The Juneau commission...

[Gerda Grice]

What the proposal to reduce sports programming on the CBC smells like to
me is not elitism.  The odour I sense is that emitted by private
braoadcasters hot on the trail of profits.  Sports broadcasting is, of
course, a very lucrative source of advertising revenue, and private
broadcasters have long resented having to compete with the public network
for sports broadcasting advertising dollars.
 
Private broadcasters, it seems to me, are very willing to allow the CBC
to continue to exist, provided that it is restricted to offering
programming that is most unlikely to attract either mass audiences or
"serious" advertising monies.  And, of course, both the federal and
provincial governments these days seem to be more than willing to
accomodate the agendas of the large corporations and privatization promoters.
 
I hate to be so cynical, but I find it hard not not be in this
neo-conservative time we're living through.
 
Gerda Grice
Toronto, Canada