[HCDX] CBC lands $100M cash infusion

["Mike Brooker" <aum108@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Canadian government is coming up with the bucks for CBC.  From the Ottawa
Citizen, Feb. 8, 2001

>
> CBC lands $100-million cash  infusion
>
> Finance minister says money will flow over  two or three years; Network
vows to put it all into programming
> Lawrence Martin
> The Ottawa Citizen
>
> The CBC will be receiving a budget increase of at least $100 million to
help  make up for shortfalls from cuts over the past decade, says Finance
Minister Paul Martin.
>
> Mr. Martin said it is likely the infusion of new monies will be announced
in smaller packages over the next two or three years.
>
> The news follows an announcement in last week's throne speech that "the
government will increase its support to help the CBC fulfil its distinct
role as a public broadcaster serving all Canadians."
>
> A CBC spokesperson said the new funds would certainly be welcome and that
any new monies would go directly into programming.
>
> The CBC budget has been cut by more than $300 million since 1993. Mr.
Martin says that in the era of globalization, countries need to put more
emphasis on support for national cultural institutions. It was not possible
before because of the deficit levels the government had to pare down, he
said.
>
> Mr. Martin cautioned the specific amount has not been set, but held out
hope it might even be higher than $100 million. He said he could not specify
when the new aid to the CBC will be announced. Unlike in the early months of
most years, the government is not preparing a budget at this time, so there
is not such a pressing deadline to arrange funding for programs.
>
> The CBC currently receives an operating appropriation of $765 million each
year for its French and English TV and radio networks. In addition to that,
it has $250 million in advertising and other revenues to work with.
>
> John Ralston Saul, the husband of Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, sparked
controversy last week by issuing a strong appeal for more support for the
public broadcaster. "Public broadcasting is one of the most important
remaining levers that a nation has to communicate with itself," Mr. Saul
said, adding the need for assistance is more important now, with the
invasion of                  countless numbers of channels, than it was 50
or 60 years ago.
>
> Mr. Saul, a novelist and philosopher, labelled private broadcasters as
"dinosaurs in a panic mode" who underestimate the intelligence and attention
span of viewers. The outburst drew heated rebukes from the heads of the
private networks who are hardly amused at having to compete for advertising
dollars with a heavily subsidized broadcaster.
>
> The CBC wants to counter that criticism by diminishing dependence on
advertising revenues and freeing the network to do programming significantly
different from the ratings-dependent pop shows offered by the private
networks.
>
> CBC president Robert Rabinovitch hoped to make savings in his budget with
a plan last year to kill all of its 14 local supper-hour news shows and
eliminate more than 600 jobs. But much of the plan did not go through.

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