CBC’s streaming service, CBC Gem, has continued to acquire American television programming despite ongoing trade tensions between Canada and the United States. Over the past 18 months, the service has expanded its catalogue of U.S. shows, raising questions about the public broadcaster’s commitment to prioritizing Canadian content.
This October, CBC Gem added the sitcom Community, originally aired on NBC over a decade ago, and the two-season science fiction series Counterpart, which concluded in 2019 on Starz. These acquisitions come amid heightened awareness among Canadians about purchasing domestically produced goods and content, but CBC Gem’s strategy appears unchanged.
The trend of acquiring American programming gained attention earlier this year when CBC licensed the first season of Hulu’s crime comedy Deli Boys for streaming on Gem, using Canadian public funds. This move coincided with promotional efforts during the NHL playoffs and came as the show’s second season launched on Disney+ in Canada, prompting debate over the public broadcaster inadvertently promoting a U.S. entertainment conglomerate’s service.
Efforts to obtain details on CBC’s spending for American content on Gem met with limited success. Chuck Thompson, CBC’s head of public affairs, declined to disclose financial specifics, citing competitive reasons. While affirming that both English and French-language streamers under CBC “privilege” Canadian content, Thompson acknowledged the presence of “a wide range of content from all over the world, including some American shows.”
An analysis conducted by searching CBC Gem’s public catalogue identified approximately 144 titles classified as American. This number slightly overcounts actual U.S.-only productions, as some listed series, like The Tudors, are international co-productions involving American, British, and Canadian partners. Nonetheless, the proportion of American content on Gem is notable, especially compared to CBC’s traditional linear television service, which has long emphasized Canadian programming.
CBC Television itself has a complex history with American programming. In 1960, about half of its schedule was Canadian, a figure that rose to 80 percent by 1986 amid official efforts to bolster domestic content. The broadcaster nearly eliminated U.S. commercial programming from prime time in the 1990s, but never fully abandoned American shows. This fall, the network airs a single U.S. series in prime time—Animal Control, a Fox sitcom featuring Canadian comedian Gerry Dee.
The shift toward including more American content in CBC’s digital streaming services contrasts with the organization’s historical public-service goals, underscoring a lack of updated regulatory guidance. Canada’s Broadcasting Act, last revised in 1991, has not kept pace with the evolving media landscape, leaving the public broadcaster’s mandate unclear in the digital era.
Some critics argue that CBC Gem should serve as a distinctly Canadian platform, providing ad-free access to Canadian-produced entertainment, documentaries, and news, similar to models employed by the BBC’s iPlayer or Australia’s ABC iview. They suggest the service should focus exclusively on Canadian content and avoid competing with private streaming platforms by acquiring U.S. shows already widely available through other distributors.
As Canadians increasingly seek to support domestic cultural industries, the presence of American programming on CBC Gem continues to prompt debate about the public broadcaster’s role and priorities in the streaming age.