CBC to study whether they are biased

[troutman]

I love CBC radio. CBC TV, not so much.

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I find that CBC is a lot less biased than CTV or Global. But maybe that's just me.

I can't agree with you on that one.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Its assinine IMO. Government agencies competing directly with private enterprise in no way, shape or form should be allowed in any free-thinking society.

Good post, I agree with this. There was a time when the government tried to run an oil & gas company up here too..... (Petro-Canada) and take a look at how well that turned out.

[SeeBass]

The CBC has a place but what "really grinds my gears" is that there are times when it seems that they are not even trying to make a profit. the apathy is ridiculous.

Example: Stanley Cup final two years ago, game 7, huge ratings many people in bars and a large male demographic watching. The game ends, they do their wrap-up for 10-15 minutes then guess what program they decide to air when they have all of these hockey fans watching?...Fashion File.
The only thing you could hear across the country was the sound of channels being changed.
Who makes these programming choices? and how do they have a job still? what was going through their heads in this meeting?

The question I ask myself is...are you really bad at your job or do you not care?

[Azure]

The news and sports are about the only worthwhile thing they ever show.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Good post, I agree with this. There was a time when the government tried to run an oil & gas company up here too..... (Petro-Canada) and take a look at how well that turned out.

Good ole Red Square...

If I don't like what is on TV, I have the option of canceling my cable.

I do not have the option of canceling CBC, and that is wrong.

Let it sink or swim on its own merit. If enough Canadians support the CBC, then it will be fine. If not, then why are we wasting our money on it?

[Jetsfan]

Originally Posted by Hammertime

I thought that the thread was about Jim Hughson calling the Canuck's series last week.

The best part was when the Canuck were eliminated...

you could hear the despair in Hughson's voice....

It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Your post was so ridiculous, it only deserved 3 syllables. Yes, CBC is very even-handed... if you live on Queen Street, vote for NDP, and walk behind your wife with your head bowed (a rather common sight in Toronto)... Give me "What Fits into Mother Russia" instead any day of the week... Back to downloading SCTV torrents...

Well none of those examples apply to me other than sometimes I vote NDP, not like a lot of posters on here who only vote Conservative, no matter the candidate. Other than your SCTV reference you still haven't shown any intelligence, only insults.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by transplant99

PBS is not federally funded, they survive with fees carged to member stations along with individual private and public donations. They dont drain on the feds for a billion freaking dollars a year.

PBS *IS* federally funded... almost to the tune of half a billion freaking dollars a year when you add up the federal direct funding, federal indirect funding (grants). And the other half is state funding. If you think no taxes go to PBS, you are quite mistaken.

I think that CBC is an absolute necessity. What Alberta calls "biased", most of the rest of country calls "evenhanded" and it's CTV and the other private broadcasters that are biased.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

PBS *IS* federally funded... almost to the tune of half a billion freaking dollars a year when you add up the federal direct funding, federal indirect funding (grants). And the other half is state funding. If you think no taxes go to PBS, you are quite mistaken.

I think that CBC is an absolute necessity. What Alberta calls "biased", most of the rest of country calls "evenhanded" and it's CTV and the other private broadcasters that are biased.

It was absolutely necessary in the 50's. If they can't support themselves with advertising revenue, then they should be gone. Maybe instead of giving really bad shows a leg up just because their Canadian, we should be forcing out film industry and television industry to actually improve their product.

And after the latest polling debacle, CBC has clearly showed their bias.

I'm all for CBC staying on the air, I just don't think that it should be with tax payer dollars, and I don't think it should be given a leg up on its competition.

And I don't want to hear them whining that they need more money from us to survive.

[RW99]

I'm fine with a state run TV station through the passing of the baby boomer generation, I put that with the whole local TV issue that happened recently. But it's another issue about how it's run and I don't think it's run very well.

[Vulcan]

And I don't want to hear them whining that they need more money from us to survive.

Yeah CTV and Global stand on their own two feet, right!

http://www.fadoo.ca/blog/display/ctv...exclusion-1688

not that I necessarily agree with CBC on the linked article but the fact remains our broadcasters have to compete with American shows who have ten times the audience and probably more than ten times the budget in order to survive. Myself I like being Canadian and supporting what culture we have and produce, including SCTV. Probably every country not in the stone age has some form of public or state broadcasting entity.

[zuluking]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I find that CBC is a lot less biased than CTV or Global. But maybe that's just me.

It is just you.

[zuluking]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

PBS *IS* federally funded... almost to the tune of half a billion freaking dollars a year when you add up the federal direct funding, federal indirect funding (grants). And the other half is state funding. If you think no taxes go to PBS, you are quite mistaken.

I think that CBC is an absolute necessity. What Alberta calls "biased", most of the rest of country calls "evenhanded" and it's CTV and the other private broadcasters that are biased.

Please explain. And quit with the potshots at Alberta. You generalizations are unbecoming.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

I can't agree with you on that one.

Originally Posted by zuluking

It is just you.

It might be due to me being a liberal/ndp leaning person over being conservative.

I personally see CTV as being the most biased by far, with Global only being slightly better, and CBC the most middle ground of the bunch.

It's the same with the American's networks, I find Fox and MSNBC to be nut job level of being biased with CNN leaning slightly left, but the most central of the 3.

I'm sure that conservative leaning people would flip CTV with CBC in my example above.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by zuluking

Please explain. And quit with the potshots at Alberta. You generalizations are unbecoming.

There was no potshot. Alberta is generally more conservative than the rest of the country. Therefore what someone with a conservative slant would find "biased" would be totally different. I think you will find most conservatives in the US would say that Fox is "fair and balanced" while CNN has a "liberal bias".

As for why the CBC is necessary, it is because as was stated earlier in this thread, they provide programming and a point of view that is unlikely to be found on a commercial network. Like PBS or the BBC, they provide a service to the public unlikely to be found elsewhere. Given that they are not slave to corporate interests, it gives them a unique perspective from which to operate. Take MarketPlace for example... Wendy Mesley recently took "Herbal Magic" to task for selling unnecessary diet products and lying to consumers about those products. Other stations would steer away from such stories to avoid drawing the ire of potential advertisers. Yes, CBC does have advertisers (which I disagree with... I think we should be paying the whole budget to avoid such conflicts of interest as I just suggested) but they are not preoccupied with making the revenues match expenses in ways that would require them to mold their programming to the goal of making a profit.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

There was no potshot. Alberta is generally more conservative than the rest of the country. Therefore what someone with a conservative slant would find "biased" would be totally different. I think you will find most conservatives in the US would say that Fox is "fair and balanced" while CNN has a "liberal bias".

As for why the CBC is necessary, it is because as was stated earlier in this thread, they provide programming and a point of view that is unlikely to be found on a commercial network. Like PBS or the BBC, they provide a service to the public unlikely to be found elsewhere. Given that they are not slave to corporate interests, it gives them a unique perspective from which to operate. Take MarketPlace for example... Wendy Mesley recently took "Herbal Magic" to task for selling unnecessary diet products and lying to consumers about those products. Other stations would steer away from such stories to avoid drawing the ire of potential advertisers. Yes, CBC does have advertisers (which I disagree with... I think we should be paying the whole budget to avoid such conflicts of interest as I just suggested) but they are not preoccupied with making the revenues match expenses in ways that would require them to mold their programming to the goal of making a profit.

Its a bad business model, and 1.1 billion in tax dollars is a ridiculous sum of money.

I've seen stories blasting consumer products on pretty much all the stations, if its news its going to get reported.

To the other comment, Global and other networks have asked for public money, but they've also had to cut costs and close down stations, and they still have to find ways to raise revenues.

CBC doesn't and because they're government funded they have an unfair advantage, they're just too inept and stupidly run to take advantage of it.

For what CBC is delivering in terms of content and services is ridiculous considering how much money they are getting from us. But its good to see that they can use that money for massive expense accounts.

[Devils'Advocate]

(1) It doesn't need to be a business model. That's the point. Just like the BBC or PBS, it doesn't need to turn a profit.

(2) Actually, 1.1B in taxes is tiny in comparison with other countries.... What does that work out to? $40 per person? Switzerland pays $154 per person. The average across the G20 is $80. I think the numbers would show that the CBC is UNDERfunded.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

(1) It doesn't need to be a business model. That's the point. Just like the BBC or PBS, it doesn't need to turn a profit.

And that's the problem, thats why CBC has a sense of entitlement, why they can put garbage and crappy shows on T.V. and not care that people aren't watching it. Run with a political agenda. Put their executives up in 5 star hotels allow them to expense thousand dollar meals. At the end of the day for 1.1B dollars they are providing little to no value.

(2) Actually, 1.1B in taxes is tiny in comparison with other countries.... What does that work out to? $40 per person? Switzerland pays $154 per person. The average across the G20 is $80. I think the numbers would show that the CBC is UNDERfunded.

I don't even believe that hockey night in Canada should be on CBC at all. I mean they used our tax payer dollars to win bids for the NHL T.V. deal, and its not even produced that well. They had CFL football on and instead of promoting a national historical sport, they did a pathetic job of producing CFL football and they did an even worse job of promoting it. Look at what TSN did once they got football.





Thats great, I think that as Canadian's we should have a right to opt out of our taxes going to CBC, I rarely watch it, I think their entertainment is poorly produced and put together, I think their news offerings are ok, but I could live without it because I have other better choices out there for national and international news. If they want 40 bucks per person, then allow people to subscribe to it for 40 bucks a year, lets see how many people care enough about government broadcasting to get it. And frankly I don't care if someone from Switzerland pays $154 per year, that just tells me that they're more gullible then we can.

1.1 billion can certainly be spent in better places, especially right now.

Thats a ludicris amount of money for a country of our size, and especially since its not well spent.

People say that we need it to protect our Canadian Culture, but if the ratings for CBC original shows are any indication, then what we put on T.V. is a piss poor example of Canadian culture.

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

A
Thats great, I think that as Canadian's we should have a right to opt out of our taxes going to CBC, I rarely watch it, I think their entertainment is poorly produced and put together, I think their news offerings are ok, but I could live without it because I have other better choices out there for national and international news. If they want 40 bucks per person, then allow people to subscribe to it for 40 bucks a year, lets see how many people care enough about government broadcasting to get it. And frankly I don't care if someone from Switzerland pays $154 per year, that just tells me that they're more gullible then we can.

1.1 billion can certainly be spent in better places, especially right now.

Thats a ludicris amount of money for a country of our size, and especially since its not well spent.

People say that we need it to protect our Canadian Culture, but if the ratings for CBC original shows are any indication, then what we put on T.V. is a piss poor example of Canadian culture.

Sorry, but that is the same silly argument people throw out when they complain about government spending at any level.

"Why should I have to pay School taxes if I don't have children?"

"Why should my health care dollars pay for smokers/fatties/extreme sports injuries."

"Why should my tax dollars be used for avalanche rescue/a stupid pedestrian bridge/roads when I don't use them/etc."

We all share these costs because we are a SOCIETY.