In the new book “The Big Picture: A Personal History of Independent Television Production in Canada,” veteran TV producer Pat Ferns — who helped shepherd into existence such well-remembered creations as “Glory Enough for All” and “Letter from Wingfield Farm” — outlines the evolution of Canada’s independent production industry and its worrying future prospects. Here, he offers some free advice for the CBC.
In a 1939 speech, my godfather, Leonard Brockington — the CBC’s first chairman — passionately urged our new public broadcaster to concentrate “all available sources of revenue … on the production of Canadian programs.” He described the ideal model as “public ownership of stations, competition in programs,” and warned that “advertising and the profit motive should not be the foundations on which this new medium of mass communication should be built.” If only his advice had been followed.
Instead, we’ve ended up with a hybrid public broadcaster — particularly in television — that is increasingly dependent on advertising revenue, and perpetually pleading poverty when compared to its international peers. In broad strokes, CBC’s budget is about $1.4 billion of which about $400 million comes from advertising revenue — more than the promised new funding, but more than sufficient to distort its vision as a public broadcaster.
So if it were to withdraw from commercial activity, it would have to rethink its approach to audience, but to my mind, this would be a good thing. Audiences like programming uninterrupted by ads, whether on Netflix where subscribers pay, or on TVOntario where they do not. Let’s examine Canadian programming, advertising pressures, and CBC leadership.
Canadian programs
CBC has always resisted competition in program production. When I became an independent producer in 1972, few of us existed, and the CBC saw us primarily as suppliers of interstitials — fillers between the “real” programs it produced in-house or bought from the United States. My partner and mentor Richard Nielsen and I joined a handful of determined independents trying to build a viable industry. We argued that creative competition would improve the quality and diversity of Canadian programming — and do so more efficiently than CBC’s internal productions.
In the producer association’s intervention into CBC’s licence renewal hearing in 1978, Nielsen and I shared the fact that we had delivered $4.5 million in programming to CBC for which we received $225,000. Quite a bargain! Our programs included “The Newcomers/Les Arrivants,” our first drama series, with scripts by Alice Munro, Timothy Findley and others, years before CBC’s “People’s History.” It won all the awards.
It was an uphill battle, but we prevailed. In 2023, the independent production sector delivered $12.2 billion in annual volume, generating $14.1 billion in GDP, and supporting nearly a quarter of a million jobs. The early pioneers included Michael Hirsh who built Nelvana, and Michael MacMillan, whose Atlantis merged with Robert Lantos’ Alliance and after many different manifestations is now Lionsgate Canada.
Independents have proven that Canadian programming can inform and entertain audiences both here and abroad. CBC no longer needs to make much of its own programming. It would be better off focusing on being a publisher — just as book publishers don’t put their authors on staff.
Advertising
Public service broadcasting is about serving all the people some of the time. Its success is measured by reach, not ratings. In an advertiser-driven model, ratings are king — delivering eyeballs to advertisers. There’s room for both public and private broadcasters in a healthy media ecosystem, but when the public broadcaster chases the same goals as its commercial counterparts, audience choice suffers.
Let private broadcasters air “Family Feud” and “Jeopardy!” I once produced televised adaptations of National Ballet of Canada performances. Over time, CBC commissioned fewer and fewer of them, citing cost and poor ratings — even though they outperformed CBC’s more expensive in-house TV movies. I’m not suggesting a return to regular ballet programming, but we had stars like Karen Kain, and viewers from coast to coast wanted to see them. Young Canadians in Whitehorse or Yellowknife may never see a live ballet performance — television is their only access.
Our national public broadcaster should collaborate with other national arts organizations to serve a truly national audience. Private broadcasters rarely do. Public broadcasting should meet the needs of many publics hungry for something different. CBC: extend your reach. And extend the palette of what you publish. Where are the long-form documentaries for which Canada became famous? And why are there not more arts docs, history docs, science docs? They are programmed, but now in much less volume, crowded out by fare which private broadcasters could easily acquire. Similarly, CBC could select from the best television in the world rather than remake American formats. Let’s see some creative leadership.
Leadership
Governments appoint CBC presidents as if it’s a big organization that needs to be managed. Wrong. CBC is a creative organization that needs to be led. The CBC board doesn’t choose the president — the federal government does. And the board itself is politically appointed, often with limited understanding of the business it oversees.
To serve as president, governments usually pick civil servants, lawyers, or the occasional engineer — rarely someone with media experience, and almost never anyone with a creative or journalistic background. No wonder CBC struggles.
Contrast that with the BBC, which has always appointed program makers as director general. The DG also holds the title of chief editor — a creative job. The one time they chose an accountant, the editorial responsibilities went to a creative executive instead.
During my career, I co-produced programs with BBC colleagues who went on to lead the organization, most notably Mark Thompson. As director general, he guided the BBC through the digital revolution. Today, the BBC runs the most-watched website in Europe. Thompson went on to lead the New York Times, and now heads CNN. Why? Because he’s talented — and learned the business at the creative coal face, not from a bureaucratic perch.
We’re in the audience business. Programs — not advertising — are our currency. Public money should expand audience choice. Knowledge Network, an advertiser-free public broadcaster with a tiny budget, routinely outperforms CBC in British Columbia. Why? Leadership. And choices.
So don’t just hand CBC more money. Demand true creative leadership, and a return to the values my godfather championed in 1939.
Pat Ferns is author of “The Big Picture: A Personal History of Independent Television Production in Canada” (Sutherland House Books).
