The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s plan to go commercial-free could spell higher rates and increased clutter in the private television marketplace, media buyers warn.

CBC president Robert Rabinovitch has revealed plans to de-commercialize the public broadcaster by eliminating as much advertising "as possible." He wants to start by dropping ads from news programming.

Lorraine Hughes, media director with Toronto-based TBWA Chiat/Day, says there’s steadily growing pressure on TV time these days, especially with the proliferation of dot-com advertisers, and reductions on CBC will just add to that.

While the effect probably won’t be that serious in Toronto, where advertisers have a reasonable amount of selection, it could prove considerable in markets such as Calgary and Vancouver, where inventory is tight.

"There just aren’t enough GRPs [in those markets] for everybody to buy," Hughes says. "As we’re losing minutes, it’s putting more pressure on the inventory that’s in the market. And of course, as there’s more pressure, the rates increase, and it all becomes a vicious cycle."

The loss of commercial opportunities in CBC news programming, she adds, will diminish the already limited array of options available to those advertisers that target managers and professionals.

For her part, Karen Nayler, managing director of Toronto-based MindShare Canada, says there’s no real cause for panic – at least at the moment.

While CBC may be cutting back on commercial airtime, she says, there’s more and more available from specialty channels – many of which also offer new opportunities for targeting.

Hughes agrees, but adds that there’s one thing advertisers can do on CBC news that they can’t do on most specialties – namely, execute regional buys.