Assume that the CBC is ad-free with this money(grant?) then what stipulations may the government make regarding what they may or may-not run?
I am fine with things being ad-free, it just seems like a request like this would be rife with manipulation/corruption... even if not day-one -- but even within five years - the narrative is then owned.
Personally, I've voted Conservative, Liberal, and NDP in various elections at various times. Every election, I print out each party's platform, make notes, watch the debates, and only then make a decision.
Approaching the CBC from that perspective, I've found them to be quite fair overall. They actually seem a bit hostile to whoever is currently governing. I've seen the hosts of some of CBC's political shows give government ministers and MPs from all parties a hard time, asking them tough questions and pointing out when they contradicted themselves.
I think you concern is valid, but I haven't observed it happening even though CBC already receives lots of government funding.
they are publicly funded anyway.
edit: They also have a separate recommendation
http://future.cbc.ca/recommendations.html > Depoliticize CBC/Radio-Canada funding so that it is predictable and stable, tied to the existing five-year licence cycle, indexed to inflation, and separated from the election and annual government budget cycles. This would be similar to how the BBC now operates. Indexation is critical – without it, inflation of just 1.5% per year would erode the new government funding of $150 million to zero in just six years.
To have anything resembling a similar amount of say about how a privately funded media company operates, I have to boycott all of its advertisers, which likely entails long-term lifestyle changes.
Advertisers are almost completely in charge of what shows makes it to TV - that's what they do at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upfronts - they show advertisers proposed shows and the ad execs pick which ones make it to market.
The advertisers can't pick the specific content of news type shows, but they can pick which news shows are broadcast in the first place.