CBC/RADIO-CANADA HAS responded to an open letter penned by Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau, published here on Cartt.ca earlier today.
In his open letter, Péladeau expressed discontent with the direction of the national public broadcaster and the fact the government did not include any direction to the CRTC to consider “the advertising dollars the CBC/Radio-Canada is gobbling up” when it told the Commission to reconsider its decision on the renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada’s licences.
“Mr. Péladeau’s preoccupation with CBC/Radio-Canada is well known,” a CBC/Radio-Canada spokesperson said in an email to Cartt.ca. “He has, for years, repeated the claim of “unequal competition” in his newspapers, to the CRTC, and to the federal government. As we have said each time, his claim is unfounded and untrue.”
The spokesperson pointed to a 2021 study, which shows 80% of online advertising revenue is going to Google and Facebook – “CBC/Radio-Canada’s share is just under one-half of one percent. Clearly, the national public broadcaster is not “gobbling up” advertising dollars, as Mr. Péladeau says.”
The email goes on to say CBC does “agree with Mr. Péladeau that private broadcasters are a vital part of Canada’s television ecosystem — including, of course, all of his media properties. We believe that a diverse media ecosystem is essential to a healthy democracy.
“As Canada’s national public broadcaster, we are the only media that serves all Canadians in English and French from coast to coast to coast. Today, CBC/Radio-Canada digital platforms attract approximately 24 million active monthly users. We are Canada’s #1 podcaster and a global podcasting leader. We’re proud of this and we know Canadians are, too,” said the spokesperson.
“We also know that virtually all public broadcasters around the world have a mixed commercial–public business model like ours, as well as higher levels of public funding than CBC/Radio-Canada. That’s why the continued support of taxpayers and Parliament, in addition to earned revenue, is crucial to our ability to serve all Canadians.”
Péladeau is not the only one who has been publicly critical of the CBC/Radio-Canada recently. Last week, Paul Deegan, president and CEO of News Media Canada called for advertising to be cut from the public broadcaster’s news and current affairs programming during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage regarding Bill C-18, the Online News Act.
