Image via WikipediaCanada’s national broadcaster appears to be in a state of denial. In a submission to the broadcast regulator, CBC argues that new media is not displacing traditional TV and radio.

It challenges the idea that traditional TV and radio use is being displaced as Internet use increases, saying this assumption is false:

Specifically, over the last decade per capita hours of Internet use have increased to 10 hours per week while total weekly hours of usage of TV and radio, together, have remained stable.

The answer is clearly that for the average Canadian, broadcasting content found on the Internet is not a replacement or a substitute for traditional media. Internet usage is replacing some activities in Canadians’ lives – but not their usage of television and radio.

CBC argues that Canadians use the Internet primarily as a communications and research tool, rather than for leisure or entertainment activities.

It also has a go at amateur content online, arguing this will not replace traditional media. And it clearly sees the Internet as a merely a distribution channel, rather than as a new medium that has its own unique set of characteristics:

The Internet simply provides people with another tool to personalize their consumption of video and audio content: broadcasting content found on the Internet does not provide a replacement or substitute for traditional broadcast media, particularly entertainment programming.

It is understandable that the CBC would seek to defend and justify its existence. But it is making the wrong argument. It is assuming that one form of media will replace another, rather then understanding that many young people use multiple media concurrently.

It is also mistaken in seeing the net as “simply” a way for people to customise how they consume video and audio. This ignores the rise in amateur content online and how people are sharing this with each other.

The CBC’s submission is clearly firmly rooted in its broadcast culture.