Inside the CBC with Richard Stursberg
Hosted by The Canadian Press' Rob Russo
I hired him because he was the best available person by a long shot. Richard is extremely bright. He’s a risk-taker and an innovator.... He proved that Canadians will watch Canadian programs. You can argue about the mix, you can argue about tone, you can argue about money allocation, but you can’t argue that audience doesn’t matter.
The ultimate CBC insider exposes the controversies, successes and dead ends of his time at the top. In 2004, Richard Stursberg was hired to run English services for the network. Join us for the story of the struggle that resulted -- a struggle that lasted for six turbulent and controversial years.
Shortly after Stursberg arrived, the corporation locked out its employees for two months. Four years later, he signed the most harmonious labour contract to date. He lost the television rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games. He won the biggest NHL contract in history. He had unprecedented ratings successes. He had terrible flops. He enjoyed the best radio, television and online ratings in CBC’s history. The Tower of Babble is the story of our most loved and reviled cultural institution during its most convulsive and far-reaching period of change. It is for those who think the CBC has lost its way, those who love where it is, and those who think it should not exist in the first place.