CBC is heading to court to appeal an order to disclose its Gem streaming service subscriber figures.
Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard ruled in July that the public broadcaster must reveal the number of paid CBC Gem subscribers. University of Ottawa assistant professor Matt Malone originally asked for this data in an access-to-information request.
CBC, for its part, claims that disclosing Gem subscriber numbers “would harm its competitive position by providing sensitive data” to rival streamers. It also adds that this information shouldn’t be required to be disclosed as it’s related to programming activities.
However, Maynard says the subscriber numbers also relate to general administration, which doesn’t apply to an exemption to disclosure. She added that CBC hasn’t demonstrated how there is a “reasonable expectation” of the competitor-related harms actually happening.
It’s worth noting that CBC does provide data on how many people tune into its TV and radio broadcasts, just not Gem. The service has both a $5.99/month Premium tier that removes ads, as well as an ad-enabled free option, but it’s unclear how many people are using either.
Image credit: CBC
Via: The Canadian Press
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