Source : Ottawa Citizen

CBC executives are proposing an $80-million back-to-the-future strategy to the Martin government, promising to reinvent local TV and radio programming, but only if the government agrees to pay the bill.

Four vice-presidents representing the broadcaster's English and French services made a pre-budget pitch to the House of Commons Heritage committee yesterday and tossed the politically-charged issue of local programming firmly into the government's court.

The executives asked for more than $80 million over the next three years to rebuild the local TV and radio services it slashed five years ago in response to massive cuts to its budget by the Chretien government. Those cuts caused an angry backlash from communities and politicians across the country.

The CBC also wants a permanent increase of $60 million to its regular operating budget and a guaranteed 50 per cent of the Canadian Television Fund to which the federal government currently contributes $100 million annually. The CBC says it will use the money to boost homegrown TV drama.

The broadcaster has also hinted it wants to be exempted from Prime Minister Paul Martin's program to trim five per cent from all government departments and agencies. The government wants to divert those savings to health care and related priority programs.

Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC English TV, told heritage committee members the broadcaster plans to launch three pilot projects in St. John's, Montreal and Edmonton, scrapping existing TV supper hour shows in those cities and replacing them with hour-long shows with new formats.

In an interview after the hearing, Mr. Stursberg said the pilot projects will be financed with existing funds, but the broadcaster's national plan to revamp local programs depends entirely on the Martin government finding the $80 million.

"If we don't get it, we can't go ahead," he said. "We've gone as far as we can in terms of what we can do locally. If the money frees up, we will extend (the plan) across the country, put back supper-hour newscasts and put in late night newscasts and more local cultural programming. But we can't do that, obviously, if we don't have the money."

The local plan plays well with MPs, especially those from smaller communities, for whom the CBC is the only source of local news and current affairs coverage. After the CBC executives finished their two-hour presentation, committee members voted unanimously to recommend to Heritage Minister Liza Frulla that the $60 million be made permanent and asked the CBC to provide more details on its plans for the re-vamping of local coverage.

The CBC says new broadcast technology, and an ongoing integration of CBC radio, TV and Internet services will make local broadcasting more efficient and provide better quality coverage for less money.

Ian Morrison, spokesman for the broadcast watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, predicts the government will come up with more money for the CBC, but said he doubts the broadcaster expects to get 50 per cent of the TV fund.

"It's coming down to the short strokes of the budget," he said. "and I don't think (CBC president Robert Rabinovitch) would engage in an exercise such as this for no good reason. I think he has read the tea leaves and sees that changes to the drama fund are not on, but re-investing in the grassroots is."

Mr. Morrison said it would be "utter disaster" if the CBC did not get the fixed $60 million funding for its ongoing operational budget.

© Ottawa Citizen

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