Another Glimpse into the Crystal Ball

There has been some talk - not only recently but going back quite some time, about whether CBC should receive public funding, or whether they should be expected to survive in the commercial television universe. One of the problems with this, and another factor that Canadians and the CBC have to take into consideration in the years to come is that commercial television is nearly over. Already devices like TiVo allow users to skip commercials.

In the years to come 'convergence' will mean that any content - telephone, text, video, sound, etc., will be available on a variety of devices - cell phones, lap tops, televisions, desk tops ... the content will be delivered on demand and commercials will be optional. In some cases producers of content - television, film and music production companies will sell directly to consumers, in other cases it will be sold to distributors who will put it in bundles and sell those bundles to consumers.

In addition to the disappearance of ad revenue, broadcasters will say goodbye to most sports - there will be no reason for the NHL or CFL to use a 'middle man' when they can sell directly to consumers on a pay per view or 'season ticket' basis. Most big first run movies will also be distributed directly be the producer or distributor. Likewise, the BBC will have no need to sell programs to the CBC or anyone else when they can get more money by selling directly to consumers, or content companies (cable and satellite providers.)

For Canadian content the challenge will be that Canada will not be enough of a market, by itself, to pay for production. So, without subsidies Canadian content will also have to appeal to US, European or other foreign markets. CSI has done that successfully as have a few musical acts (Nickelback most recently) but, according to most, the reason for the success of these snipets of Canadian content is that no one outside of Canada knows that they are Canadian. Even if Canadians are content with content that gives no indication that it is Canadian, it does not solve the problem of local news, especially in markets where the local population does not financially justify anyone producing news for them.

The questions Canadians have to ask themselves is will they be satisfied with American and other foreign content alone? Or with Canadian content that pretends to be American in order to be financially viable? Will they be satisfied with CNN and Fox being their primary sources of news and information? If the answer to these questions is no then we are back to subsidized content - which begs it's own questions. If Canadian content is going to be subsidized so that Canadians can continue to tell their stories, without pretending to be American then would you like those subsidies to go to for profit corporations who have few if any rules about what they produce or to public broadcasters who have strict guidelines regarding the quality and substance of what is produced?

It is my belief that those who say that the CBC and other public broadcasters should lose all subsidies and simply compete with the commercial networks are really just trying to save a bit on their taxes and do not understand what is coming in terms of technology, or they do understand it and simply don't believe that Canadians have anything relevant to say.