CBC asks court to keep Gem subscriber numbers confidential – National

CBC/Radio-Canada has filed a petition in federal court to challenge an order directing it to disclose subscriber numbers for its Gem streaming service.

The Information Commissioner has ordered the CBC to publish the number of Gem's paid subscribers following an access to data request.

CBC/Radio-Canada president Marie-Philippe Bouchard told the Canadian Press that subscriber numbers are commercially sensitive information.

Bouchard added that confidentiality is important when it comes to things like commercial negotiations for bundling Gem with other streaming services.

Public broadcasters are “responsible for deriving part of their budget from commercial relationships,” she said.

“And it has to be done according to the rules of the market. So with this ruling, we are uncomfortable with that interpretation.”

In refusing to disclose the numbers, the CBC cited exemptions for programming activities or information that could harm its competitive position.

In her final report on access to information complaints, Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard said that while the subscriber numbers related to the CBC's programming activities, they also related to the CBC's general operations, meaning the disclosure exemption did not apply.

“While CBC has identified potential harm to its competitive position and ongoing negotiations, it has not established that there was a reasonable expectation that such harm could occur, beyond the mere possibility,” Maynard said.

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Bouchard said the Information Commissioner's ruling is inconsistent with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's interpretation of what constitutes “confidential commercial information.”

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Bouchard said CBC/Radio-Canada will ask the court for clarification on the issue.

CBC launched its Gem streaming service in 2018, which has both paid and free versions. The $5.99/month paid version includes ad-free on-demand streaming and streams of CBC News Network, CBC's 24-hour news channel.

Paid subscribers “don't create gems,” Bouchard said. “Gem is primarily a service for free users, and the paid portion is really a product for people who don't want ads.”

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CBC does not disclose the number of paid or free subscribers to Gem.

In a notice of application, CBC/Radio-Canada asks the court to set aside the Information Commissioner's order and declare Gem's records exempt from disclosure.

The public broadcaster argues that it “operates in a highly competitive environment where national and international commercial broadcasters, community broadcasters and other digital streamers offer unique programming on their own distribution platforms.”

Bouchard was pressed on the question Monday afternoon during an appearance before the House Heritage Committee.

Conservative MP Kevin Waugh asked Bouchard if she was “embarrassed” by the numbers.

“No,” she answered.

“Why don't we go out and say, 'Here are the numbers we got?'” Waugh asked again, telling Bouchard, “Give me the numbers.”

Bouchard responded that more than 5 million people have created accounts.

In a subsequent exchange with Waugh, Bouchard said that while the CRTC allows companies to “consider that information confidential,” the Information Commissioner's interpretation “says we don't meet that standard of confidentiality.”

“We want to reconcile these two interpretations, which is why we asked the federal court to consider the situation,” she said.

Waugh disagreed, telling Bouchard: “I don't know what you're hiding. I really don't know, because you're a public broadcaster, you're funded by the people, you're not competing with Bell Media or Crave or anything like that.”

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