CBC needs to stop wasting money
Looks like the CBC is hurting for cash and the top brass are gonna feel the squeeze.
The nation’s public broadcaster will freeze executive salaries and chop their bonuses in half, the corporations president announced Wednesday.
Executives at CBC/Radio-Canada will have their salaries frozen at 2008 levels for the 2009-2010 year. This would represent a total savings of $2 million in salary freezes and bonus cuts.
The CBC gets more than $1-billion from the feds every year and usually pull in about $600-million a year in revenue on their own.
With a possible budget shortfall of over $200 million, the CBC brass have asked for help from the federal government but the Heritage Minister says he expects them to make do with what they have.
Along with the possibility of selling off assets and increasing advertising, rumours of up to 1,200 job cuts are making the rounds.
I hate to see anyone lose a job, but I think it’s time the CBC undergoes some serious restructuring from top to bottom.
I don’t know much about the part of CBC where they make shows like Little Mosque or This Hour Has 22 Minutes, but I have rubbed elbows with CBC News folks more than a few times all over this country and it’s always the same. Their gear is always brand-spanking-new and they travel in herds.
I’ve been to press conferences where a reporter from the CBC regional English network was there with a cameraman and a soundguy, followed by a woman to write it up for CBC online. Then the fella from the regional French CBC network walked in, and he had a cameraman and a soundguy too. And don’t forget CBC radio. How many channels do they have now? Two? Three? Who can remember? But they’ve got to have their people there too, French and English.
And God forbid any really big news happens, cause then, besides all these folks, they’ll send in their big guns from Toronto.
On the other side of the coin, a good friend of mine is a TV reporter for a private broadcaster.
He covers the whole of Prince Edward Island, the entire province, by himself. He runs his own camera, writes his own stories and does his own editing. Whether it’s covering the legislature, a dance recital or a murder investigation, he’s there and he gets it done right.
I’ve covered stories where there were 20 CBC staffers on the scene, all to do the same job I’ve seen done well time and again by one person. This waste of resources is being done across this country every day in 10 provinces, three territories and six times zones not to mention their overseas bureaus.
No wonder they’re broke.
It’s time for the CBC to cut out the needless waste and start trimming the fat.
They’ve had it too easy for too long.
The nation’s public broadcaster will freeze executive salaries and chop their bonuses in half, the corporations president announced Wednesday.
Executives at CBC/Radio-Canada will have their salaries frozen at 2008 levels for the 2009-2010 year. This would represent a total savings of $2 million in salary freezes and bonus cuts.
The CBC gets more than $1-billion from the feds every year and usually pull in about $600-million a year in revenue on their own.
With a possible budget shortfall of over $200 million, the CBC brass have asked for help from the federal government but the Heritage Minister says he expects them to make do with what they have.
Along with the possibility of selling off assets and increasing advertising, rumours of up to 1,200 job cuts are making the rounds.
I hate to see anyone lose a job, but I think it’s time the CBC undergoes some serious restructuring from top to bottom.
I don’t know much about the part of CBC where they make shows like Little Mosque or This Hour Has 22 Minutes, but I have rubbed elbows with CBC News folks more than a few times all over this country and it’s always the same. Their gear is always brand-spanking-new and they travel in herds.
I’ve been to press conferences where a reporter from the CBC regional English network was there with a cameraman and a soundguy, followed by a woman to write it up for CBC online. Then the fella from the regional French CBC network walked in, and he had a cameraman and a soundguy too. And don’t forget CBC radio. How many channels do they have now? Two? Three? Who can remember? But they’ve got to have their people there too, French and English.
And God forbid any really big news happens, cause then, besides all these folks, they’ll send in their big guns from Toronto.
On the other side of the coin, a good friend of mine is a TV reporter for a private broadcaster.
He covers the whole of Prince Edward Island, the entire province, by himself. He runs his own camera, writes his own stories and does his own editing. Whether it’s covering the legislature, a dance recital or a murder investigation, he’s there and he gets it done right.
I’ve covered stories where there were 20 CBC staffers on the scene, all to do the same job I’ve seen done well time and again by one person. This waste of resources is being done across this country every day in 10 provinces, three territories and six times zones not to mention their overseas bureaus.
No wonder they’re broke.
It’s time for the CBC to cut out the needless waste and start trimming the fat.
They’ve had it too easy for too long.
posted by Street Wise Guy | 9:37 AM
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