The difference being that CBC is funded in large part by our tax dollars, so we have a much more vested interest in how it’s spent than other private companies.
I get the feeling that most people criticizing NatPo are under the impression that they have no real stake in this news just because they “don’t watch CBC”. But believe me, we all do.
The CBC is shit and I don’t want my taxes going towards them (that’s a long bitter story). But I don’t have a choice and no one else does either. So we can at least pay attention when the money is going to the brass instead of the workers.
Edited to add: I’m as left as they come. Don’t mistake this for me thinking that the NatPo is anything less than a right-wing sack of shit publication. But even the worst person you know can make a decent point every now and again.
Basically, it boils down to the fact that in exchange for public funds, the CBC has a mandate to provide access to ALL Canadians.
So back in 2011, they decide they are going to shut down all of their analog broadcast towers for over-the-air signal since, they said it would cost “x” amount (I don’t remember the exact amount that long ago) to maintain them until 2035 or so.
So this left only the digital towers, which only covered the bigger cities. If you were too far out of a major city you were shit out of luck for over the air service.
Their argument, when people like me piped up, was that we could still access it through a cable subscription, which (in my opinion) is a blatant breach of their contract.
Why are my taxes going to fund something that I THEN have to pay another service for in order to access?
To me, and others back then, a mandate to provide access to ALL Canadians is exactly that…full stop; no extra subscriptions needed. No cable package, no internet, nothing.
If you are taking public money to provide a service, you provide that service no…matter…what. Otherwise, let me choose to not have a cut of my taxes given to you.
Two months after that decision, CBC bid for, and paid, that exact same amount of money to get the broadcast rights to the next Olympics, which no broadcaster has EVER turned a profit on.
So me, and others, felt (I feel) rightfully fucked over.
As I said, I’m about as left as they come, and I WAS a supporter of the CBC up until that point. But yeah…after that, fuck 'em.
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The difference being that CBC is funded in large part by our tax dollars, so we have a much more vested interest in how it’s spent than other private companies.
I get the feeling that most people criticizing NatPo are under the impression that they have no real stake in this news just because they “don’t watch CBC”. But believe me, we all do.
The CBC is shit and I don’t want my taxes going towards them (that’s a long bitter story). But I don’t have a choice and no one else does either. So we can at least pay attention when the money is going to the brass instead of the workers.
Edited to add: I’m as left as they come. Don’t mistake this for me thinking that the NatPo is anything less than a right-wing sack of shit publication. But even the worst person you know can make a decent point every now and again.
I mean, …
tell the story, or don’t?
Basically, it boils down to the fact that in exchange for public funds, the CBC has a mandate to provide access to ALL Canadians.
So back in 2011, they decide they are going to shut down all of their analog broadcast towers for over-the-air signal since, they said it would cost “x” amount (I don’t remember the exact amount that long ago) to maintain them until 2035 or so.
So this left only the digital towers, which only covered the bigger cities. If you were too far out of a major city you were shit out of luck for over the air service.
Their argument, when people like me piped up, was that we could still access it through a cable subscription, which (in my opinion) is a blatant breach of their contract.
Why are my taxes going to fund something that I THEN have to pay another service for in order to access?
To me, and others back then, a mandate to provide access to ALL Canadians is exactly that…full stop; no extra subscriptions needed. No cable package, no internet, nothing.
If you are taking public money to provide a service, you provide that service no…matter…what. Otherwise, let me choose to not have a cut of my taxes given to you.
Two months after that decision, CBC bid for, and paid, that exact same amount of money to get the broadcast rights to the next Olympics, which no broadcaster has EVER turned a profit on.
So me, and others, felt (I feel) rightfully fucked over.
As I said, I’m about as left as they come, and I WAS a supporter of the CBC up until that point. But yeah…after that, fuck 'em.