Please do.
Evidence of meeting #161 for Canadian Heritage in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cbc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #161 for Canadian Heritage in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cbc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:55 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Please do.
3:55 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, Radio-Canada, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Last week, we unveiled our strategic plan for the next three years. One of the realization we have come to is that the CBC/Radio-Canada programming is very good for young children—those between the ages of three and five—but that we have given up on the rest of youth programming.
So we have made a commitment to provide, as of next year, programming targeting children aged three to five, six to eight, nine to 12, and 13 to 17. We cannot establish connections with an audience of young children and then forget about them for 15 years, while hoping to attract them once again after that.
3:55 p.m.
NDP
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
I know that you or those behind you in the Radio-Canada team are competent. I am curious to know whether you agree with me that this year's incredible ratings for Bye bye are explained by things such as the fact that one of the new stars of the show was someone who millennials—those who are now aged 30 to 40—grew up with. I am talking about Claude Legault, who was part of a children's show called Télé-Pirate or Radio Enfer. He then grew with the show Dans une galaxie près de chez vous. Later on, when it was time to go to the bars, he was in Minuit le soir. Then there was 19-2.
Do you think there is such a thing as a “Claude Legault effect"? It is not attributable to a simple call from Claude Legault's manager. It is rather because he is a star who grew up with people. Do you think that attachment has affected ratings?
3:55 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, Radio-Canada, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
My answer may cost me when we next negotiate with artists.
3:55 p.m.
NDP
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
As far as Claude Legault goes, at least. We will ask him whether that is the case.
Don't you think there is something of a phenomenon here?
3:55 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, Radio-Canada, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
To tell you the truth, this is a phenomenon that is unique to the Canadian francophonie—in other words, the Canadian star system. It leads to the success you referred to. Out of the 50 most watched shows, 46 are Canadian; that is the figure I use the most. It is very much based on the strength of that star system.
As for Bye bye, that show was watched by over 4 million people. While the end of linear television has been predicted for a number of years, those ratings are still the highest ever recorded for a show in French in Canada.
3:55 p.m.
Executive Vice-President, Radio-Canada, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
So I think there is still a future for linear television, just as there is a future for digital content.
I would like to add something concerning a point you raised earlier. The public broadcaster does not really have to do different things than the private broadcaster, but it must do them differently. When we produce a dramatic series like Trop or web series available on ICI TOU.TV, it is because we want to draw the interest of an audience in their twenties and thirties. Although that is a more restricted audience, it is our role as a public broadcaster to offer those people content.
3:55 p.m.
NDP
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
I congratulate you on your role as a champion.
Of course, private broadcasters will—
Is my time already up, Madam Chair?
3:55 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
May I add something?
3:55 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
I just want to say one thing for the English side of the table. There is no doubt that Radio-Canada has a very, very special place, but I want to also say that Anne with an E, a CBC show, is among the top 10 most binge-watched shows on Netflix in the world. Therefore, it's not to say that CBC does not have success in telling its stories as well.
3:55 p.m.
Barbara Williams Executive Vice-President, CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The challenges are uniquely different in the two markets. To the earlier part of your question, one of our opportunities is to find partnerships that can help us extend the dollars that we have. We make those decisions about partners' content first, whether they be in the news world or in the entertainment world.
This isn't about chasing money and then back-ending in a content idea. This is about finding a story that we think really needs to be told in Canada and that we are uniquely positioned to tell, and then scanning to see who else might be interested in exploiting that story with us and in bringing some money to the table. That can be Netflix. Anne with an E is a terrific example of how they've been able to share that incredibly beautiful series with the world.
We also look to our other public broadcasters around the world—who often are in sync or aligned with us creatively—and find shared projects there because we do need to find those opportunities to extend.
4 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dabrusin
That was great.
We're going to Mr. Hogg now for his questions please.
May 30th, 2019 / 4 p.m.
Liberal
Gordie Hogg Liberal South Surrey—White Rock, BC
Thank you.
I think we're metaphorically working our way across Canada. We started in the Maritimes; we've been to the Prairies and to Quebec, and I'm from British Columbia. We're hitting the bookends with respect to this.
I was very interested in the global concepts of what's happening with media and media coverage, the issues of disinformation or misinformation and the identity-based realities that we're dealing with. That's within the context of state-owned versus public broadcasting, which we constantly hear about in different parts of the media.
Could you talk a little about being founded on the principle of independence and how we combat the type of criticism that we sometimes hear in the marketplace around independence and being state-owned?
4 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
I'm not sure what the connection is with the fake news part of your question. We can go back to the independence question, but....
4 p.m.
Liberal
Gordie Hogg Liberal South Surrey—White Rock, BC
Looking at some of the European and state or publicly owned broadcasters in a number of countries that are not democracies, there's a lot of what we're deeming to be biased information or misinformation. That's the connection.
4 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
I see. I beg your pardon.
I immediately went to altered news, but what you're talking about is disinformation.
It's a complicated world we're living in now. We live in an overabundance of information and content, and an overabundance of disinformation. Then you have deep fake news in the mix and you have algorithms that cause people to go down filter bubbles. In the last five to 10 years, it has just completely changed the way a public broadcaster has to respond. I would say, as said in Montreal and everywhere, in my mind, one of the reasons that I accepted this wonderful job is that I believe that public broadcasting has never been more important than it is today.
When I meet with other public broadcasters in Paris and London, or by telephone with Australia, we're all facing the same challenge, which is how to protect and defend our citizenry from this unbelievable tsunami of disinformation.
In a sense, we become a beacon for truth. The key to your question—in the notion of a public versus a state broadcaster—is that we need the public to feel safe and to know that we are a beacon for that truth and that they know....
We may make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, but the journalistic standards and practices state very clearly that we measure, we research, we're transparent, we weigh and we try very hard to present both or all sides of a particular subject. That is the nature of the public service and the mandate. We take it very seriously.
4 p.m.
Liberal
Gordie Hogg Liberal South Surrey—White Rock, BC
I'm a big fan of John Stuart Mill, whose notion was that you may understand your position totally, but unless you can talk about the other position equally well, you don't have a right to make a choice between them.
I think that I'm interpreting what you're saying as being in support of the utilitarian notions of John Stuart Mill. Thank you for that. Thank you for reinforcing my belief system and my bias. I will be much more comfortable in my bias when I go to bed tonight.
I just recently met some friends of CBC who are here. Can you tell me a little about your relationship with them and how that functions?
4 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
I think they're Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, just to be accurate.
4 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Friends of CBC. Of course, we've followed the work of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, but, again, they are a political advocacy group, and as you know, part of what I just said to you was that we do not get involved in political positions because we absolutely have to stand free from any influence. To the extent that we try to distance ourselves from any particular bias, we work very hard to do so.