Studies on Radio-Canada/CBC, APS reveals the facts

CBC/Radio-Canada: APS Reveals the Facts

In recent months, very strong criticisms of the CBC/Radio-Canada have appeared in the media. The network has been accused being biased. Some people have gone as far as claiming the network was no longer necessary because very few people watch it. There have even been suggestions that the private sector media could replace CBC/Radio-Canada altogether. Also there has been claims that the network receives huge amounts of taxpayer’s money, and it is time to “Defund the CBC”.

Faced with this attack that threatened the future of public service broadcasting in Canada and the jobs and welfare of all employees working a CBC/Radio-Canada, APS decided to commission research to obtain the facts.

APS contacted two of the foremost public policy research institutes to examine the criticisms being made against the CBC/Radio-Canada. The two research institutes are the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS). We did not tell them what to say. Instead, we asked them to conduct research and provide us with the facts.  

Several Important Reports

Altogether IRIS and the CCPA completed several reports which can be found by clicking here: Studies CBC relevance

To obtain the information they needed the researchers examined international studies that compared CBC/Radio-Canada with public service broadcasters in other countries. They examined data from a wide variety of sources including Statistics Canada and the OECD. They reviewed public opinion polling done in Canada and internationally. And they conducted focus groups to gain a deeper understanding of how people feel about the national broadcaster.

The Reports Examine Many Subjects Including:

• Does the public believe CBC/Radio Canada is biased? Do people trust it?
• How many people watch and listen to CBC/Radio-Canada?
• What changes are occurring in the availability of local media and news coverage across the country.
• How much taxpayer money actually goes to support the CBC/Radio-Canada
• How does public funding for the CBC/Radio-Canada compared to the public funding of public service broadcasters in other countries.
• How does the revenue CBC/Radio Canada receive from advertising compared to other countries.

Brief Summary of the Reports

The reports demonstrate, using facts and citing their sources, that the criticisms of CBC-Radio-Canada are incorrect. Much of the public regularly watches and listens to the CBC/Radio Canada television and radio stations and follow its websites. CBC/Radio Canada is trusted as a source of news and analysis. And the cost to taxpayers is miniscule and much less than public service broadcasters in other countries.

Go to the APS website Studies CBC relevance and you can read the entire reports. There is a lot of detail in each of them and all the facts are referenced citing the sources of the information.

CBC/Radio-Canada is the most trusted media network.

Public opinion polls indicate that among Francophones in Canada, Radio Canada is the most trusted news source, with 78% of respondents reporting they find it “trustworthy”. TVA comes a close second, with 69% reporting they find TVA “trustworthy”.  Among Anglophones, CBC is the most trusted news source, with 67% of respondents reporting they find it “trustworthy”. CTV comes a close second, with 62% reporting they find it “trustworthy”. These levels of public trust for CBC/Radio-Canada are far greater than the “trust” reported for other media outlets and social media.

The Vast Majority of People Regularly Watch CBC/Radio-Canada

Fully 78 per cent of Francophones report they watch Radio Canada regularly or occasionally. Among Anglophones fully 64 per cent report they watch CBC regularly or occasionally, making it the most watched English television network.

CBC/Radio Canada Receives Very Little Public Funding

On a per capital basis public funding in Canada for CBC/Radio-Canada represents less than $36.00 per year or less than 10 cents per day. In fact, public funding for CBC/Radio Canada amounted to 0.12% of total government expenditures. On average, other countries spend twice as much of total government expenditures on their Public Service Broadcasters than Canada.

Other Countries Spend Far More to Support Their Public Service Broadcasters.

In an international survey of public service broadcasters in 19 major countries, only three had lower per capita spending on public service media than Canada. The cost to individual Canadian taxpayers is only 41% of the average for taxpayers in other countries. In a country as large and sparsely populated as Canada this is remarkable.

CBC/Radio-Canada Relies Much More on Advertising than Public Service Broadcasters in Other Countries

CBC/Radio Canada relies much more on revenue from commercial sources than most public broadcasters in other countries. Only three public broadcasters in the sample of 19 major countries, — Ireland, Italy, and New Zealand—relied on advertising and sponsorship revenues more than CBC/Radio Canada

Private Sector Media Alternatives to the CBC/Radio-Canada are Decreasing

Critics of the CBC/Radio-Canada never mention what the consequences of cutting back or closing it altogether would be in situation where many other media outlets have been closing. Consider the following:

• Canada has lost 11 per cent of its local print news media and 9 per cent of its private broadcast media since 2008,
• In Quebec alone, during the same time period, 101 local media outlets closed their doors, and 37 others scaled back their operations.
• Smaller towns, those with less than 30,000 people, have seen 10% of their news outlets close in the past 15 years. Smaller communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, P.E.I., and Manitoba have been the hardest hit by closures.
• In 2023, 83 media outlets closed mostly due to the Metroland bankruptcy and the Métro Média closures in Quebec.
• Last year, 2024, was the worst year for closures of private broadcasting outlets, driven by the decreases in CTV and Corus stations.
• Today, 2.5 million Canadians live in a postal code with only one or no local news outlets.

 Conclusion: We Need More CBC/Radio-Canada – Not Less

The IRIS and CCPA reports lead to one overwhelming, conclusion. We need to expand CBC/Radio Canada, not defund it. With the enormous decline in private sector television, radio and print media the CBC is needed more than ever.

Democratic societies depend on an informed population receiving truthful, objective information from trained journalists, not self-serving spin from public relations professionals. Faced with threats to our economy and national sovereignty we need more accurate news coverage and analysis. Expansion of CBC/Radio-Canada is now more necessary than ever.

In conclusion it is worth noting the comments of Guillaume Hébert, author of the IRIS Report, reflecting on the decline of accurate journalism he states: “There’s a risk with this. We’ll end up with more and more actors in the public sphere who aren’t there to produce balanced information or aim for objectivity, but who serve a political or commercial interest. This can be detrimental to democracy,”

APS is Part of the Solution

For our part, APS is committed to continue to provide truthful information and analysis of the important role CBC/Radio-Canada plays in our society. We remain determined to continue to promote comprehensive and accurate journalism for the benefit of the public.

*CBC/Radio-Canada Employee Code of Conduct to ensure proper guidance on sharing information.