… again, with your cash, again. And yet this is Canada, not the Republic of Bananada, not Bizarro World, nor the Soviet Union. (Hat tip: conservativegal)
What kind of government competes against its own citizens for profit?
Check this Macleans article by Jonathon Gatehouse:
[…] The universe has now been restored to its natural order and the chase for the Stanley Cup is back, filling the public broadcaster’s airwaves. However, if the rumours swirling in television circles are true, the CBC’s near future could look a lot like its recent past. Come the winter of 2008, the NHL’s Canadian broadcast rights could switch hands for the first time in more than 50 years. And those hard-luck fans in regions where the “Mother Corp.” remains the one, and only, channel, may find biopics of Maurice “Rocket” Richard as close as the CBC will get to our national sport.
CTV, Canada’s leading and most lucrative private network, is rumoured to be readying a bid for the NHL rights when they come up for negotiation next spring. TSN, the company’s sports network, currently holds the national cable rights—also up for renegotiation in 2007. Network spokespeople won’t discuss their plans. (“For competitive reasons we simply don’t talk about programming strategies,” says CTV’s Mike Cosentino.) But one thing seems certain—the cost will be steep. Unlike the United States, hockey ratings in Canada have remained high, and competition will only drive up the price.
The CBC paid
[YOU paid —Joel]
an estimated $300 million for its current five-year “over-the-air” deal, and the cable package went for $100 million more. But CTV, home to 16 of the country’s top-20-rated shows, has already demonstrated a willingness to empty its wallet for big-ticket sports draws.
The real question, however, is whether CBC will be willing, or able, to mount a big-money counter-offer. The new political climate in Ottawa makes it unlikely the corporation’s funding will be increased anytime soon. In opposition, Stephen Harper harshly criticized the CBC for competing with the private networks for content and advertising dollars. Bev Oda, his heritage minister, has already mused about reviewing the broadcaster’s mandate.
[…] Ralph Mellanby, who executive-produced HNIC for twenty years, says a change of networks would be good for the game, and ultimately the CBC. “I don’t think the CBC should be involved in professional sports. It’s not their mandate.”
[…]
State-run media competing against citizens for profits should be against the law. It’s shear lunacy. State-run media should be against the law and enshrined as such in our Constitution.
What kind of government competes against its own citizens for profit? What’s stopping the state-run media, which might be infuriated by the competition from the much more popular and profitable CTV, from pumping up the price the CTV will have to pay—just to spite them?
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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