Are broadcasters on the web “unfair” competition for newspapers?
Bob Cox’s editorial on the CBC’s new strategic plan is a welcome contribution to the dialogue concerning the future of public broadcasting in this country. (Mr. Cox is Publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press and Chair of the Canadian Newspaper Association.) It raises issues that have been the subject of debate in Europe for some time, and which need to be resolved if the inevitable restructuring of the CBC is to have the support of the country’s newspapers. Some context will, I hope, further clarify the issues. When the BBC was took to the airwaves in 1922 as the world’s first national...
Read MoreWhy Rogers, and advertisers, love hockey
Rogers Media seems to be devouring CBC bite by bite. First it was the $5.2 billion deal for exclusive NHL hockey rights for the next decade. Then we discover that Rogers will be using the public broadcaster’s production facilities and distribution network for the next four years to get its new hockey product on the air. Now they’ve hired away George Strombolopolis to anchor the Rogers version of Hockey Night in Canada. It’s assumed that Rogers honchos knew what they were doing when they put up what seems an enormous amount of money for hockey, over such a long time-frame. An economic...
Read MoreAbout Wade Rowland
Ranked among Canada’s leading literary journalists, Wade Davies Rowland has written more than a dozen books on subjects ranging from television journalism, organized crime, and international environmental law to his current concerns, which include communications technology, the philosophy of science, and technology and human values. Full author bio.