[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

I think a tax payer channel is needed in Canada, even at a billion dollar expense. The some people call TV a luxury, and I say it is not. It is the defacto communication standard for our times, it is waning, but more people across all age groups still watch TV than the internet.

As such we do need somewhere to preserve our Canadian way of communication. This is because we live next to the largest entertainment behemoth on the planet. One that kills us in production quality and size by a very large margin.

Thats why we have Canadian Content rules. I'm sure that in exchange for a savings of 1.1 billion in funding, the government would be willing to up the Canadian content rules. Or better yet, if people want to watch Canadian Content, put CBC on a subscription service and combine that with them selling their own adverstising so it becomes self funded. Its silly for the Canadian Government to be supporting something in direct competition with other private concerns.

Originally Posted by OldDutch

You can see this in Global and CTV, how many of their top shows are Canadian? Heck even CBC has had to resort to the Simpsons and Wheel of Fortune. These are their top money makers, so these American shows get preference at expense of Canadian shows.

Maybe because the Canadian shows for the most part aren't very good. Whats the point of putting shows on a station and nobody watches these shows. Or even very few people watch the shows. If they can't survive based on their quality then should they still be in existance. A lot of these shows would fail on their own because there's not much interest in it. Making the CBC stand on its feet and actually care about viewership of their content might force an improvement of the quality of their shows.

I love documentaries, so I have the documentary station. And recently the CBC has shown the "Smartest Guys in the Room", and a bunch of Micheal Moores stuff, and some other American programming. So why am I paying taxpayer dollars for a Canadian Station thats suppossed to protect Canadian Culture by showing American shows. That seems really stupid to me, basically my tax payer dollars are going south of the border.

Originally Posted by OldDutch

So if we privatize CBC what do we get? Another Americanized station playing "American Idol" or "House" re-runs. Hockey may also become harder to see because a private station may decide "Dancing with the Stars" will make more Ad dollars than Calgary vs. Phoenix game in the second double header. So that game goes to cable, or doesn't get broadcast.

So you either privatize it and make it stand on its own two feet, or you kill it and make the Canadian Content Laws more strick which would probably force better Canadian programming. I have no problem with HNIC being moved to TSN or SNET, Canadian Tax Dollars really shouldn't be going to bid for NHL TV rights against non subsidized stations, thats an unfair business practice.

Originally Posted by OldDutch

You may end up regretting privatizing CBC when you can't get what you want when you need it. Just a thought.

There's nothing that I watch now on CBC that I can't get anywhere else, so would I regret it, not at all.