CBC Would Lose $532M if Ads Disappeared

Forcing CBC to stop buying ads would lead to thousands of job cuts, the loss of Hockey Night in Canada, and more.

A report commissioned by the CBC concludes that if the public broadcaster were to stop airing advertisements, as a competitor or two would very much like, the Crown corporation would lose $532 million a year and not be able to survive in its current form. That figure includes revenue generated by ads, as well as the costs required to produce more television to fill in the time left open by vacated ads and, in turn, sports programming, one of the biggest sources of ad revenue for the company. (Yes, Virginia, this means that Hockey Night in Canada might not be sustainable if CBC stopped advertising.) The study, performed by private consultants Nordicity, concluded lost revenue would also likely lead to 3,600 jobs being axed and a dip in Canada's gross domestic product of around $165 million. Quebecor has alleged that CBC has an unfair advantage over its media competitors when it comes to procuring advertisements, which is why the private media empire has sought to have CBC open its books.

One solution, of course, would be just to top-up CBC's budget to allow them to not rely on ad revenue quite so much. After all, the report noted that of all public broadcasters in North America and Europe, CBC gets the least public funding per capita. (But let's just say that's not going to change anytime soon.) Conservative observers have suggested the CBC follow the route of the U.S.' PBS and rely on viewer donations, but the report found that wouldn't work here as Canada's population is a fraction of that of the U.S.