[ACA In The News] Contesting CBC’s Ad-Free Pitch
December 8th, 2016 | Matthew Chung, Manager, Communications and Content
Last week CBC/SRC submitted a position paper to the federal government proposing a move to an ad-free model. CBC/SRC says it currently gets $253 million in ad sales revenue.
ACA has long opposed CBC going ad-free, a position Ron Lund, President and CEO of ACA, reinforced in an interview with the Globe and Mail, calling it a “no-win” situation.
Specifically, Lund noted that the move would significantly reduce competition, thereby increasing costs and limiting programming options for advertisers.
ACA expects that not all of the revenue currently spent on CBC would go to other media.
“If there is not programming that is going to give you incremental reach – just taking that money and putting it into more ads on the same programs on other broadcasters’ channels – all you’re doing is increasing frequency [of ads seen by the same people], you’re not actually increasing reach,” Ron Lund said.
Meanwhile, Judy Davey, VP Media Policy and Marketing Capabilities, ACA, noted the impact would be more dire in Quebec, where an already concentrated media market would have one less competitor.
Read the article at Globeandmail.com (subscription required)
ACA is reaching out to the federal government on this proposal to ensure the voice of the Canadian marketer is heard.
