OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 26, 2020 /CNW/ - Over the past several days, a number of Internet sites including Blacklock's Reporter, the Post Millennial, Rebel Media, and True North, have been claiming, "CBC-TV Gets A Covid Bailout" and "Trudeau Liberals give failing CBC-TV bailout". The reports have been amplified on social media.
These claims are incorrect.
Neither CBC TV nor CBC/Radio-Canada has received additional funding from the Government.
The Supplementary Estimates B, tabled in Parliament last week, document (p. 2-13) CBC/Radio-Canada's internal transfer of $33.7 million from its current capital budget to its current operating budget. As the Estimates make clear, this is an "Internal reallocation of resources for the COVID-19 impact to advertising revenues and operating costs".
The Estimates also show $36.7 million which CBC/Radio-Canada is seeking to advance from fiscal 2021–22 to fiscal 2020–21 in order to offset payments made on broadcast rights for the now-delayed Tokyo Olympics. These payments will not be recovered until the Olympics are held next summer and are described in the Estimates as "Funding for broadcasting rights for the Tokyo Olympics". In turn, CBC/Radio-Canada's appropriation for 2021–22 will be reduced by $36.7 million.
Neither of these transfers constitutes additional funding.
Throughout this crisis, CBC/Radio-Canada continues to deliver essential programming to all Canadians on television, radio, and digital. It restarted its slate of Canadian programs this Fall despite considerable COVID-related costs, providing a critical lifeline to independent producers and the thousands of Canadians who work in the production industry. The corporation is also absorbing the significant costs of ensuring the health and safety of its employees while they continue their important work. This has all been done by carefully reallocating existing resources. CBC/Radio-Canada has not received additional funding since the pandemic began.
It is worth remembering that, at $34 per Canadian, per year, CBC/Radio-Canada not only delivers incredible value, it is still one of the lowest-funded public broadcasters in the world.1
It is unfortunate that incorrect reporting is being used to criticize public broadcasting and CBC TV in particular. CBC/Radio-Canada has requested that these reports be corrected.
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1 16th out of 18 Western countries in terms of per capita public funding for PSBs International Comparison of Public Funding for Public Service Broadcasting (Nordicity, May 2018) |
SOURCE CBC/Radio-Canada
Media contact: Leon Mar, Director, Media Relations and Issues Management | Corporate Spokesperson, CBC/Radio-Canada,, cell. 647-616-5768, [email protected]
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