Study: Elimination of advertising from CBC/Radio-Canada
By Adnews Staff
CBC/Radio-Canada has released the results of a study into the possible elimination of advertising from the broadcaster. According to the study, advertising does not detract from the public broadcaster's mandate. It also states that there is "no good public policy reason" to eliminate advertising from its television services, and that removing ads from CBC/Radio-Canada services would result in "a significant reduction" in Canadian content and "have serious consequences" for the production sector and advertisers. The study estimates that the end of this advertising would mean a net financial impact of $533 million and holds that, because of reduced inventory, television advertising rates would be pushed up. "Private and public broadcasters compete on many levels in our mixed public-private system, but each has a contribution to make," said Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada. "The national public broadcaster has access to advertising revenues to help meet Broadcasting Act objectives, while private broadcasters have, most notably, access to public subsidies to help them meet Canadian content requirements." The study was conducted by Nordicity Group.