Year in Review

Corporate Highlights

2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL

This fiscal year, CBC and Radio-Canada together delivered a total of 11 signature events, each offering a uniquely Canadian perspective on a major event from the Canadian landscape. The largest and most complex of these was the June and July 2014 coverage of 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, an event of global interest and increasing relevance to Canadians across the country.

A combination of multiplatform coverage and successful partnerships with Sportsnet and TVA Sports allowed for all 64 matches to be streamed online, live and on demand, via websites and mobile apps, as well as to be watched on TV.

OLYMPIC PARTNERSHIP CONTINUES IN 2018 AND 2020

In October 2014, the Corporation announced that it would be the Official Broadcaster of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. As lead broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada will be working with broadcast partner Bell Media, along with Rogers Media, to deliver the best in multiplatform Olympic coverage for Canadians across the country. This partnership is an example of the kind of cooperation that will increasingly be a key part of the Corporation's business strategy for major multiplatform events in a fiscally responsible way. These games will follow our broadcasting of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games next summer.

2015-2016 BUDGET

At the end of March 2015, the Board of Directors approved a balanced budget for 2015-2016. As planned, this budget allows for significant reinvestments in our English and French TV, radio and digital services programming schedules.

LET'S TALK TV: A CONVERSATION WITH CANADIANS

In October 2013, the CRTC launched Let's Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians, a discussion about the future of Canada's television system. Following almost a year of public consultations, a CBC/Radio-Canada delegation attended the public hearing in September 2014 and submitted comments and a proposal for changes to the regulatory regime for television services in Canada.

A total of seven decisions, documented in hundreds of pages, were handed down between November 2014 and March 2015. In some cases, the CRTC agreed with our recommendations, highlighted in the Corporation's Second Quarter Financial Report 2014-2015; in others, it did not. The most pertinent of those decisions for CBC/Radio-Canada are mandated entry-level basic service; the removal of genre protections for specialty and pay services; and the decision that conventional broadcasters must continue to provide over-the-air television service until such time as the CRTC indicates otherwise. The decisions can be reviewed, in full, on the CRTC website or via a comprehensive summary posted on our corporate website.

CONSULTATIONS WITH OFFICIAL LANGUAGE MINORITY COMMUNITIES

As part of our current conditions of licence, we are required to hold at least biennial consultations with official language minority communities in Atlantic and Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec, and the North. Edmonton was the hosting town for Radio-Canada's first consultation, held in spring 2014, for the Western part of the country. In October 2014, Radio-Canada held its second formal consultation in Sudbury for the Ontario region, the report for which will be filed with the CRTC in November 2015. Meanwhile, the first formal consultation for CBC in Montreal, Quebec, was held in February 2015.

OPTIMIZING OUR REAL ESTATE FOOTPRINT

Reducing our real estate footprint – both owned and leased – while maintaining our regional presence, continues to be of key importance. For example, in November 2014, we moved from two owned properties in Halifax into one rented building that offers state-of-the-art broadcasting facilities in a far more space-efficient location. In the second quarter, we also confirmed the sale of our Windsor property, in which we will now lease some space as a tenant – representing a 53% space reduction. In addition, in Grand Falls, we consolidated our activities under a single, leased location that better meets our needs and are currently in the process of selling this building.

ACQUISITION OF ARTV

As of March 31, 2015, Radio-Canada became the sole owner of ARTV after buying out ARTE's 15% share of the company. This move is consistent with its ongoing multiplatform strategy and the co-production partnership agreement signed in March 2015 between Radio-Canada and ARTE France.

REPORT ON WORKPLACE INVESTIGATION REGARDING JIAN GHOMESHI

On April 16, 2015, we released the findings of the third-party investigator Janice Rubin B.A., LL.B, who completed an internal review of allegations of improprieties in the workplace by former radio host Jian Ghomeshi. We accept the general conclusions of the report. It includes nine recommendations and we will take the necessary steps to implement as many of those as we can, as quickly as possible. This is addressed more fully in the People and Leadership section.