All broadcasters have revenue and ratings targets for shows.
But by next month CBC Television will have formalized a system different from that of private broadcasters by also assigning specific targets for "public value."
Known as PARC and detailed in a recent memo from CBC-TV executive vice-president Richard Stursberg to staff, the system gives all CBC shows a target number for their public value (P), expected audience (A), estimated revenues (R) and costs (C).
Public value is measured two ways: Shows are given a number on a 1-to-5 scale for their relative distinctiveness, and then audiences are surveyed to measure the shows' quality, Stursberg explained in an interview yesterday. He said this wasn't a response to any pressure from Ottawa to be more accountable but was a system he imposed to clarify the public broadcaster's goals in relation to its individual shows.
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To meet the targets, the CBC is promoting key shows more heavily than before. "I think it's fair to say that Little Mosque on the Prairie's promotion was the largest and most successful promotion of a CBC and Canadian show that I've ever seen," Stursberg said.
The CBC's children's programming is only measured on a PAC system, ignoring revenue considerations, since it doesn't generate revenue. "The same thing is true for news. We don't want to assign revenue values to the news programs," Stursberg said.
As for the current regulatory climate, which many feel is shifting away from the preservation of Canadian drama, Stursberg said that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's "fundamental role, on the broadcasting side, is cultural. Its only role is to make rules that advance Canadian content."
However, he stopped short of speculating why the CRTC has recently eased regulations by allowing two more minutes of advertising time, a move seen in the industry favouring private broadcasters airing American shows.
From the CBC's perspective, "we think that the advertising pie for conventional television is going to be flat going forward. It won't grow. And this is not a novel view. It's the same view everybody has in North America," Stursberg said.
"But the problem is, if they start selling these extra minutes in the high-value American shows - and these shows command significant premiums in the market - then the money will go to the U.S. shows and may not come as it did in the past to the Canadian shows."
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