[ssiguy]

As noted on another thread, the CBC wants $400 million in annual increased donations from Ottawa so it can be ad-free.

I think CBC Radio is universally appreciated but far less so the CBC. In it's desperate bid for ad revenue we get our national broadcaster "bringing us together coast to coast to coast" by trying to find "Canada's Smartest Person" and of course what kind of self respecting CBC decade would it be without yet another rendition of Anne of Green Gables.

I think the only way the CBC TV will maintain any relevance is if it sways more towards a PBS platform with extras such as sports. Save a fortune and ditch every local newscast in the country and simply run the National. This would save a king's ransom for a service that is already provided 24/7 including the CBC. Local news can be covered by local private TV stations which nearly universally in English Canada get the higher ratings anyway.

I would like a commercial free CBC with nearly total or all Canadian content but not without a major overhaul of what the CBC and what it sees as it's future and if that means more renditions of Canada's Smartest Person, then they shouldn't get a cent.

Millions of Canadians willingly already pay for quality programming as exemplified by BC's Knowledge Network, Ontario's TVO, and even sending money to the US via PBS. The fact that hundreds of thousands of Canadians are willing to send their money out of country for decent programming says a lot about both the need and how little they feel they get from our national broadcaster.