The CBC web-based services are efficient and cheap.  They basically are re-using content produced for TV and radio at very little additional cost.  Fundamentally, CBC.ca is a menu for their core broadcasting services.  It allows people who weren't able to tune in when programs are broadcast to see what they missed and access it.  But I think most importantly, CBC.ca allows people to access local news from across Canada in a way that no other "national" media has done..  I read the G&M and other sources for national stories, but I depend on CBC for their mandate of informing us about each other where we live.