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Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (French: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television.[3] It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its English-language and French-language service units commonly known as CBC and Radio-Canada, respectively.

"Radio-Canada" redirects here. For the CBC's main French-language television network, see ICI Radio-Canada Télé. For the CBC's main French-language radio network, see Ici Radio-Canada Première. For the international broadcasting service of the CBC, see Radio Canada International.

Company type

November 2, 1936 (1936-11-02) (radio)
September 6, 1952 (1952-09-06) (television)

National; available on terrestrial and cable systems in northern American border communities; available internationally via Internet, Sirius XM and on TV

Decrease CA$503.94 million[a]
(FY 2021)[1]

Increase $173.24 million (FY 2021)[1]

Increase $142.09 million (FY 2021)[1]

7,444 (March 2018)[2]

Although some local stations in Canada predate its founding, the CBC is the oldest continually-existing broadcasting network in Canada. The CBC was established on November 2, 1936.[4] The CBC operates four terrestrial radio networks: The English-language CBC Radio One and CBC Music, and the French-language Ici Radio-Canada Première and Ici Musique (international radio service Radio Canada International historically transmitted via shortwave radio, but since 2012 its content is only available as podcasts on its website). The CBC also operates two terrestrial television networks, the English-language CBC Television and the French-language Ici Radio-Canada Télé, along with the satellite/cable networks CBC News Network, Ici RDI, Ici Explora, Documentary Channel (partial ownership), and Ici ARTV. The CBC operates services for the Canadian Arctic under the names CBC North, and Radio-Canada Nord. The CBC also operates digital services including CBC.ca/Ici.Radio-Canada.ca, CBC Radio 3, CBC Music/ICI.mu, and Ici.TOU.TV.


CBC/Radio-Canada offers programming in English, French, and eight indigenous languages on its domestic radio service, and in five languages on its web-based international radio service, Radio Canada International (RCI).[5] However, budget cuts in the early 2010s have contributed to the corporation reducing its service via the airwaves, discontinuing RCI's shortwave broadcasts as well as terrestrial television broadcasts in all communities served by network-owned rebroadcast transmitters, including communities not subject to Canada's over-the-air digital television transition.


The CBC's federal funding is supplemented by revenue from commercial advertising on its television broadcasts. The radio service employed commercials from its inception to 1974, but since then its primary radio networks have been commercial-free. In 2013, the CBC's secondary radio networks, CBC Music and Ici Musique, introduced limited advertising of up to four minutes an hour, but this was discontinued in 2016.

In early 1999, CBC English- and French-network technicians in all locations outside and Moncton, members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, went on strike.[114] The Canadian Media Guild was set to strike as well, but the CBC settled with both unions.[115]

Quebec

A similar dispute, again involving all technicians outside Quebec and Moncton, occurred in late 2001 and concluded by the end of the year.

[116]

In spring 2002, on-air staff in Quebec and Moncton (again, on both English and French networks) were locked out by local management, leaving, among other things, NHL playoff games without commentary on French television.

[117]

on the coral wave (Cable Bahamas) television system in the Northern Bahamas (Channel 8).

Bahamas

Barbados

Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation

on the CableVision digital cable service.

Bermuda

carried on Columbus Communications-owned cable system FLOW Grenada.

Grenada

distributed in areas served by FLOW Jamaica.

Jamaica

on the Columbus Communications Trinidad Ltd. (CCTL) television system.

Trinidad and Tobago

CBC Museum

Concentration of media ownership

List of assets owned by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

List of public broadcasters by country

List of public service radio stations

Media in Canada

Public Francophone Radios

Réseau de l'information

Allen, Gene, and Daniel J. Robinson, eds. Communicating in Canada's Past: Essays in Media History (University of Toronto Press, 2009)

Graham, Sean. "A Canadian Network? The CBC and Television, 1936–1939". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television (2014) pp: 1–19.

Ménard, Marion. CBC/Radio-Canada: Overview and Key Issues (Library of Parliament publication No. 2013-92; 2013) ; 11 pages

online

Murray, Gil. Nothing on but the radio: a look back at radio in Canada and how it changed the world (Dundurn, 2003); Popular history

Peers, Frank W. The politics of Canadian broadcasting, 1920–1951 (University of Toronto Press, 1969)

Taras, David. Digital Mosaic: Media, Power, and Identity in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2015)

Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth. "Empire and broadcasting in the interwar years: towards a consideration of public broadcasting in the British dominions". Critical Arts (2015) 29#1 pp: 77–93.

Weir, Earnest Austin. The struggle for national broadcasting in Canada (McClelland and Stewart, 1965)

Official website

CBC News site

CBC Channels and Frequencies