More than 90 per cent of Canadians who took part in the Reimagine CBC project this year strongly support more courageous reporting from CBC. Participants from across the country said they value what the public broadcaster is already doing, including programs such as the Fifth Estate, Marketplace and As It Happens, but they are worried that the broadcaster’s challenges with competition and funding cuts may push it away from this type of content.

This was the number one finding of the Reimagine CBC project which has wrapped up its eight-month discussion with Canadians from coast to coast to coast, and revealed findings this week at an event in Toronto.  Nearly 11,000 people took the time to rank priorities on an online survey created from the more than 900 ideas to strengthen public media submitted by Canadians last spring.

Throughout the evening, presenters and online participants spoke about their experience with and their hopes for CBC as listeners, entertainers, and current or former reporters.

Equal time for Canada

In an animated interview with OpenMedia.ca’s Reilly Yeo, the head of CBC documentary unit, Mark Starowicz gave valuable context to another result of Reimagine CBC, citing a recent prime time schedule on Canadian television that showed CBC at 94% of Canadian content, Global television at 8%, City TV at 12%, CTV2 at 8% and CTV1 at 0% between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. More than 83 per cent of Canadians who participated in the Reimagine CBC survey strongly appreciate a Canadian perspective from the public broadcaster. Quoting former CBC president Al Johnson, Starowicz said this finding emphasizes what CBC has always been about which is “equal time for Canada.”

Stay tuned for the full report of the Reimagine CBC project will be released on November 4, ahead of the CBC licence renewal hearings scheduled for November 19 in Gatineau.