This week’s podcast with CHML’s Scott Thompson (listen here) gets into the fallout from the CBC pickups and rejections, including the all-too-predictable, knee-jerk joke-of-the-week: ACTRA calling on the government to step in and make CBC uncancel jPod, MVP and Intelligence. Read their boneheaded release here and notice how they can’t even get the name of one of these three one word title shows right.
Sure, jobs are at stake, but does the government step in and make people buy more Dodge Magnums when the Chrysler plant in Brampton, Ont., discontinues the line due to poor sales? No it does not. You can’t legislate taste and force people to buy cars just like you can’t force them to watch tv shows just to save jobs. This is Canada at its most ridiculous and embarrassing, the Welfare State run amok. No broadcaster, even a public one, has a mandate or a duty to air shows that, for whatever reason, fail to find a sustainable audience. Only ACTRA could take Intelligence and make it sound so bloody illogical.
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7 Comments
They spelled Intelligence right. CBC could never figure out if the title of the other show was JPod (the title of the book – it manifestly is not small j) or jPod.
Joe, the reference was to MVP, or as ACTRA called it, ” The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives”.
Since I have dealt with ACTRA many times, I can vouch for their relative stupidity.
I have not had the chance to deal with them personally, but I can tell that ACTRA is NOT asking for government intervention to save the canceled shows. It’s been, for the last few years, asking the CRTC to make it mandatory for conventional stations to spend at least 7% of their ad revenue on Canadian English-language drama. This seems to defeat the purpose of the press release altogether, since the Ceeb spends way more than 7%…
egerszo 10:28 PM
“the (CBC) spends “way more” than 7% (of their ad revenue on Canadian drama)”
Sorry, wrong again. With the exception of news and current affairs, the CBC pays for its programming with money from the CTF and Telefilm. The CBC is given $1.1billion every single year, and they generate at least $400million in ad revenues. It’s hard to believe that Sophie, JPod, Little Mosque, MVP, Mercer and AirFarce could cost more than $28million (7% of ad revenues) but the CBC is also able to leverage another $150million from the CTF to pay for virtually all of its programming. Where’s all this money going? Advertising? Promotion? Bob Rae’s campaign? Who knows? Everyone is looking forward to the Auditor General’s report on the CBC – sounds like front page news.
How’d you like to be a private broadcaster in this country competing against a state funded dinosaur sucking from two teats?
private broadcasters in Canada don’t have to compete with anyone because nobody watches the CBC….
the only thing private broadcasters do is sell advertising to American shows in exchange for a political bias which is “decidedly Canadian”….
March 14. 9:27 pm
hey that’s right! I can’t agrrree more than wti the ppeoople who hat the CBC!
I hate it when people ask me to think more than what I hear on Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly! Whattt the fudge are they pn abou anyway. lif is good! I’m white and I think that maybe those minorities ahve too much say! Up with the white peeple!