TORONTO – CBC’s plan to cut jobs and original programming will create “a domino effect” that will not only compromise its ability to deliver on its mandate to reflect Canada to Canadians, but will impact the ability of Canadians to choose quality Canadian programming, according to the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC).
The organization predicted that the funding cuts, which at this point includes 175 hours of original programming, will trigger further revenue decline for the national broadcaster as it becomes more difficult to sell advertising with less original programming.
“Canadians want Canadian stories – on all platforms,” said executive director Maureen Parker, in a statement. “As (Tuesday’s) news makes clear, the cuts will make it even harder for CBC to make quality Canadian shows and tell truly Canadian stories. Yet audiences are telling us with their remotes that this is what they want – CBC’s Republic of Doyle, Arctic Air, The Rick Mercer Report and Heartland regularly draw more than 1 million viewers.”
