Nearly half of Canadians want federal funding of the CBC to to stay at current levels, according to a Harris Decima survey for the Canadian Press.

As the budget-conscious feds in Ottawa consider cutting the pubcaster’s annual appropriation, the survey of just over 1000 Canadians found 46% of respondents called on the current CBC funding to remain as-is.

Around 23% of respondents said funding for the CBC should be increased.

Another 22% of those surveyed said the CBC funding should be cut, and 12% said all taxpayer funding should be withdrawn.

Support, or lack of, for the CBC was divided by region, and age.

Around 54% of Canadians aged 18 to 34 years want CBC funding to remain at current levels, while that support falls to 43% among those aged over 50 years of age.

And the CBC received the largest support for current funding levels in Ontario (49%) and the least in Alberta (33%).

The Harris Decima survey comes as the CBC continues to make its case in Ottawa for continued and stable funding from Ottawa as the government considers a possible 5% or 10% cut to its annual appropriation.