Just a question from an ignorrant american here, but does Canada have more then just TSN and the CBC broadcasting TV? and if so,isn't every network eligible to bid on a CFL contract?
Yes Lionbacker, the same thing has happened here in Manitoba, except our public servants decided to pay themselves all bonuses with our premium dollars that were supposed to go to keep our rates down. You can image the poop hit the fan and most of the bonuses were never paid out or had to be paid back. I also remember when the government in this province had a monopoly on telephone services and we were paying $200 a month for long distance charges, once that was opened up to the private sector our long distance rates were down to $30 per month.
And Tank, the size of the contract went up because so has the volume of garbage, if the volume had gone down so to would the contract.
The only time you get ridiculously high prices in a market is when there isnt enough competition around to keep the cost of delivering the services down.
You also have to realize that all employees whether in the public or private sector should be receiving relatively the same pay scale for the same job. But when you reach a point when profits can no longer cover the increasing salaries then the business no longer becomes profitable and you must either cut jobs or cut wages. This is the reality in the private sector today and should be no different on the public side. I can sympathize with anyone who loses their job through attrition but thats life..
Canada has a few nationwide networks.
CBC and CTV Global are the primary ones
TSN and RDS are the primary sports networks with RDS being the French provider. Satellite TV give access to quite a few channels but I really don't know if they are independent of affiliated with another network.Two thats come to mind arecalled the A channel and CH which broadcast from a few Canadian cities
THE CBC …can’t do it…like the other networks…because they show mostly… AMERICAN… programming…That is how they survive…like the NFL…
The CBC… is like , the CFL…think about it? And we all know that the CFL is great! 
The CBC , is there to show CANADIAN programming in it’s… OWN COUNTRY… 
I guess that is just too much to ask? … AND IT GIVES CANADIAN’S jobs!!!
CANADA, has had a balence budget for how many years? Can the U.S. claim that? :arrow:
It is not just CBC T.V… it is CBC radio , 1 and 2…CANADA NOW… in B.C…and CBC NEWS WORLD…in CALGARY.
:DSo why should that guarantee you a job........nobody is questioning what the CBC is all about or stands for, only that it should be operated more cost effectively especially with public money.......do you not think TSN employees Canadians......
Pigseye, when the city or company washes there hands on certain task's, they are at the mercy of private buisness, the cost of getting back into certain task's are very high in some cases, which make it tough to bankroll the start up cost. In some cases contracting does work..but it's not alway's the answer.
Hellothere I agree with what you said but there is no reason it cannot be done cost effectivly.
The case in point is the 2 people vs 8 people. I also think that Canadian content would be much better it they had to compete. Being guarenteed a spot does not porvide quality.
Okay kids it was me…I read a Conrad Black interview where he said he was interviewed by I think CTV…a reporter and a cameraman…when he gets interviewed by CBC its 6 or 8 or 10 people to do it…TSN covered the Brier in Saskatoon a couple of years back…all week had a crew of 10 ore 12…CBC came in on the weekend with a crew of 38 for two days!!!..its time to crap the CBC…it get horrible ratings except for sports or news…which would be picked up by the other networks…its leftwing…and waste of my money!!!..why the hell does the gov’ment own a tv company its the gov’t its not its job…if CBC was doing such an important job people would watch it…but guess what people would rather watch Law and Order then freaking failed scienctist Dr. Suzuikie…
I fully agree that the CBC should be sold off and good riddance . Huge waste of taxpayers money for a whole lot of leftwing crap . But that's why the Liberals all love it.
I totally agree with your last point…but you also have to have the money to even think about competing with the U.S…were you only see their best…there are hundreds of T.V. shows that don’t make U.S… T.V. every year.We don’t see those ones.
In CANADA , we have…GLOBAL [puke]…CTV…[better than ,GLOBAL, but not by much]…THE CBC…NBC…CBS…FOX…ABC…CNN…is it soooooooooooooo bad to HAVE at least 1 station that shows… CFL games and… HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA???..What about DON CHERRY.?
And there are MANY other great shows that deal with CANADA…Is that really asking to much???
Interesting thread. Here are two facts that you might want to consider before making your next post on this topic:
• Public sector wages are significantly higher on average than private sector wages for similar employment categories.
• Benefits paid to employees represent a significant cost to employers in both the public and private domains. Benefits packages in the public sector are almost universally better than benefits paid in the private sector and are therefore more costly.
So you have to ask yourself, does the money that the Canadian Government forcibly takes from you to keep a pricy CBC afloat provide the kind of programming that the majority of Canadians find preferable to TSN, CTV or the American networks? The answer is obviously no. If they did, ratings would be up for CBC programs and so would their advertising revenue since there is a direct, linear relationship between the two. With increased revenue and decreased cost, there would be no need for Paul Martin to put his clammy hand in the pockets of Canadians to force feed them more CBC. Perhaps if CBC recognized that the people who pay their keep are not all left-wing, ivory towered, sanctimonious, utopian, academics, perhaps their programming would have more balance and therefore more cachet with most Canadians.
Okay, I’m off the soap-box now.
Good point... I have alot of friends who work for the Local Global station, although its considered a "Training station" they laugh when they show up to cover a story with there 3 man crew, and CBC shows up with 6 or 8.
I can watch the same story on both stations and get basically the same information.
And you can be well assured 1 CBC employee makes almost twice salary & benefits what 1 Global employee doing the same job, but that is not the issue.
My point is... why cant CBC use the same amount of staff to cover a story?
THAT is why they are a waste of tax payers dollars.
If it takes 2 CBC employees to do the same job as 1 contracted employee... will that affect how well a job is being done? I THINK NOT
While I am using an example of cover crews this may not apply to other areas of broadcasting.. which CBC "may" require extra staff to promote Canadian content and or programming.
I am not an expert on the subject , just echoing the sentiments of what a handfull of Global employees are telling me.
Stop funding the CBC. Let them compete. Heres an idea, find more sponsors to sell advertising dollars to. Let them bid against TSN and Sportsnet for NHL Hockey, TSN, Curling etc. When you compete you get smarter and more efficient.
Dentor,
I think the problem lies with the union.
If an employee does another employees job a grievance is filed.
I've heard of government departments where an employee can't even pick-up a broom to clean their area because it's not their job. Even if the other employee who does that job is busy.
I'm just very happy I don't manage in an unionized work place.
I'm also not saying all unions are like that I've just heard stories about certain ones.
I really haven't cared much, and so am a little behind on the whole problem. Are the employees locked out because they won't negotiate on a new deal that cuts their benefits, and opens for the opportunity to contract out certain jobs? That's what I've been able to piece together, but I'm not sure if it's right.
I've always thought that the worst idea is to not negotiate. People (typically) respect other people that are willing to work towards some sort of compromise. Not negotiating never gets anyone anywhere, you'd think for all the reporting that CBC did on the NHL lockout, they'd realize that if you're not talking, you're not working either.
I just love when people fight over the CBC.
How's this for an arguement.
TSN pays taxes. Taxes that go to the federal government. That money goes to the CBC ($1 billion a year), which competes with TSN for the rights to cover sporting events.
In effect, the CBC uses tax dollars from TSN to complete against them.
The CBC sucks. Why should the majoirty of Canadians fund something only used by the elite (in their dreams) minority.
Word is now more games are headed to TSN, perhaps even playoff and Grey Cup games.
I've already written many times about my loathing of the CBC.
The best part is when they lose HNIC to TSN, and the CFL and curling dump the CBC for their shoddy work in recent years, and with no Olympics, no baseball, no nothing, it's GOODBYE CBC forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ya!
Other than Hockey, is there anything they do that is half decent ?
Some people enjoy their "Canadian content", news programing, arts and other left-lib stuff.
Many others have said this - if you love it so much, why not pay for it? Make the CBC like PBS and then let that crap stand on its own.
Why should every Canadian pay taxes to run radio and TV programming for a minority of Canadians?
42monkey
As far as I know the CBC union has agreed to wages and benefits but will not agree to contracting out jobs. I dont know the details but where I work the union has agreed to a contracting clause. In my industry there are certain jobs that can never be contracted out because the are too specialised. Other jobs, maintenance for example can be. What the contract says is that no jobs will be lost to contracting but new jobs will, but not more than 50% of the department personnel That is say that they can only bring in a contractor is someone retires or quits. they cannot bring in contractors is there is anyone laid off who is on the recall list.
I think that this is quite fair and so did the union.
Hellothere
The CBC is not there to compete with the US stations it is there to provide a service. I agree there have been many quality programs but it does not mean they should get a blank check and throw money around. Think of it like this, you call in a plumber to fix the leak under your sink and three guys come in and your are expected to pay 60$ an hour for each of them . You would say "no way" and call in someone who would send one guy and charge a reasonable price.
In the course of my career, I’ve been to many press conferences. And only CBC would ever show up with more than one team.
SRC (French CBC) and RDI (French Newsworld) would almost always show up with a different team. That would be two reporters, two directors, two cameramen, two soundmen… not to mention two cameras and two trucks!
And all these folks were working in the same newsroom!
In some occasions, only one team would show up, and the guys would say “There are too many news to cover today. We’ll just share the footing.”
Sharing, eh? Why wouldn’t they do that all the time?