Veteran Quebec television executive Marie-Philippe Bouchard has been named the next president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada.
Bouchard, who most recently served as president and CEO of TV5 Québec Canada, will serve as the country’s president and CEO for a five-year term starting January 3, 2025, according to a statement from Heritage Canada, a federal government arm. He ended up taking the top job at the public broadcaster.
He steps down as pubcaster at CBC/Radio-Canada amid controversy over executive bonuses paid to staff this year as a wave of employee re-layoffs in the face of declining advertising revenue and competition from U.S. digital giants. He will succeed Catherine Tait, the director of the department. .
Prior to joining TV5 Quebec in 2016, Bouchard held numerous management and senior management positions at CBC/Radio-Canada. As Netflix, Prime Video and other U.S.-based streaming platforms take a larger share of the domestic television market, traditional broadcasters including CBC/Radio-Canada are struggling to stay relevant with Canadian media consumers. While struggling, she returns to being a pubcaster.
“Public service media around the world serve as a valuable public asset. As society rapidly changes, our public broadcaster must continue to build trust to remain relevant to all Canadians. No,” Bouchard said in a statement Tuesday.
In May 2024, the federal government established an advisory committee to provide policy advice on the future of public broadcasting. These include a possible revamp of the annual funding model, which includes taxpayer funds and advertising revenue, as content production costs continue to rise.
The CBC could receive some funding boost after Canada signed a $100 million deal to pay local publishers annually for news snippets shared or reused on local platforms.