Canadians tuning out of CBC
The recent trials and tribulations of the CBC are revealing an important but much overlooked reality of contemporary Canadian life. One, Canadians are not watching our national broadcaster. Why? Because it is biased and uninteresting. The recent demotion of Rosemary Barton from front desk to correspondent is indicative of the trouble they are in.
Ms. Barton brought it on herself with her insipid and slanted reportage, but there is more. Daily numbers for viewers are tumbling. Ad revenues are collapsing. Canadians no longer feel that the left wing progressive presentations of the CBC represent them and they are tuning out.
In the midst of all this, a government panel has recommended that all CBC ads should be eliminated, Long term funding for the CBC should be increased and government perks for Netflix and similar platforms should end. Don’t they get it? If the CBC represented the average Canadian and not liberal elites, if it covered genuine Canadian content in an interesting way, and it wasn’t shilling for extremist identity politics it wouldn’t be having these problems.
Pay even more in taxes for the CBC, a dying biased institution? I think not. What is now necessary is more talent, less thinly disguised political dogma and more adherence to traditional Canadian identity. Do that, and do it well and the CBC’s problems will disappear. If you don’t do it then perhaps the inevitable will happen and our moribund national broadcaster will die a well deserved death.
Perry Foster
Duncan