What to do with Radio Canada and the CBC?

[Hecate]

Yeah cbc is still fairly popular around here I know a couple families that have been on family feud and it’s the only decent local news cast. The last show I watched on there was sort of. That’s a really good show and I think some of the straight SJW’s on here should watch it and they might actually learn a bit about non binary and transgendered people and their struggles.

[elly63]

Mansbridge drops the mic.

• Video Link

[ssiguy]

For CBC it's HNIC, Great Can Baking Shiow and Marketplace. Outside of that, just CBC News Network. I use to watch the National with Peter religiously but now can't stand the program. It's gone from a newscast to woke cry me a river preaching session. It's 2 person at different locations anchor system is ridiculous. They say it's novel and it is but only because no other newscast is stupid enough to do it.

The only way to get the CBC out of it's current malaise is to run the system like PBS. No local news and put that money into quality programming that people will actually watch. Get rid of ALL TV news and ALL CBC TV stations and run everything out of Montreal for French & Toronto for English.

Keep CBC Radio as it seems well patronized throughout the country but TV should be national and 100% Canadian content save a few exceptions like movies, rare events etc but all regular programming should be Canadian. Certainly, you can have different programs created in different areas and then presented as part of the national programming but local news, programs should be ditched. The CBC should have the exact same programming in St.John's as it does in Victoria. If someone wants local content they can go to CBC Radio or any other network and there should be no exceptions including in the North and Aboriginal programs.

The world of communications & entertainment has changed to the point of being unrecognizable in the last 70 years yet CBC's mandate hasn't changed a bit and that has to change if it is to become relevant to Canadians. The reason why many think the CBC should have it's funding reduced {although I think VERY few would agree with it's abolition} is that most really wouldn't miss it.

CBC tries to serve everyone decently and in the process serves no one well.

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

... Outside of that, just CBC News Network....
No local news and put that money into quality programming that people will actually watch. Get rid of ALL TV news and ALL CBC TV stations and run everything out of Montreal for French & Toronto for English.
...
The CBC should have the exact same programming in St.John's as it does in Victoria. If someone wants local content they can go to CBC Radio or any other network and there should be no exceptions including in the North and Aboriginal programs.
...
The world of communications & entertainment has changed to the point of being unrecognizable in the last 70 years yet CBC's mandate hasn't changed a bit and that has to change if it is to become relevant to Canadians
....

I'm not sure what the mandate really is anymore, but how about moving Newsworld to broadcast instead of cable, run it out of Toronto and kill all other broadcast tv.

If the CBC mandate is still to tell "Canada's story"** do so on Gem and forget broadcast. And reduce the funding BUT redirect any reduction to supporting high speed access where it is still lacking.

Yes technology is changing - no need to keep flogging that broadcast model when the majority of Canadians could care less.



** Seeing as "Murdoch Mystery" is their top watched show, I'm not sure that they're even doing that.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

For CBC it's HNIC, Great Can Baking Shiow and Marketplace. Outside of that, just CBC News Network. I use to watch the National with Peter religiously but now can't stand the program. It's gone from a newscast to woke cry me a river preaching session. It's 2 person at different locations anchor system is ridiculous. They say it's novel and it is but only because no other newscast is stupid enough to do it.

Global National is also anchored from two different cities, though they don't promote it. Monday through Thursday with Dawna Friesen is done from Burnaby, BC while Friday through Sunday with Farah Nasser is done from Toronto. This isn't much different from CBC which is done from Toronto Monday-Thursday with Adrienne Arsenault and then Vancouver on Friday and Sunday with Ian Hanomansing.

Originally Posted by ssiguy

The only way to get the CBC out of it's current malaise is to run the system like PBS. No local news and put that money into quality programming that people will actually watch. Get rid of ALL TV news and ALL CBC TV stations and run everything out of Montreal for French & Toronto for English.

The PBS model is actually a lot more decentralized. PBS does not own its stations, and individual local stations have a lot of autonomy compared with CBC's individual stations across the country, and produce their own programs that are broadcast only in the local area. You and I in BC may not see this much as the station we get on cable from Seattle produces virtually no local programs, but in other parts of the US the local PBS member stations produce some of their own shows, some of which are broadcast locally and some of what are distributed to the PBS network (such as NOVA, which is produced by WGBH in Boston).

PBS does not have a uniform national schedule and the offerings by their stations can vary widely from city to city.

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

....Get rid of ALL TV news....

In light of Bell's recent cuts - and given that other private broadcasters are no doubt waiting to see if they, too can get away with it - this would be a major mistake.

[harls]

15 years ago, local news was actually not bad.

Today it is produced with hamstrung staff with multiple roles. It's sad.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by harls

15 years ago, local news was actually not bad.

Today it is produced with hamstrung staff with multiple roles. It's sad.

echoes what has happened to local newspapers. The London Free Press has declined severely in my 19 years in London. It is no longer even fit to line birdcages. It has become a version of that "Coffee Time" flyer that you see in some of the Rim Whoreton's locations.

[ssiguy]

CBC local programming should not exist. Make it a completely national program and TV reporters for the national newscast and/or programs produced locally for national programming could be run out of the CBC Radio network stations. As manny_santos noted above with PBS, you can still have a program, like Nova, produced in Calgary or Windsor or Quebec and shown nationally but that does not require a local TV station.

As for the North & Aboriginal programs, again no local TV stations nor special language ones. If it isn't for the national audience then too bad, they can provide that service via CBC Radio. If this leaves those areas with no local TV station then too bad, They choose to live in an isolated location and there are benefits and drawbacks of such decisions and one drawback is that you cannot expect similar services in the boonies as you get in the cities.

This idea that people, at least in English Canada, will never patronize CBC TV is crap. CBC Radio does very well yet you can listen to any station across the continent anytime you want but people choose CBC because it offers quality programming and CBC TV, with a few exceptions, doesn't.

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

CBC local programming should not exist. Make it a completely national program and TV reporters for the national newscast and/or programs produced locally for national programming could be run out of the CBC Radio network stations. As manny_santos noted above with PBS, you can still have a program, like Nova, produced in Calgary or Windsor or Quebec and shown nationally but that does not require a local TV station.

As for the North & Aboriginal programs, again no local TV stations nor special language ones. If it isn't for the national audience then too bad, they can provide that service via CBC Radio. If this leaves those areas with no local TV station then too bad, They choose to live in an isolated location and there are benefits and drawbacks of such decisions and one drawback is that you cannot expect similar services in the boonies as you get in the cities.

This idea that people, at least in English Canada, will never patronize CBC TV is crap. CBC Radio does very well yet you can listen to any station across the continent anytime you want but people choose CBC because it offers quality programming and CBC TV, with a few exceptions, doesn't.

This is a pretty sad view. Northern and remote communities deserve to have access to visual local news production and that wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of a national broadcaster. They also deserve to have programming in their own language. 80% of the people in Nunavut speak Inuktitut so why should the news be in english? Should French be out too? It’s not a nationally used language even though it’s an official one.

You have to remember people up north don’t have the same reliable services you have down south. not everyone has access to Starlink so it’s even more important for them to have access to a local television station

Removing local production would further disconnect Canadians and create an even a more torontocentric atmosphere and alienate the rest of the country which is what is currently happening with the cbc. Mansbridge hit the nail on the head. The leadership is out of touch, entitled, and self serving.

[casper]

Here is BC we have a public broadcast service called Knowledge Network.
https://www.knowledge.ca/

In Ontario its TVO. Not certain about other provinces. I think in Saskatchewan it was disbanded a few years ago.

Knowledge network is very much what CBC could have been. Strong focus on documentaries telling stories. Commercial free kids programing. Some foreign content.

Perhaps like PBS in the US, CBC becomes the national co-op controlled by provincial public broadcasters. Maybe keep NewsWorld as its own thing.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by casper

Here is BC we have a public broadcast service called Knowledge Network.
https://www.knowledge.ca/

In Ontario its TVO. Not certain about other provinces. I think in Saskatchewan it was disbanded a few years ago.

Knowledge network is very much what CBC could have been. Strong focus on documentaries telling stories. Commercial free kids programing. Some foreign content.

Perhaps like PBS in the US, CBC becomes the national co-op controlled by provincial public broadcasters. Maybe keep NewsWorld as its own thing.

Aside from BC and Ontario, there's also Télé-Québec.

Saskatchewan used to have SCN and Alberta had ACCESS. And in Atlantic Canada, ASN used to fill some of the educational broadcaster role, though it was always a commercial privately owned channel.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Hecate

This is a pretty sad view. Northern and remote communities deserve to have access to visual local news production and that wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of a national broadcaster. They also deserve to have programming in their own language. 80% of the people in Nunavut speak Inuktitut so why should the news be in english? Should French be out too? It’s not a nationally used language even though it’s an official one.

You have to remember people up north don’t have the same reliable services you have down south. not everyone has access to Starlink so it’s even more important for them to have access to a local television station

Removing local production would further disconnect Canadians and create an even a more torontocentric atmosphere and alienate the rest of the country which is what is currently happening with the cbc. Mansbridge hit the nail on the head. The leadership is out of touch, entitled, and self serving.

We don't often agree, but I fully concur with your opinion here.

[Nashe]

I rather liked Murdoch Mysteries, I have to admit. Lots of cheese, but it's easy-watching and kind of funny at points. One of the few Canadian shows (other than Schitt's Creek, of course) that I watched regularly.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Nashe

I rather liked Murdoch Mysteries, I have to admit. Lots of cheese, but it's easy-watching and kind of funny at points. One of the few Canadian shows (other than Schitt's Creek, of course) that I watched regularly.

Murdoch Mysteries appears to me to be one of the only Anglo-Canadian shows that has any traction with francophone audiences, in that it has been translated and generally aired in a decent time slot. (The latter especially being a sign of at least some interest.)

Obviously it's not among the most popular shows, but at least it generates a faint pulse.

[Taeolas]

As more proof that the CW network is basically a Canadian TV network, here's the ratings for Summer 2023 So it was pre-Strikes, but it was also the year that the CW did it's big bloodbath, killing off most of its inhouse shows (as all the "Cancelled" listings show).

Global's "Family Law" was #2
CBC's Son of a Critch was 4th
Great Chocolate Showdown (Food Network Canada) was 6th
CTV's "Children Ruin Everything" was 9
CBC has "Moonshine" and "Run the Burbs" at 13 and 14

And down in the 2022-23 rankings, Coroner was #12.

now this is still just the CW network. none of those shows seemed to pull in a few hundred thousand views, but its enough to keep those shows in the US industry. And as noted above, it does provide a lot of Canada's "Soft power". Hell, with how much Canada has infiltrated Hollywood, (not just talking CBC, just talking Canadian's impact on the industry in general), I'd almost say that's one of our hard powers in the world.

[ssiguy]

If the Northern areas/Territories want local programming then they can pay for it and create their own stations ala TVOntario. They could also partner with APTN. They would also have access to CBC Radio.

No local news or TV stations except 2 main stations, French in Montreal and English in Toronto but they too would not have local news except CBC Radio/ Radio Canada. This would be a huge burden taken off CBC's financial neck so they can put their resources into creating QUALITY Canadian content of all types. CBC can no longer be everything to everybody if it wants to remain relevant.

Contrary to his talk, PP is NOT going to be getting rid of the CBC/Radio Canada. It would be political suicide in Quebec & Ontario but he will reduce the funding and that's a reality CBC is going to have to get use to and that means getting the most bang for the buck.

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

If the Northern areas/Territories want local programming then they can pay for it and create their own stations ala TVOntario. They could also partner with APTN. They would also have access to CBC Radio.

No local news or TV stations except 2 main stations, French in Montreal and English in Toronto but they too would not have local news except CBC Radio/ Radio Canada. This would be a huge burden taken off CBC's financial neck so they can put their resources into creating QUALITY Canadian content of all types. CBC can no longer be everything to everybody if it wants to remain relevant.

Contrary to his talk, PP is NOT going to be getting rid of the CBC/Radio Canada. It would be political suicide in Quebec & Ontario but he will reduce the funding and that's a reality CBC is going to have to get use to and that means getting the most bang for the buck.

The people of Nunavut are neglected enough by the rest of Canada. They still have zero land access to the territory, and have a federal government with zero initiative to help lower the cost of living in the region and improve its standard of living. Just look at what that asshole liberal MP said about our apparently more than sufficient road network.

Canada must assert sovereignty over its north or it will lose it, Russia is not our friend. Canada does this by having federal institutions in the region. Institutions like… the CBC. There should also be a larger military presence in the north, and I think the majority of new comers to Canada should be forced to locate there. The north must be developed, and so must access to its natural resources.

While APTN is a good option for indigenous programming, it is also a specialty cable channel, so if you can’t afford cable, or $200 a month for the internet, because that’s what Starlink costs, what the fuck are you gonna do, sit around a radio at night? People need access to at least one over the air channel.

Canada needs a national broadcaster, it’s something civilized nations do. Can you really not see the benefit of having qualified journalists at strategic locations around the country? Can you not see the benefit of having a news cast made up of contribution's from across the country? Connecting Canadians is what builds a nation. I feel alienated, as a manitoban, by this government and the citizens out east enough. No need to further that by having all news come out of Toronto.

[Acajack]

I honesty doubt that the Indigenous and Northern services of the CBC even represent an inordinate drain on the CBC's finances, relative to everything else that is a drain on them.

Especially not when you consider it relative to penetration of and impact on the target demographic.

''Big ticket'' CBC programming mostly targets the hip crowd in major urban centres, and this demographic tends to prefer US stuff massively and ignore the CBC.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Acajack

''Big ticket'' CBC programming mostly targets the hip crowd in major urban centres, and this demographic tends to prefer US stuff massively and ignore the CBC.

Brent Butt said something to the effect that we just want to make a show that people would like. I assume he meant that would be without insidiously preaching the tenets of social justice, intersectionality, et al.

I can't remember what TV guy said it but it was something to the effect of, if you hear the words hip and edgy, run yelling and screaming the other way.