Blood in the Water

The title of Wade Rowland’s book, Saving the CBC: Balancing Profit and Public Service, suggests an existential struggle, never settled, always in play generation after generation. This time, Rowland warns, the threat to the CBC’s survival is not only real but near at hand.

Saving the CBC is essentially about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s English-language television service, CBC TV, and its compromised public mission at the hands of commercial advertising. The French-language Société Radio- Canada and the CBC’s internet services get brief mention. Saving the CBC was not written for general public consumption but instead for the smaller circle of people interested in public policy and concerned with the survival of this national cultural institution.

The book does a remarkably good and compact job of describing the history of national public service broadcasting in Canada, as well as articulating the contemporary pressures that threaten the well-being of CBC TV. Rowland starts with a helpful definition of a well-documented social invention: “In a nutshell, public broadcasting is a form of electronic mass communication that is designed to serve its audience as citizens rather than consumers … Its purpose is to enhance public life, and enrich individual lives, rather than to serve advertisers.” It is a reminder of just how far the CBC has strayed from its original purpose.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was modelled on the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. The BBC was founded in 1922 with the defining characteristics of universal access and quality of content, especially in news and information programming. The Broadcasting Act of 1932 required the CBC to reflect the geographic and political realities of Canada, to counter the waves of American programming streaming over the border and to promote national unity. The result was a single, fully bilingual national channel, but by 1941 there were two public broadcasters, CBC and SRC. Since the launch of a radio service in 1936 the corporation has evolved from dominant player in broadcasting to its current embattled state, buffeted by technological change, highly concentrated commercial competition and political forces that shift from benign neglect to outright hostility.

Saving the CBC is a hopeful book, recommended to anyone seriously interested in the continuation of a national public broadcaster in Canada. Rowland makes a persuasive case for how the perpetual pursuit of advertising revenue continues to pervert its mandate, and that the only sensible solution is to rid the network of all advertising.

There is another, more visceral reason for this book. Judging by the number of references and rebuttals, it seems Rowland was motivated to respond to the tell-all memoir by Richard Stursberg, The Tower of Babble: Sins, Secrets and Successes Inside the CBC. Released in 2012, the book is a chronicle of Stursberg’s six turbulent years as head of the CBC’s English-language service (2004 to 2010) and his commercialization of the television service. As Rowland amply illustrates, Stursberg’s blinding drive for increased ratings has made the public broadcaster virtually indistinguishable from its commercial competitors. Many of Stursberg’s initiatives, such as Battle of the Blades and Dragons’ Den, did indeed succeed in significantly increasing audiences.

In Rowland’s view, however, Stursberg’s pursuit of ratings has diminished the CBC’s brand as a unique public institution and, with it, the public’s loyalty. Stursberg’s singular measure of success was ratings, the bigger the better to attract advertisers who could compensate for the CBC’s shortage of money. About a third of CBC Television’s revenue comes from advertising. This, Rowland argues, is in direct conflict with the CBC’s mandate. He contrasts this situation with CBC Radio, which has been commercial-free since 1975. Despite budget cuts, the radio service has maintained a large and intensely loyal following. The constant disgruntlement directed at CBC TV is rarely heard about radio. Audiences love CBC Radio. As this review went to press, the CRTC approved the corporation’s request to introduce advertising on CBC Radio 2. With one move, the CBC has managed to aggrieve both its core audience and commercial broadcasters at the same time: a case of short-term gain for long-term pain.

Rowland argues that ratings “provide no clue as to whether or not the public interest has been served. They simply provide an indication of how many warm bodies were located in front of television sets.” Unfortunately, it is not clear that Rowland’s prescription would provide any more insight. As an alternative he proposes the measuring of “quality, something substantially more abstract and certainly harder to agree upon … to break the concept into categories: sender-quality; receiver- use quality; craft (or professional) quality; and descriptive (or truth) quality.” Whatever that means.

Where Rowland and Stursberg are in complete agreement is that the CBC’s number-one problem is the lack of sufficient, multi-year funding from government. Liberal governments of the past and the current Conservative one have made major cuts to the CBC’s budgets. In addition, inflation erodes the broadcaster’s purchasing power, resulting in an ever-increasing reliance on advertising.

In contrast, the BBC is a well-funded organization with a mechanism designed to keep it at arm’s length from the government and commercial-free. Although the BBC has its own challenges with competition from commercial broadcasters and internet-based services, the funding model is not one of them. The BBC receives a licence fee on all radio and television sets.

After making a convincing case for what troubles the CBC, Rowland offers a prescription in the form of ten proposals: 1. Eliminate advertising on CBC television (and do not reintroduce it to CBC Radio). 2. Replace lost advertising revenue with increased, multi-year government funding. 3. Eliminate professional sports broadcasting. 4. Stop commissioning and acquiring independ- ent programming and restart in-house produc- tion. 5. Empower the CBC’s board of directors to recruit its chief executive (in lieu of appointment by the Cabinet). 6. Increase the corporation’s account- ability through public consultation and input in decision making. 7. Expand CBC Radio by at least one over-the-air network with a focus on arts programming. 8. Expand CBC television specialty channels on cable. 9. Expand web-based digital services. 10. Restore local TV and radio in medium and small-sized communities.

At this point a few disclaimers are in order so that my biases are clear to the reader. I am the CEO of Knowledge Network, British Columbia’s commercial-free public broadcaster. We resemble the Public Broadcasting System in the United States in many ways. Like PBS, Knowledge Network is funded by an annual (B.C.) government grant combined with viewer donations solicited through pledge drives. Our daytime schedule consists of educational programming for young children. Our evenings offer a variety of documentary, factual and performing arts programs from B.C. and around the world; and our weekends feature a block of British drama aimed at attracting viewers’ financial support. Knowledge has also had to seek new sources of non-government funding to remain competitive. In partnership with the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, we own and operate the for-profit channel BBC Kids. Previously, I was the head of programming at Ontario’s public broadcaster, TVO, and before that I was an independent producer.

As well meaning as Saving the CBC is, it is a pity that Rowland does not go far beyond speaking to the converted. This is reflected in the underdevelopment of certain ideas and the omission of others. For example, the book underplays the role of the commercial sector in creating quality Canadian content. They may not be everyone’s taste, but police procedurals on CTV, factual entertainment on HGTV and the commercial news services are often as good as and sometimes better than those found on CBC. The commercial sector produces some remarkable work. That’s how they remain profitable.

The CBC’s internet service is also covered in Rowland’s book, but much more time and consideration could have been taken to examine how the digital revolution is disrupting all media, not just public media.

The role of the independent production sector is given short shrift, and those within it are portrayed as underemployed unfortunates with no job security. Over the past 30 years, the independent production sector has injected much-needed diversity, artistic excellence and ingenuity into the broadcast system. The entrepreneurial spirit of independent producers has attracted international financing for Canadian productions, ensuring that Canadian works are seen around the world. There is scant evidence that drama, documentary, children’s and performing arts programming need to be created by an exclusive group of in-house producers. The exception, of course, is in-house production of news and current affairs, where the public broadcaster’s need for complete editorial independence and control is essential.

The biggest omission of all is the role of the provincial public networks in reflecting the concerns of their respective provinces. Télé- Québec, TFO (Franco-Ontario), TVO (Ontario) and Knowledge Network (B.C.) regularly attract large and loyal audiences. The single line that Rowland does devote to the subject gives the reader scant idea that these public broadcasters even exist in Canada: “Education has been downloaded to provincial public service broadcasters, where they exist.” That’s it.

Rowland speaks of political forces that advocate for the privatization of the CBC, but that threat has never been formally advanced by the federal government. Here, Rowland misses the opportunity to consider lessons learned at the provincial level. Both TVO and Knowledge Network were formally placed under privatization review by their respective governments. Both networks were successful in making the case for their continued existence as public institutions with new mandates to “maintain and improve.”

Two other provincial public broadcasters subjected to privatization review were not so lucky. Access Alberta eventually became a CTV station, and Saskatchewan Communications Network (SCN) emerged as a Rogers Citytv station. The different outcomes are telling. In their time, Access and SCN made no significant attempts to develop a viewer support program similar to the PBS model. In contrast, Knowledge and TVO are both financially supported by the public through annual donations. During my time at TVO, it had more than 100,000 donors. Knowledge has 38,000 supporters. These are highly motivated civic- minded individuals who value commercial-free public broadcasting and voluntarily pay to keep it that way.

As for the proposals that Wade Rowland offers for a new CBC, the majority address operational issues that are best left to competent management. Instead, I will focus on the three public policy proposals that I think hold the most promise for fundamental, structural change.

The absolutely most essential proposal is the elimination of all advertising. This is central to Rowland’s book, as he lays out how advertising distorts the public service mission by treating all viewers as consumers to be captured and measured for the benefit of advertisers. Whether or not CBC should have professional sports, amateur sports or no sports at all is irrelevant. By eliminating advertising all other decisions will follow. That is the work of talented professionals whose job it is to interpret the public interest in the context of the times and the technology, and design a relevant strategy that connects the public broadcaster to its public.

Rowland also calls for a reform of the governance process. Currently, the CBC’s president is a political appointment made by the Cabinet. Instead, following best practices in contemporary governance, Rowland proposes that the CBC’s board of directors be empowered to recruit its chief executive through a thorough executive search. This would help establish a true arm’s- length relationship between the CBC’s editorial independence and government.

In a third proposal, Rowland suggests that in exchange for giving up advertising revenue, the government make up the difference by increasing the CBC’s annual grant. Considering governments’ track records of the last three decades, that seems unrealistic. Instead, I think the CBC’s public service mandate needs to be fundamentally restructured to match its resources to the most important priorities. Money, in my opinion, is not CBC TV’s primary problem, as it is always scarce—just look at ad-free CBC Radio. Although regularly squeezed for funding, its large and intensely loyal audience values the service.

In my view, the problem is two-fold: one political and the other cultural. Weak political support translates into no appetite on the part of the federal government to change its governing structure and give the corporation greater independence. As Rowland has reminded us, over the past three decades whether the party in power is red or blue has made little difference. So change here requires a clear commitment to a national public broadcasting service made by the prime minister.

The search for commercial revenue has shaped a corporate culture focused on delivering consumers to advertisers, instead of service to the public. The result is a risk-averse culture preoccupied with being popular instead meaningful. To be clear, audience ratings do matter as they are a helpful tool for understanding who is being served. But individual programs do not necessarily need big ratings. To win the hearts and minds of Canadians, it is far more important that news and information programs have depth and relevance, and that our geographically dispersed citizens have access to the best in the performing arts and drama.

CBC’s internal culture is resistant to change, but it must change to meet the new challenges from technology, deregulation and globalization. From my own experience, public and private organizations are willing to change and do new things but only if provided with additional resources. The reality, however, is that to try new things we must give up others that worked in the past. For example, to imagine a commercial-free CBC TV one also has to consider life without professional sports. If it is within the CBC’s authority to live without advertising, this in turn might help build the political capital that eventually leads to change in governance.

The impending demise of the CBC has been regularly predicted throughout my own four decades in the industry. Wade Rowland believes that we are now approaching a critical moment in the survival of the national public broadcaster. The possible loss of the NHL rights in 2014 will deprive the CBC of the majority of its advertising revenue and content as well as a large number of viewers. A point of no return looms. What kind of CBC will emerge and who will it serve?

If you were pulling your hair out as you read Richard Stursberg’s The Tower of Babble, then I highly recommend Wade Rowland’s Saving the CBC. It clearly outlines why public broadcasting is essential and how CBC TV can regain the trust and loyalty of Canadians. However, Rowland spends too much time on specific operational issues best left to professional management, and too little time explaining how to convince the CBC’s major stakeholder, the federal government, to make fundamental changes to policy.