For the first time in more than 15 years, the federal government has granted the CBC an extra chunk of money to the tune of $60 million.

‘It’s a beginning,’ says CBC president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch. ‘But it doesn’t solve the CBC’s problems.’

The money, which is a one-off for the year, is part of the government’s recent commitment to investing in Canadian culture, and will go to English and French television and radio programming.

‘I think there’s a growing recognition that we’ve been hurt significantly, and a growing recognition of the need for a public broadcaster in the growing channel universe,’ says Rabinovitch.

Over the past decade, under the Liberal government, the CBC’s budget has been slashed by roughly $400 million. And while Rabinovitch says the Corp doesn’t need the entire $400 million returned in order to get back on track, he hopes the $60 million will translate into increasing the CBC’s yearly allotment of approximately $700 million.

The $60 million is part of the federal government’s recently announced $560 million spending spree on arts and cultural, a commitment made in last year’s Speech from the Throne.

From the new purse, $108 million has been committed to foster Canadian content on the Internet, a few million of which is likely to trickle down to the CBC later this year, suspects Rabinovitch.

The precise destination for the $60 million has yet to be determined, but should be allocated by the end of June.

‘I don’t believe in spending money before we have it, but we want to do more cross-cultural programs like the history program (Canada: A People’s History),’ says Rabinovitch.

As part of CBC’s English television transformation plan, the Corp is committed to doing more docs, more investigative reports and more ‘big bookend series’ like Random Passage.

‘The money allows us to move more quickly down that line,’ says Rabinovitch, who, shortly after taking the CBC post, initially proposed to slash local newscasts and de-commercialize the public network.

While he succeeded in cutting commercials from the 6 pm and 10 pm newscasts, he was forced by public pressure to partially retain local newscasts across the country and create a national half-hour newscast to run along with them, costing the Corp $30 million.

‘We made the decision not to get out of local newscasts and so we’ll honor that commitment as long as we can afford it,’ ‘ says Rabinovitch, who also affirms that none of the new money will be used to keep the local newscasts afloat.

In Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, local newscast viewership numbers are up, while numbers are down in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. ‘Some people say they’re still punishing us,’ Rabinovitch jokes. *

-www.cbc.ca