That was good radio.
Re-Reimagine the CBC
Mon, 2012-06-25 20:25
#102
Mon, 2012-06-25 21:32
#103
I haven't been talking about radio, so car wheels on a gravel road is not a tune I need to hear again.
The question for the government is what is the 21st century rationale for some of the regulations. I suspect the percentage of people who pick up their TV from an antenna is very small. How much of the budget should be allocated for that group of viewers. If there is a huge cost to service them then maybe that is one of the things that needs to be looked at closely. Should Luddites be driving communications policy?
Mon, 2012-06-25 22:19
#104
Boom Boom
I personally don't know anyone who reveres Rex Murphy at all. Everyone in my circle of friends thinks the man is an idiot and an embarrassment both to the CBC and Canada.
Mon, 2012-06-25 22:45
#105
Never mind that CBC has a mandate to fulfill.
Should private cable companies be driving communications policy, and control the real hardware for our national broadcaster?
And it's not just luddites; it is also people who live in vast regions of this country who don't have access to cable. It's not a matter of choice. And a person might be in the middle of a city, but without the money or credit to pay your cable bill you are SOL, and suddenly a thrift store TV and a set of rabbit ears isn't such backwards technology.
I'm lucky; I live in a province with a publicly-owned cable company. But if I lived elsewhere why should I be forced to give my money to Rogers or Bell in order to have access what is a public service which should be freely available to all? Seems to me they are the real winners here.
And I'll put the question again: how is this technology better? Why was it necessary? What does it give us that we did not have before?
Because it is a real question for me. In just over two months our TV goes black; and while my life certainly doesn't revolve around it I still think it is bullshit.
Tue, 2012-06-26 11:28
#106
The public airwaves can also be used to send WIFI signals. I see access to information and news as the public good not access to a specific type of outdated media. 6079 do you have any stats about the number of people who both watch TV and do so from the airwaves?
The cable companies are only in the game to get audiences to watch commercials. If CBC TV was not playing the same advertising hustle then I would have a lot more sympathy for the model. I see the CBC despite some excellent programming as a net negative influence on society. The right wing propaganda that the "public" broadcaster spews offsets the good when you add those programs to the unrelenting consumption ads that run even during the good programming. IMO By definition there is no public good to be served in indoctrinating people to buy, buy, buy.
So yes it is all interrelated and no I don't think our broadcasting policy should be set by commercial interests.
Tue, 2012-06-26 12:32
#107
6079 do you have any stats about the number of people who both watch TV and do so from the airwaves? ...
So yes it is all interrelated and no I don't think our broadcasting policy should be set by commercial interests.
No. I'm sure I could find some, but I don't think it is particularly relevant, since this process is being driven more by financial cuts and ideology than by any presumed technological improvements, IMO. Regardless of the numbers, there are people who should be served, but who do not have a choice, and are in danger of being shut out.
According to this blog, this will leave APTN as the only network transmitting over the airwaves in Canada's north (and there are links to discussions of other aspects of this as well):
http://blog.fagstein.com/2012/04/05/cbc-cuts-airwaves/
Going from your last sentence, I suspect that you and I agree in principle on some of the basic issues, even though we differ in interpretation on some of the details.
(edit)
Sorry if I am letting my personal stuff interfere with this discussion. Really, what pisses me off more than anything is that my children started watching French-language kids programming before school this winter, and as of the end of August that will be gone, unless I make the effort to go to the library and get DVDs. I think the presence of that language programming in a part of the country where there is no financial incentive is a clear illustration of what public broadcasting SHOULD be doing.
Thu, 2012-06-28 07:05
#108
Closing for length.
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