. Because the phenomenon of the two solitudes also finds its echo in the media reality of the country. If CBC and Radio-Canada (RC) are both affected by unfair competition from American social media which are eating away significant portions of their advertising revenue, the first is more so than the second.
In fact, despite the size of its market four times larger, CBC is struggling to hold its own in the ROC media landscape. For example, this is 4.4% while that of RC in the French-speaking market is 23.2%, five times higher.
The Quebec politicians who, since the announcement of the state corporation’s budgetary restrictions, have denounced the unfairness of the cuts (which are planned to be distributed equally in the two entities) are quite right. If RC’s strong influence persists in Quebec with its numerous series, information and entertainment programs at the top of the ratings, the CBC is doing poorly. For example its TV news attracts much fewer viewers than that of RC.
In 2022, among the 10 highest-rated shows, the Bye RC’s 2022 (more than 4.39 million) was the third most watched in Canada of all shows combined. The only show that allowed CBC to sneak into the top 10 was Hockey Night in Canada that she doesn’t realize.
Speaking of hockey, this is another injustice that politicians should look into. Why do French speakers have to pay to watch their national sport in their language, while English-speaking binge fans can watch their favorite sport for free?
When it comes to analyzing the unpopularity of the CBC, there are many avenues. On the Canadian right, the CBC is often seen as the liberal mouthpiece. This may seem paradoxical for those who remember that Pierre Elliott Trudeau already called RC a “nest of separatists”. It is true that this was in another era…
Others will simply accuse CBC of producing flat shows to which they, like many Canadians, prefer American shows. But another reason for this unpopularity is, according to some, attributable to the moralizing ideology of the CBC, especially since it is led by Catherine Tait, the current president. In the National Post on February 8, political analyst Rex Murphy, a former CBC veteran, denounced the CBC’s diversity preaching: “Their first priority, the mother of all priorities is that hallowed Diversity. Capital D. All bends and stands in line behind Diversity,” he says with exasperation in an attack against the current administration of the state corporation.
This brings us back to an episode which went a little under the radar in Quebec but which certainly left its mark in English Canada: that of Wendy Mesley. After 42 years of loyal service, the one we could call the English-speaking Céline Galipeau, was shown the door of the CBC. His crime: having mentioned the famous “n” word during a work meeting while simply trying to explain the different sensitivity of Quebecers towards diversity issues. Diversity has therefore become the priority of priorities at the CBC and the artisans of RC can testify that this concern has largely spilled over to the French-speaking side in recent years, far ahead of linguistic and economic realities.
Another inequity swept away by the CBC’s diversity veneer: despite a perilous financial situation, the State Corporation distributed millions in bonuses to its executives last year. Asked by a journalist from her own network about the possibility of seeing the unfair practice repeated this year after Monday’s horribilis announcement, President Tait had only cryptic remarks to offer in response.
Is CBC really considering distributing other bonuses to its executives again this year after having laid off nearly 10% of its workforce? If there is one conclusion to draw from all this, it is that despite its pretensions, the state corporation performs much better in terms of inequity than in terms of diversity. In the last annual report (March 2023), the state corporation was pleased to “have established training on inclusive newsrooms in order to help leaders fully understand inclusion…”.
It might be time to include the concept of linguistic diversity in the State Corporation’s numerous diversity training courses. Because if there is one success that the state company could boast of, it is to have made French, a minority language, shine in the English-speaking ocean that is America. Unfortunately, this is not how the “leaders” at the CBC seem to see things. RC is rather seen by CBC as a useful cash cow to save the English network from disaster. And it doesn’t matter to her if she drags the French network down with her…
Faced with the anticipated disaster, we can only make one suggestion to politicians: urgently review the mission of the state corporation. It’s urgent.