Article content continued

No one watches anything on Netflix that they don’t want to — no one single, anyway — so there’s no earthly reason to put stuff there if people don’t want it. The irony, though, is that there’s a ton of Canadian content on Netflix, precisely because people want to watch it. And as University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist explained in a blog post on Friday, Netflix makes it very easy to find: Not only are there direct links to Canadian TV shows and films, but it algorithmically detects a user’s preference for CanCon and recommends other titles.

It’s particularly striking that subscribing to Netflix is a voluntary action — unlike, say, contributing to CBC’s annual subsidy

Goodness, just look at all the Canuck shows: Baroness Von Sketch Show, Workin’ Moms, Mr. D, Kim’s Convenience, Schitt’s Creek, Intelligence … hang on a tic, those are all CBC shows! How did those imperialist Silicon Valley pigdogs get their filthy hands on it? Because as more and more Canadians cut the cord, Netflix is a perfectly logical place for CBC and the production companies it works with to showcase their work — not just to Canada but to the world. In short, there doesn’t seem to be any problem or threat here at all, to anyone — just success, and the opportunity for more.

If Tait’s in search of real problems at CBC, she needn’t struggle to find them. Perhaps most notably, the TV news offerings are basically indistinguishable from the commercial broadcasters’ — so what’s the point of them? Indeed, as I’ve argued before, CBC is long overdue for a comprehensive mandate review, and there is no time like the present. The Liberals in Ottawa are obsessed with media these days, to the point that they want to dole out hundreds of millions of dollars to struggling news organizations. Whatever you think of that idea, it makes no sense at all without first examining in detail how the CBC colossus fits into that marketplace. If the Liberals want a stronger public broadcaster, as they say, then they should launch a comprehensive review of everything it does and how it does it — especially since senior management seems unable to distinguish success from failure and opportunity from a 19th-century French military campaign.

• Email: cselley@nationalpost.com | Twitter: cselley