What to do with Radio Canada and the CBC?

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by Acajack

There are plenty of people who will make the "Quebec gets pandered to again" rant without needing the corresponding "poor anglos" argument on the flipside.

I would say they very much do get pandered too. Very little local programming on radio Canada manitoba is produced in manitoba. It’s pretty much all out of Quebec.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I used to listen to CBC radio a lot when I was younger, then the whole jian Ghomeshi thing happened and it wasnt the same, should have gave him his job back when he was found not guilty. But would he have gone back… clearly That’s one hell of a toxic work environment. Then lots of the great shows were axed, used to loveDNTO, but they canned that, Stuart died so vinyl tap was done, good veteran hosts retired so younger ones could stay, and the whole vibe just went down. It really began to suck so I stopped listening to it completely, but recently have started listening to more radio Canada and the difference in quality of programming between the French and English services is amazing. Night and day.

As for tv, some of their recent shows have been good, I love sort of, but it’s very niche. And then there was the success of schitts creek, and heartland. But can’t really think of anything else. Rosemary Barton has to go, toxic personality. Even the cbc news channel is pathetic, same clips over and over and over. For hours on end. With the amount of people working for them and they can’t update shit? Sad. They used to be very reputable, now meh.

Bureaucracy killed the cbc, at least the English side of it.

Like many in Ottawa, I used to be a big CBC radio listener but it has been getting harder, especially in the afternoons. In my car, I switch to CBC on the hour for the news and then shift back to another station.

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I would say they very much do get pandered too. Very little local programming on radio Canada manitoba is produced in manitoba. It’s pretty much all out of Quebec.

French has been suppressed in Manitoba to the point were only a very small population exist today. This is not very realistic.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Since I assume you’re talking about a hypothetical conservative government, who is going to make the “poor anglos” argument? Conservative Premiers? The Liberal Opposition? Probably the NDP, but a Tory government wouldn’t be bothered by that.

It wouldn’t have to be so dramatic either. They could announce CBC TV is switching to a commercial free TVO (and maybe some local news) model and dropping the expensive sports and scripted TV.

Wouldn't this need a bigger subsidy? I mean unless you mean they end all news reporting and just have a few free professors coming into the studio to talk about issues. The sports and scripted TV must pay for itself no? It's the news the bleeds money.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I would say they very much do get pandered too. Very little local programming on radio Canada manitoba is produced in manitoba. It’s pretty much all out of Quebec.

A lot of CBC programming in Manitoba is just from Toronto, too.

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by vanatox

French has been suppressed in Manitoba to the point were only a very small population exist today. This is not very realistic.

There are over 110,000 people in manitoba who speak French and it’s growing. Why can’t some stuff be produced here? might help unite the country… just a touch. Might make Quebec understand westerners a bit more, would that be such a bad thing?

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by harls

A lot of CBC programming in Manitoba is just from Toronto, too.

They used to have good morning and lunch hour and afternoon shows that were local, i know DNTO produced segments out of winnipeg, even though the show was hosted in Toronto. That kinda stuff.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Wouldn't this need a bigger subsidy? I mean unless you mean they end all news reporting and just have a few free professors coming into the studio to talk about issues. The sports and scripted TV must pay for itself no? It's the news the bleeds money.

Professors who appear as commentators on news channels aren't "free", AFAIK.

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by Hecate

There are over 110,000 people in manitoba who speak French and it’s growing. Why can’t some stuff be produced here? might help unite the country… just a touch. Might make Quebec understand westerners a bit more, would that be such a bad thing?

This number include anglophones who are bilingual. But I know the Franco-manitoban community is very active. But just very small.

English content is done in Toronto, French content is done in Montreal. This is pretty much how it works in this country.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Hecate

They used to have good morning and lunch hour and afternoon shows that were local, i know DNTO produced segments out of winnipeg, even though the show was hosted in Toronto. That kinda stuff.

CBC radio everywhere it has an actual station has morning wake-up and afternoon "drive home" shows produced locally that are about 3 hours each. You'd definitely have this in Winnipeg.

You typically have a Saturday morning and Sunday morning program as well.

Weekday noon typically has a "regional" program that covers more than the local station's area. For example, in Ontario there is a province-wide program called "Ontario Today" in that time slot.

I am sure that Ontario Today is not broadcast in Manitoba or Newfoundland. There is something local or regional in that time slot.

There may be a few other local or regional programs thrown into the schedule here and there - but not many.

CBC TV has local newscasts at 6 pm everywhere they have a station, often covering just the city or the larger region or province the city is in. They also have a late night local newscast - not sure if it's just a rebroadcast of the 6 pm.

The local Ottawa CBC TV station also has a weekly magazine program called "Our Ottawa" that is broadcast Saturday during the day I think.

I'd assume something similar exists in most other regions of Canada, where they have stations.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by vanatox

This number include anglophones who are bilingual. But I know the Franco-manitoban community is very active. But just very small.

English content is done in Toronto, French content is done in Montreal. This is pretty much how it works in this country.

There are more people who speak French (and almost certainly way more of a Radio-Canada audience) is my specific part of Gatineau (40-50 km2) than in the entire province of Manitoba. There may in fact be a bigger Radio-Canada audience in this small area than in all of Western Canada.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Wouldn't this need a bigger subsidy? I mean unless you mean they end all news reporting and just have a few free professors coming into the studio to talk about issues. The sports and scripted TV must pay for itself no? It's the news the bleeds money.

Bigger than the current $3 per month that Canadians now pay? Possibly.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I used to listen to CBC radio a lot when I was younger, then the whole jian Ghomeshi thing happened and it wasnt the same, should have gave him his job back when he was found not guilty. But would he have gone back… clearly That’s one hell of a toxic work environment. Then lots of the great shows were axed, used to loveDNTO, but they canned that, Stuart died so vinyl tap was done, good veteran hosts retired so younger ones could stay, and the whole vibe just went down. It really began to suck so I stopped listening to it completely, but recently have started listening to more radio Canada and the difference in quality of programming between the French and English services is amazing. Night and day.

As for tv, some of their recent shows have been good, I love sort of, but it’s very niche. And then there was the success of schitts creek, and heartland. But can’t really think of anything else. Rosemary Barton has to go, toxic personality. Even the cbc news channel is pathetic, same clips over and over and over. For hours on end. With the amount of people working for them and they can’t update shit? Sad. They used to be very reputable, now meh.

Bureaucracy killed the cbc, at least the English side of it.

I used to listen to CBC radio because I drove to work. I don’t have a radio other than the one in my car, and I’m not going to download a radio player app. I think this is common for anyone under 45. If you’re not in a car, you’re not listening to the radio.

CBC news on TV is a waste of my time. It’s not the “wokeness” that gets to me, it’s that it’s very superficial analysis that’s almost as much of a time commitment as a podcast with an influential thinker that goes in depth. Why intersperse a national news programs with meaningless stories about a couple who didn’t get reimbursed for a flight cancellation by Air Canada? Who cares about that shit? I get that “complaining to the manager” is a characteristic that transcends generations but, again, for people under a certain age, the venue for doing that is to make a TikTok reel. Don’t sully a national news broadcast with your petty grievances.

You’re right about toxic personalities. The CBC seems to be a place where those people rise to the top.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Like many in Ottawa, I used to be a big CBC radio listener but it has been getting harder, especially in the afternoons. In my car, I switch to CBC on the hour for the news and then shift back to another station.

Yeah, same here. I like the news (especially the "bigger" "global" news at 6 am and 6 pm) but nearly everything else sucks. Whenever in the car, I have NPR on all the time instead of CBC, I only switch to CBC when too far away from the border to catch NPR (which, unfortunately, happens too often for my taste).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Hecate

I would say they very much do get pandered too. Very little local programming on radio Canada manitoba is produced in manitoba. It’s pretty much all out of Quebec.

I am originally a francophone from outside Quebec, and I too was long frustrated by Radio-Canada's Quebec-centric focus.

Until I saw the numbers. 85% of Canadian francophones live in Quebec and also a majority of francophones outside Quebec almost never if ever consume media in French.

So if you're Radio-Canada (or any Canadian francophone media outlet), around 95% of your audience is in Quebec.

Franco-Manitobans get local daily morning and late afternoon shows from Radio-Canada, a daily local TV newscast and there is a regional cultural program on the weekend that covers all of Western Canada.

That's not bad for what realistically are audiences probably in the hundreds of people.

(These audiences would probably not increase significantly if all of a sudden there was twice or five times as much locally produced content out of Radio-Canada Winnipeg.)

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

Yeah, same here. I like the news (especially the "bigger" "global" news at 6 am and 6 pm) but nearly everything else sucks. Whenever in the car, I have NPR on all the time instead of CBC, I only switch to CBC when too far away from the border to catch NPR (which, unfortunately, happens too often for my taste).

As It Happens (at 6:30 pm right after the news) is still a pretty good show. Even if some of the teary-eyed hosts speaking in hushed tones sometimes get on my nerves.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I am originally a francophone from outside Quebec, and I too was long frustrated by Radio-Canada's Quebec-centric focus.

Until I saw the numbers. 85% of Canadian francophones live in Quebec and also a majority of francophones outside Quebec almost never if ever consume media in French.

So if you're Radio-Canada (or any Canadian francophone media outlet), around 95% of your audience is in Quebec.

Franco-Manitobans get local daily morning and late afternoon shows from Radio-Canada, a daily local TV newscast and there is a regional cultural program on the weekend that covers all of Western Canada.

That's not bad for what realistically are audiences probably in the hundreds of people.

(These audiences would probably not increase significantly if all of a sudden there was twice or five times as much locally produced content out of Radio-Canada Winnipeg.)

That said, I’m still impressed that TVA even bothers to cover New Brunswick (as far southeast as Moncton).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

That said, I’m still impressed that TVA even bothers to cover New Brunswick (as far southeast as Moncton).

They barely do, to be honest.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Wouldn't this need a bigger subsidy? I mean unless you mean they end all news reporting and just have a few free professors coming into the studio to talk about issues. The sports and scripted TV must pay for itself no? It's the news the bleeds money.

TVO’s content budget was $16 million in 2021 (and given how much money Paw Patrol brings to Ontario’s economy it more than pays for itself) CBC’s is in the hundreds of millions. I can’t imagine they are making money off sports (hockey revenue all goes to Rogers) or scripted (given nonexistent ratings).

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by lio45

Yeah, same here. I like the news (especially the "bigger" "global" news at 6 am and 6 pm) but nearly everything else sucks. Whenever in the car, I have NPR on all the time instead of CBC, I only switch to CBC when too far away from the border to catch NPR (which, unfortunately, happens too often for my taste).

Saturday morning is pretty good. Mixture of informative and comedy is good listening while running Saturday morning errands.