Who should be The National's new anchor?

ssiguy · #1 Posted **Aug 1, 2017, 11:54 PM**

CBC has announced the candidates for the new host of The National, the most watched newscast in the country............Arsenault, Barton, {both broadccating from Ottawa} Chang, {from Vancouver} and Hanomansing {from Toronto}.

All 4 are well qualified and competent. For me, Hanomansing would be my least favorite and Chang the most favorite. I actually usually prefer female anchors but am not wildly enthusiastic about Arsenault or Barton. I think Arsenault is an excellent reporter and Barton is an excellent host of Power & Politics but I don't know if they would make great anchors. Personally, I would have preferred Wendy Mesley over any of them but she obviously wasn't offered the job or didn't want it.

What I don't understand is why they are contemplating moving it from Toronto. I'd probably prefer Chang but the idea of broadcasting The National from Vancouver is absurd and I think the CBC would regret it as it will be viewed more of a regional program by most Canadians and hence the ratings would plunge.

What do you think? PS if anyone knows how to put up a poll that would be appreciated.

GreaterMontréal · #2 Posted **Aug 1, 2017, 11:56 PM**

irrelevant in Quebec. you can put whoever you want

WhipperSnapper · #3 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:12 AM**

Not in Quebec. Don't care either. I get my news from Trevor Noah.

ssiguy · #4 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:12 AM**

I doubt that. There are many anglo/allophones in Quebec, especially in Montreal, who watch The National.

mistercorporate · #5 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

CBC has announced the candidates for the new host of The National, the most watched newscast in the country............Arsenault, Barton, {both broadccating from Ottawa} Chang, {from Vancouver} and Hanomansing {from Toronto}.

All 4 are well qualified and competent. For me, Hanomansing would be my least favorite and Chang the most favorite. I actually usually prefer female anchors but am not wildly enthusiastic about Arsenault or Barton. I think Arsenault is an excellent reporter and Barton is an excellent host of Power & Politics but I don't know if they would make great anchors. Personally, I would have preferred Wendy Mesley over any of them but she obviously wasn't offered the job or didn't want it.

What I don't understand is why they are contemplating moving it from Toronto. I'd probably prefer Chang but the idea of broadcasting The National from Vancouver is absurd and I think the CBC would regret it as it will be viewed more of a regional program by most Canadians and hence the ratings would plunge.

What do you think? PS if anyone knows how to put up a poll that would be appreciated.

lol, you prefer Chang? Amateur hour

Jornalists aren't expected to be particularly deep, but yeah..

DrJoe · #6 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:20 AM**

Cue page after page of that moron rambling on about Quebec.

Quite obviously The National isn't completely irrelevant in Quebec but I'm sure we'll hear all about it since we've taken the bait.

GreaterMontréal · #7 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I doubt that. There are many anglo/allophones in Quebec, especially in Montreal, who watch The National.

English Montréalers watch CTV, not CBC. In 2013, CBC 6pm newscast, 11,300 viewers.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/enter...629/story.html

esquire · #8 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:21 AM**

Should've been Hanomansing and Paul Hunter, with Arsenault as backup. Barton is wasted on teleprompter reading. Chang shouldn't have been allowed to leave Vancouver.

They could have brought Ravi Baichwal back from the US, I always thought he would have been a solid national newscast host.

esquire · #9 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrJoe

Cue page after page of that moron rambling on about Quebec.

Quite obviously The National isn't completely irrelevant in Quebec but I'm sure we'll hear all about it since we've taken the bait.

To anyone who thinks we're all dying for this thread to be an earnest discussion about The National's relevance in Quebec: we're not.

mistercorporate · #10 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrJoe

Cue page after page of that moron rambling on about Quebec.

Quite obviously The National isn't completely irrelevant in Quebec but I'm sure we'll hear all about it since we've taken the bait.

mistercorporate · #11 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

Should've been Hanomansing and Paul Hunter, with Arsenault as backup. Barton is wasted on teleprompter reading. Chang shouldn't have been allowed to leave Vancouver.

They could have brought Ravi Baichwal back from the US, I always thought he would have been a solid national newscast host.

Hmm...well thought out! Despite CBC's obvious biases and deficiencies, it is our TV news source of record, so their choices will have some influence.

(Addendum: Yes, yes, we know, not "yours", we got that the 50th time

)

GreaterMontréal · #12 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:28 AM**

2016 numbers

6pm
TVA , 774,000
Radio-Canada , 305,000

10pm
TVA , 411,000
Radio-Canada , 305,000

CBC and CTV are not in the same ballpark. you don't really care about TVA and Radio-Canada, and that's normal.

I prefer , ''On the Money with Peter Armstrong''.

MonctonRad · #13 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 12:38 AM**

Ian Hanomansing was the obvious heir apparent, and should have been the anointed one.

The new paradigm with four anchors seems bizarre to me. It gives a certain poignancy to the political correctness rampant in the CBC in that the team includes two white females and two racial minority males. It's pretty obvious that as far as the CBC was concerned, that the only type of applicant that was automatically excluded from consideration was anyone who was a white male.

I'm not being a racist about this. If there were only one anchor to be chosen, my choice would have been Ian Hanomansing. He has the experience, skill and the charisma for the position (and he's a good Maritime boy to boot - from Sackville NB).

samne · #14 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 1:39 AM**

Not much of a choice...I guess Hanomansing or Arsenault tandem.

Think David Common should be in that group.

hipster duck · #15 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 1:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrJoe

Cue page after page of that moron rambling on about Quebec.

Quite obviously The National isn't completely irrelevant in Quebec but I'm sure we'll hear all about it since we've taken the bait.

I think he's on vacation. He hasn't posted in days.

hipster duck · #16 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 1:50 AM**

Anyway, my preference would be Rosemary Barton or Ian Hanomansing.

someone123 · #17 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 1:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I'd probably prefer Chang but the idea of broadcasting The National from Vancouver is absurd and I think the CBC would regret it as it will be viewed more of a regional program by most Canadians and hence the ratings would plunge.

Doesn't this have more to do with the content than where the anchor happens to be? It's easy these days to show live content from around the world regardless of which city you're based in, assuming you have access to some basic infrastructure. And people complain about "cat stuck in tree" stories from Toronto too.

Am I the only person who doesn't have strong feelings about who the person reading the news is? I find the news anchor personality cult stuff stupid.

hipster duck · #18 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 2:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123

Am I the only person who doesn't have strong feelings about who the person reading the news is?

I think there's value in having a good host. A host doesn't just read a teleprompter. They should also be involved in hosting live events that require a certain amount of "thinking on your feet", knowing when to cut off or engage people on a discussion panel and being a good interviewer. Very few people can do all three well.

I think Rosemary Barton cut her teeth on Power and Politics so she's good at handling a discussion panel. Peter was good at that too. I think Adrienne Arsenault might be the best when it comes to interviewing people one-on-one. I'm not sure who's good at hosting live events; Peter Mansbridge was pretty awful at that, frankly.

Rumors · #19 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 2:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I doubt that. There are many anglo/allophones in Quebec, especially in Montreal, who watch The National.

My fave is Chang too.

Echoes · #20 Posted **Aug 2, 2017, 3:05 AM**

I really love Rosemary Barton, but perhaps that's because her current post at P&P allows her to be more freewheeling. As an anchor... I don't know. I can see her being great helming At Issue and that kind of thing. One-on-one interviews too.

I was really expecting to see either Paul Hunter or David Common in the mix. All other choices seem fine to me. Ian Hanomansing is a no-brainer.

I'm really happy Wendy Mesley isn't part of the lineup. I've never been much of a fan.