TORONTO – More than half of all Canadians are willing to pay more than the $29 they currently contribute through their taxes in support of CBC/Radio-Canada, according to the public broadcaster.
Just hours before CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix reveals his new five-year strategic plan to employees Thursday, the Corp. released the results of its “conversation” with Canadians about the future of Canada’s media landcape and CBC/Radio-Canada’s role in it, launched by Lacroix in May.
CBC said that it received more than 33,000 responses from across the country to its online survey and it released a couple of videos that show clues about what will be announced Thursday afternoon. One touts a new tagline "A Space For Us All while in the other, Lacroix, along with the head of English Services Heather Conway and chief of French Services Louis Lalande speak of increased partnerships, spending money only on content and not on "bricks and mortar", dealing immediately with "legacy fixed costs", maintaining a place where Canadian creators know they will always have a home, and a culture shift that may well take years.
Top-line results from the survey, however, include:
– 80% of Anglophones and virtually all Francophones (98%) who responded to the questionnaire feel that CBC/Radio-Canada is important. In addition, 73% of Anglophones and 91% of Francophones who participated believe that public broadcasters will continue to be important in the future;
– 42% of Anglophone participants prefer that CBC/Radio-Canada provide the most appropriate regional services into 2020, whether they be online, radio, television, or a combination of all or some, while 38% want continued regional services in all formats (TV, radio, and digital);
– Over half (59%) of Francophone participants want regional services to continue in the same way provided to them now, while only 5% are in favour of dropping services;
– 63% of Anglophone and 79% of Francophone participants are willing to pay more than the $29 they currently contribute through their taxes for CBC/Radio-Canada.
“It’s important to recognize that these results are not scientific", the CBC wrote. “They don’t reflect the views of all Canadians, or even the demographic spread of the country. What they do reflect is the twists and turns of a very exciting conversation around the future direction of the public broadcaster, one that we hope will continue.”
