EVERY year or two, opposition deputies will make a fuss about the extortionate annual budget of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. The responsibility, this year, was assumed by DISY’s deputy leader Averof Neophytou who said that the €47-million budget for 2011 was a provocation to Cypriot citizens who were feeling the brunt of the world economic crisis. The taxpayer was paying these millions to support a broadcaster that was not objective and acted like a political party broadcaster, said Neophytou.
He was perfectly entitled to protest about the squandering of the taxpayer’s money, when we consider that private broadcasters provide as good a service – if not better – without being a burden on the state.
On the contrary, private broadcasters have to compete with the CyBC for advertising and sponsorship revenue, for screening rights and for staff on what is quite clearly not a level playing field.
The fact that the CyBC does not have to balance its books at the end of the year gives it a huge advantage over the competition, as it can cut its advertising rates and make the highest bids for screening rights without any real consequences on its operation, as the taxpayer would fund the bigger losses.
It is also in a position to take the employees of private broadcasters, because it offers public sector salaries, shorter working hours, generous overtime pay and hefty pensions.
In short, we are funding a wasteful corporation that exists primarily for the benefit of its employees rather than for the public, while making the survival of private broadcasters more difficult. And the irony is that the taxpayer is not being offered a service that is any better than what is provided by private television and radio stations.
Instead of differentiating itself – offering high-quality programmes as a public broadcaster – in order to justify its funding, the CyBC has copied the private stations in almost everything it does, because it is after the high ratings that would bring more advertising.
So why do we have to pay a staggering €47 million a year for a corporation that offers nothing better than what private stations offer at zero cost to the taxpayer? Is this a rational use of resources? It is not but, like all other state organisations, the CyBC is an ultra-generous, undemanding employer that exists exclusively for the benefit of its employees and the administration in office, even if it calls itself a public broadcaster.
The truth is that the only reason the CyBC deserves the public broadcaster tag is because the public pays a huge bill for its upkeep in order to spread the message of the government of the day.
