It’s time to defund BC's state-broadcaster, the Knowledge Network. There’s no reason why British Columbia should have a state-broadcaster. It costs taxpayers millions and misses its own performance targets more often than not. The Knowledge Network Corporation is a government-owned TV station which costs BC taxpayers more than $6.6 million per year. That costs more than the total provincial tax bill for about 1,245 BC families making $100,000 per year. Imagine if there were an extra $6.6 million per year going towards cutting your taxes, or funding your kids’ school, or the local hospital. Knowledge Network is failing to explore other revenue streams to wean themselves off the taxpayer credit card. Its website loudly proclaims: "100% free. 0% commercials." TV stations sell commercials to fund themselves. The Knowledge Network doesn’t because it knows another cheque from taxpayers is always around the corner. Why are taxpayers picking up the slack when the Knowledge Network seemingly isn’t even trying to pay for itself? We certainly aren’t picking up the tab because Knowledge Network is nailing its performance objectives. In fact, it missed almost all of them. Knowledge Network set itself a target of 3.08 million streams on knowledge.ca in 2023-24. They failed, getting 2.66 million instead. Perhaps the kids’ version of the site did better? Nope, knowledgekids.ca had a target of 6.79 million streams, but only got 6.24 million. At the same time, Knowledge Network’s total market share on television is plummeting. In 2022-23, it had a 4.9% market. In 2023-24, that dropped to 4.2%. That’s a 15 per cent decrease in market share in just one year. In the real world, if a company missed targets like that, you’d expect pink slips to be raining down. Not so at BC's state-broadcaster. In fact, every executive received a "performance-based increase" in pay between 6.75 and 8.21%. Executives received "performance based" raises, despite missing their own targets and overseeing a plummeting market share. And whether you like it or not, your tax dollars paid for those raises. In an era of YouTube, Netflix, Disney + and dozens of other streaming sites, Knowledge Network is a relic of the past. There’s no reason why BC should be hanging onto a taxpayer-funded state broadcaster when free and low-cost educational content is already widely available to anyone with a TV remote or a WiFi connection. It’s hard to understand why BC taxpayers are paying for Knowledge Network originals like, The Backward Class, a documentary about "untouchables" in India studying for high school exams. Or Just Eat It, the story of a Vancouver couple who dumpster dive to "eat only rescued food for six months." In some cases, it seems like Knowledge Network is running communications for the governing NDP, like with the original film, Only in Nelson, which asks "in the midst of a raucous civic election, can this ultra-liberal, hippy, pot-producing oasis deal with an encroaching right-wing North American conservative agenda?"Maybe this bizarre, out-of-touch programming is one reason viewership is plummeting for BC's state-broadcaster? There was a time when it was trendy for provinces to have their own state broadcaster, but those days are long gone. Knowledge Network is the last provincially-owned TV station in Western Canada. Alberta and Manitoba both ditched the dead-weight of a taxpayer-funded TV station in the 1990s. It took Saskatchewan until 2010 to finally get rid of the last remnants of its provincially-run broadcaster. It's time for the BC government to cancel taxpayer-handouts to outdated state-run media outlets and let Knowledge Network compete on its own.Carson Binda is the BC Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
