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Ian Morrison from the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting worries that the planned review of the CBC's mandate may be derailed by the Conservatives
The House of Commons Heritage Committee is
planning a crucial investigation of CBC's mandate starting in February.
I am concerned that Stephen Harper's Conservative government may be planning
to knock this CBC mandate review off the agenda, and I am writing to ask for
your help to prevent this from happening. Please send a message
asking your Member of Parliament to help ensure that the Heritage Committee
is allowed to do its important work.
www.friends.ca/supporttheCBCmandate
Read the rest of Ian's
article
"We passionately need to hear what CBC viewers see as the role of the CBC in the 21st century," said Pam Astbury, president of SOCK. Astbury will present those views to the parliamentary committee on March 14 in Vancouver. The all-party committee is reviewing the mandate of the CBC.
Read the article
What do you think? Send your views by email
SOCK makes presentation to the parliamentary committee reviewing the mandate of the CBC. A year after Kamloops lost its over-the-air CBC-TV service, a local lobby group may have finally a sympathetic ear.
Read the article
Hugh Jordan says that forestry and mine workers are loosing medical services and schools. Now they have lost CBC TV in the outback and Prime Minister Harper has no plans to create CBC radio stations for the hinterlands. So why would a young professional want to work in rural areas?
Read article
SOCK member David Charbonneau hopes the new minister responsible for the CBC, Josee Verner, will help restore CBC over-the-air TV in Kamloops.
Read article
August 18 Rabbit ears on last legs in TV land by Vito Pilieci Source : Ottawa Citizen
When Canada pulls the plug on analog signals in 2011, viewers who still rely on antenna will be forced to shell out for new technology or see their broadcasts fade to black.
Unlike the United States, which will subsidize the cost of set-top converters for older televisions when it drops analog TV signals in 2009, officials here say they have no similar plan for when Canada ends analog broadcasts in 2011.
Analog TV owners will need to replace their televisions with sets capable of receiving high-definition signals, or install converters that now cost $200 U.S. -- though experts have forecast that the price could drop to $60 to $80. The converters incorporate antenna that can receive the new signals.
Canada's shutdown will come just a little more than two years after the end of analog broadcasting in the U.S., where the federal government has set aside $1.5 billion U.S. to buy the set-top boxes for Americans who get over-the-air signals and do not want to buy new TVs.
Read full
article from The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting
August 21 CBC plans radio studio in Kamloops if permanent funding is made available (originally posted on November 9, 2006)
According to the CBC’s five-year Corporate Plan, future plans for television drama strategy or proposed HDTV transition will not proceed unless the federal government provides secure funding. For the past five years, the CBC has relied on annual $60 million grants, but those grants have always been disbursed as special “one time only” payments.
According to the Broadcasting Act, the Corporation can borrow up to $25 million dollars, provided the projects funded generate enough revenue to achieve a positive rate of return.
If funding is available, CBC plans to add full-length regional morning and afternoon shows on CBC Radio One in Kitchener, Red Deer, Hamilton, Barrie, Kingston, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Chilliwack, Saskatoon, Peterborough, Cranbrook, and Kamloops.
Read article (scroll down the page to “Drama and HDTV projects at risk if feds don’t add funding”)
In his letter to the editor Hugh Jordan says that funds originally planned for a CBC radio studio for Kamloops have been diverted to Kelowna for expansion of their CBC radio broadcasts. Kamloops is inadequately served from Kelowna because the regions are separate and distinct.
Read letter (in jpg format)
David Charbonneau says that CBC is going to abandon plans to build a CBC radio studio in Kamloops in favour of expanding Kelowna's existing studio. CBC executives obviously think the Kamloops region is an extension of Kelowna. As long as Kamloops is not part of a national network, we are doomed to obscurity.
Read article (in jpg format)
Geographer Ken Favrholdt agrees with David Charbonneau that Kamloops is not as recognizable as Kelowna but is not sure that the CBC sees us as an extension of Kelowna. It's an economic decision, he says.
Read article (in jpg format)
Hugh Jordan says that Ken Favrholdt assumes a CBC radio studio in Kamloops would serve the city only -- it would serve our entire region. And the economic argument for not having a studio here doesn't make sense when we are already paying for CBC service we don't get.
Read article (in jpg format)
CBC executive Ted Kennedy says that Kamloops is still in CBC radio's long-range plans even though we have been removed from immediate expansion plans. Lack of funding has held back original plans to establish a studio in Kamloops. "We do recognize the need for a distinct service for Kamloops," he said.
Read article (in jpg format)
Pam Astbury says we will continue to lobby for the CBC services we deserve. First CBC dropped TV broadcasts and then added insult to injury when they scuttled Kamloops' radio studio in favour of an expansion of Kelowna's. At least they are are now saying encouraging things. Now if we can only get some action.
Read article (in jpg format)
A plan by the CBC to change the way it transmits its TV signal around Newfoundland and Labrador may mean the end of free television in rural areas. The CBC plans to install new digital transmitters in urban centres only leaving a two-tier system, one for those who can afford cable TV, nothing for those who can't.
