The BBC and CBC/Radio-Canada today announced a commitment to future collaboration across a range of different areas. The agreement was made between Tony Hall, Director-General BBC, and Catherine Tait, President and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada, on the occasion of the 82nd General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union in Oslo, Norway last week.
In a joint statement, Hall and Tait commented:
CBC/Radio-Canada and the BBC have shared histories that span the Atlantic and our nations’ strong bonds. We are both organizations founded on strong values with an enduring mission – to inform, educate and entertain. We tell the stories of our countries and people to ourselves, and to the world.
Today we are coming together to express our shared belief that the benefits of modern story-telling, with public service values, are best achieved through greater collaboration. We are committing to working together to enhance the services and programmes we bring to our audiences.
Across drama, factual, news, current affairs and radio, we will work across our organisations to develop new ideas that benefit both the BBC and CBC/Radio-Canada.
In an increasingly global marketplace, Canadian and British audiences want programmes and services about their lives and their culture. In divided times, it’s never been more important to reflect and represent every part of our diverse communities. And in a world where disinformation spreads in a flash, we need public media to bring the whole of society the news and analysis that it can trust – what is really going on and why it matters.
As we reinvent how we deliver our services for new generations, we are coming together to share ideas, and our teams are exploring new ways to work together: amplifying our public service missions, bringing our audiences the best ideas, and investing in our local creative industries.
Through this partnership we will bring the best stories to audiences across the UK and Canada, and around the world.
Together we are already sharing ideas and cooperating around engaging young audiences, fact-checking to help tackle disinformation, content including news coverage, new technology, and making our organisations fantastic places to work – reflecting our diverse audiences on and off-screen, supporting emerging talent from all around our countries, and pursuing environmentally sound production.
