You have likely heard by now that CBC will be the latest media entity to cut back employees citing reasons that have been all too familiar. Too much competition for the advertising dollar thanks to big guns like Google and Facebook, and rising production costs. 600 people will lose jobs while 200 open positions will not be filled. It's seems a little too much of an oxymoron to cut back on storytelling and news in an age of rising disinformation and conspiracy theories. Don't get started on how the disgraceful Fox News attempted to propagandize the Rainbow Bridge crash a couple of weeks back with outright lies. CBC, while government funded, is not being used as a left wing/Liberal puppet and does the best storytelling and balancing of news in Canada.
I know it's hard to believe but of all the sources I use in my teaching, the CBC is the one I turn to the most for its educational spin on News In Review, its excellent documentary library and certain other shows and stories. In the interest of personal balance, Bell and W5 and the now cancelled 16x9 from Global and Corus are also excellent investigative sources. In this day and age we need more people to tell stories, provide Canadian reflected content, promote people and hold people accountable. Cutting back on storytelling is not the way to go, and I consider myself to be an ardent fiscal conservative who believes that if I show you the government money, you better show me a product or an idea reflective of that money and not have it frittered away. CBC, like any major entity, can stand to trim down some of the fat in middle management etc. It's viable but I can see where people are frustrated. The Corporation is trying to transition into a robust digital entity but that takes time and resources, so maybe now was not the best time. Before I get too deep in the weeds, I'll divert my commentary to something that was said in a CBC article.
Chris Waddle, a professor emeritus from Carleton opined that CBC needed to cut back on a lot of its content and programming. Included in this was entertainment programming, childrens programming and sports programming. Basically the good professor felt that CBC should focus on news and current affairs and shun advertising dollars. It's an interesting concept that should merit some attention, though I disagree with him about sports, and that disagreement serves as the basis for this commentary.
You can take a look at the article here:
Back in 2008, believe it or not, there was idea on the drawing board for the CBC called CBC Sports Plus and it gained approval by the CRTC.
You can check out the article here: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/cbc-gets-approval-for-new-sports-channel-1.706348
I honestly cannot remember why the idea fell by the wayside. I only remember that I was dissapointed because it could have provided on-air opportunities for me. I remember having a couple of conversations with Joel Darling, who still works at CBC as well as being involved in Rogers coverage of NHL hockey. The channel would promise a mix of professional and amateur content. and would be a standalone station. I think its time update and revive the idea of an all sports station at the CBC, given that CBC does do a ton of streaming content for U Sports, Wheelchair Basketball and other underserved sports entities.
The content is there. The infrastructure is there. It's time to streamline that content into a good 8-12 hours of live programming/coverage anchored by studio shows that promote all sports and events, as well as event specific content. So if you promise 6 hours of live content and 2-4 studio shows, I think you've got something. I'd start with Olympics and Olympics related content that spills over from the main network and include U Sports, the CCAA and fledgling professional sports like the CPL and CEBL. Both of the latter had deals with CBC that were dropped and had to seek out other partners. You can bring them back into the fold and do a lot of cross promotion with other sports networks that CBC has forged a partnership with in the past.
To me, the possibilities are limitless. There are a ton of great content creators in this country who see properties such as U Sports as a passion project, or viable entity in the sports landscape. Add in some junior hockey to lead up to TSN's coverage of the WHL, OHL and QMJHL championships and you might be looking at too much content, which by the is never a bad thing.
There are bold ideas and bold visions out there for the sporting landscape. Why not use CBC and revive the notion of CBC Sports Plus as a ways for making those visions a reality.
In my next commentary, I'll take a look at building a viable day for sports.
Steve Clark
Steve has called Junior Hockey for 16 years and has been involved in university sports since the 90's off an and on. He's also called a ton of other events too numerous to mention
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