GATINEAU – As of yesterday, CBC is no longer allowed to air advertising on Radio 2 and ICI Musique.
The CRTC granted the CBC’s request back in 2013 to sell national advertising on the services until August 31, 2016. The Corp. complained at the time its parliamentary appropriation had been shrinking every year, and it needed a financial boost to make certain ends meet.
Advertisers, however, did not exactly beat down the CBC sales doors to buy ad time. According to the CBC’s Commission filing earlier this year to extend the permission to sell ads on the stations, it brought in just $2.5 million in revenue in the first two years, well below what it estimated ($11 million/year).
Plus, when the Commission permitted the public broadcaster to start selling ad time, it said if the CBC wanted to continue doing it past yesterday, it would have to “provide evidence that advertising has not had an undue negative effect on the advertising markets, that advertising has not been unduly disruptive to listeners, that periods the CBC’s level of investment in radio has been maintained and that the variety and diversity of the service that Espace (now ICI) Musique and Radio 2 provide has not been diminished.”
While the Commission agreed the ads were not disruptive and said the music variety had remained – and noted that few took the time to complain – the fact that the CBC had cut radio’s budget from $283 million in the 2012-2013 broadcast year to $261 million in the 2014-2015 broadcast year, reads the decision, caused the Regulator to revoke its ad permission.
“Further, given the federal government’s commitment to increase funding over the next five years, the Commission finds that the distinct nature and high quality of the services’ programming can be preserved and their respective mandates fulfilled without the need for revenues from the broadcast of paid national advertising,” the decision added.
