What to do with Radio Canada and the CBC?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Another version of TVA Nouvelles?
Ps: There’s also La Presse and other things, but for some reason TVA comes to mind first.

My guess is that an SRC run by Quebec would remain fairly similar. There might be a bit less rah-rah-rah Canadah on there, but there isn't really that much to begin with.

One thing is that the SRC serves the francophone communities outside Quebec too, which might be difficult to reconcile with Quebec government ownership. That alone might prevent a switch in responsibility from happening. Some of the French services outside Quebec are reasonably expensive to operated in terms of dollars-per-viewer.

Also, the Quebec government already has its own TV network, Télé-Québec. It's sort of in between TVO and the mainstream CBC TV networks in terms of focus. It doesn't produce or run much in terms of dramatic or fictional series. Lots of children's programs, public affairs talk shows and documentaries, plus movies from Quebec, France and around the world. American movies they run are of the "Sundance" variety.

[MolsonExport]

Rex Murphy was featured only to bring in a younger audience. They figured he would be irresistible to young females

cbc

[niwell]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Considering its tiny budget and limited mandate, I think TVO does a good job. There is nothing as good as the Agenda on CBC anymore.

Good point - I always forget about TVO but do enjoy their content. A significant portion of my provincial news is through various twitter accounts of their journalists.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Even before the pandemic, one thing I noticed from the National's coverage was the gradual disappearance of business news.

About 10 years ago, they used to have about 5-10 minutes of nightly reporting from Bay Street, they'd usually have a ticker to show how the major stock indices did that day, or the value of the CAD, and they'd usually have a panel discussion anchored by Amanda Lang with senior economists from the major banks. Now there's practically nothing.

Are people just not interested in business news? Is this a generational thing?

It hadn't occurred to me until you mentioned it, but yeah, you don't see the likes of Robert Scully or Fred Langan doing business coverage on the CBC main network's news shows anymore. I guess they've shunted that off to the news network now, but even then the person who I believe is their lead business correspondent, Jeannie Lee, doesn't get a ton of airtime.

I can only imagine that someone looked into it and realized that the people most interested in that sort of thing were getting their news from other, more specialized sources anyway. It's the same way with sports... the local 6 pm CBC news here used to include a 12 minute daily rundown of everything happening in the sports world. Now it's limited to telling you whether the Jets or Bombers are playing that day, or if they won or lost the night before. That's it. They know anyone who wants more details is going to TSN.

[suburbanite]

It's the Canadian way. Someone comes into power and says "Holy crap look how much we're spending on x and y each year, we need to make this way more efficient."

Proceeds to carve up the business, sell off profitable segments to keep the "core business" operating. The product quality dwindles and people switch to private alternatives, often American. 20 years later we look around and say "what happened to x and y?! It used to be so good. We should just shut the whole thing down and put it out of its misery." Then we wonder why we're so tuned into American culture.

The alternative is continually propping up Canadian enterprises with public money just for the sake of having something Canadian. Whether it's CBC, Bombardier, SNC Lavalin with their old CANDU nuclear reactors comes to mind. Hell, we're finding out how we don't have the capability to produce our own vaccines anymore because the Mulroney government thought it a frivolous expense.

[MolsonExport]

Keeping with the old Canadian tradition of "Thinking small" and/or "aim for mediocrity"

(except the extremely rare occasions when we go big, e.g., Expo 67, Montreal Olympics, Avro Arrow, new Port Mann/Champlain bridges)

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by esquire

It hadn't occurred to me until you mentioned it, but yeah, you don't see the likes of Robert Scully or Fred Langan doing business coverage on the CBC main network's news shows anymore. I guess they've shunted that off to the news network now, but even then the person who I believe is their lead business correspondent, Jeannie Lee, doesn't get a ton of airtime.

I can only imagine that someone looked into it and realized that the people most interested in that sort of thing were getting their news from other, more specialized sources anyway. It's the same way with sports... the local 6 pm CBC news here used to include a 12 minute daily rundown of everything happening in the sports world. Now it's limited to telling you whether the Jets or Bombers are playing that day, or if they won or lost the night before. That's it. They know anyone who wants more details is going to TSN.

You're right, although I have a feeling there's a bit of a chicken and egg going on, where it's hard to tell what's dominating:

- whether they cut business/sports coverage and people migrated to other sites;
- the CBC sensed that people were going to other sites to get business/sports news, so they cut their coverage.

In any case, I think it's a shame because there are a lot of people who don't want to be glued to round-the-clock business coverage on a dedicated channel or site who would like to see some high level news on how the business world is doing.

Incidentally, since I cut the cord, I'm not sure what sports CBC is showing. Not hockey - I know that - but the stuff that Brian Williams used to cover, like downhill skiing and things like that. Do they still have a major sports budget?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

You're right, although I have a feeling there's a bit of a chicken and egg going on, where it's hard to tell what's dominating:

- whether they cut business/sports coverage and people migrated to other sites;
- the CBC sensed that people were going to other sites to get business/sports news, so they cut their coverage.

The internet and increased mobile video availability killed sports highlights and their dependents. Why would I wait for Sportscentre in the morning or the evening news for highlights when I can go direct to the source and get more specialized coverage?

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Incidentally, since I cut the cord, I'm not sure what sports CBC is showing. Not hockey - I know that - but the stuff that Brian Williams used to cover, like downhill skiing and things like that. Do they still have a major sports budget?

CBC lost most of their sports budget when they lost HNIC (something like half of CBC's total ad revenue derived solely from HNIC, IIRC). They carry the occasional Olympic sport coverage and some pro Canadian sports league (CPL/CEBL) but the rest is mostly wound up now. CBC should be filling the void that SN/TSN/others do not and show specialized coverage of Canadian sport but they simply don't have the budgets to do so. For other properties, TSN/SN mostly just sit on the rights and don't do much with them, effectively withholding them so competitors don't have the opportunity to (CHL/NLL).

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by JHikka

The internet and increased mobile video availability killed sports highlights and their dependents. Why would I wait for Sportscentre in the morning or the evening news for highlights when I can go direct to the source and get more specialized coverage?

Sports I can understand, because it's entertainment. But business and finance is something that actually affects your day-to-day life. I don't think we should just relegate it to specialized channels or sites where you have to have a prior interest in it to be exposed to it. It should be something that people who don't give it any thought get some exposure to.

I think that's one of my main criticisms of media in the internet world: if you're interested in a subject beforehand, and you're willing to put in the effort to search, you'll find a treasure trove of resources. But if you're not aware of something, or it's not something that you want to spend a lot of time researching, you won't be presented with anything.

Speaking personally, a lot of my friends have a very poor grasp of economics/finance, so they get ripped off by things like high M.E.Rs on mutual funds that don't beat an ETF, or they don't hunt around for a new mortgage because they're unaware that interest rates are at historic lows, or they don't even know what a TFSA is. I find millennials are particularly unsavvy when it comes to economics, and even if it's not the major reason for why we're the first generation to be poorer than the one before us, I would argue that it's still a factor.

CBC lost most of their sports budget when they lost HNIC (something like half of CBC's total ad revenue derived solely from HNIC, IIRC). They carry the occasional Olympic sport coverage and some pro Canadian sports league (CPL/CEBL) but the rest is mostly wound up now. CBC should be filling the void that SN/TSN/others do not and show specialized coverage of Canadian sport but they simply don't have the budgets to do so. For other properties, TSN/SN mostly just sit on the rights and don't do much with them, effectively withholding them so competitors don't have the opportunity to (CHL/NLL).

That's a shame. It's not like not being aware of freestyle skiing will cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime wealth like above, but it would still be great if people like me who have a passing interest in these kinds of sports could just tune in and watch it while channel surfing.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Speaking personally, a lot of my friends have a very poor grasp of economics/finance, so they get ripped off by things like high M.E.Rs on mutual funds that don't beat an ETF, or they don't hunt around for a new mortgage because they're unaware that interest rates are at historic lows, or they don't even know what a TFSA is. I find millennials are particularly unsavvy when it comes to economics, and even if it's not the major reason for why we're the first generation to be poorer than the one before us, I would argue that it's still a factor.

Perhaps the issue isn't so much that media doesn't cover business and finance but the fact that our education systems do not cover business and finance as mandatory curriculum in primary and secondary schools.

[JHikka]

Head of Radio-Canada spent month of December in his Miami condo despite public health warnings

OTTAWA – The head of Radio-Canada, the French arm of Canada’s public broadcaster, spent nearly the entire month of December working and vacationing in Miami, despite public health advice strongly discouraging travel, the National Post has learned.

Michel Bissonnette, CBC/Radio-Canada’s executive vice-president of French Services and the public broadcaster’s second-in-command, went to his condo — located right on Miami beach according to public state records — on December 2 to “tend to business regarding this property,” Radio-Canada spokesperson Marc Pichette confirmed by email.

“He stayed in Miami from December 2 to 27. He worked from there from December 2 to 17 and was on vacation for the rest of his stay,” Pichette said.

The trip occurred despite a Canadian government advisory that’s been in place since March 14, 2020 that says, “Canadian citizens and permanent residents are advised to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada until further notice to limit the spread of COVID-19. The best way to protect yourself, your family and those most at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 in our communities is to choose to stay in Canada.”

https://nationalpost.com/news/politi...ealth-warnings

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Head of Radio-Canada spent month of December in his Miami condo despite public health warnings

OTTAWA – The head of Radio-Canada, the French arm of Canada’s public broadcaster, spent nearly the entire month of December working and vacationing in Miami, despite public health advice strongly discouraging travel, the National Post has learned.

Michel Bissonnette, CBC/Radio-Canada’s executive vice-president of French Services and the public broadcaster’s second-in-command, went to his condo — located right on Miami beach according to public state records — on December 2 to “tend to business regarding this property,” Radio-Canada spokesperson Marc Pichette confirmed by email.

“He stayed in Miami from December 2 to 27. He worked from there from December 2 to 17 and was on vacation for the rest of his stay,” Pichette said.

The trip occurred despite a Canadian government advisory that’s been in place since March 14, 2020 that says, “Canadian citizens and permanent residents are advised to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada until further notice to limit the spread of COVID-19. The best way to protect yourself, your family and those most at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 in our communities is to choose to stay in Canada.”

https://nationalpost.com/news/politi...ealth-warnings

Oooh. That's gonna hurt.

[Acajack]

The thing about business coverage on private networks vs. the CBC is that I'd much prefer to hear about takeovers, layoffs, closures, lawsuits, etc. from a neutral public outlet than from a network that might belong to a conglomerate that is directly involved in the not-so-virtuous decisions.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Rex Murphy was featured only to bring in a younger audience. They figured he would be irresistible to young females

A face only a Mudder cud lub


cheers Molson

[esquire]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Sports I can understand, because it's entertainment. But business and finance is something that actually affects your day-to-day life. I don't think we should just relegate it to specialized channels or sites where you have to have a prior interest in it to be exposed to it. It should be something that people who don't give it any thought get some exposure to.

I think that's one of my main criticisms of media in the internet world: if you're interested in a subject beforehand, and you're willing to put in the effort to search, you'll find a treasure trove of resources. But if you're not aware of something, or it's not something that you want to spend a lot of time researching, you won't be presented with anything.

These are good points. Now that I think about, I used to watch the business news segments on CBC but those are mostly gone now. But I'm not interested enough to watch the detailed reports on specialized channels like BNN, CNBC and such. So overall, my consumption of business news has declined significantly compared to when I was, say, in my 20s.

[Acajack]

Sounds like some of you guys would be happier if you learned French!

RDI has a daily one-hour business program, from 6 pm to 7 pm:

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rdi/zone-economie/site

[wave46]

Originally Posted by esquire

These are good points. Now that I think about, I used to watch the business news segments on CBC but those are mostly gone now. But I'm not interested enough to watch the detailed reports on specialized channels like BNN, CNBC and such. So overall, my consumption of business news has declined significantly compared to when I was, say, in my 20s.

Fragmentation is something that has really eaten a lot of traditional TV network lunch. The CBC is the worst example of this because it had the double whammy of being somewhat niche unto itself. The floodgates to US television have been open for two generations now, now it has to compete with streaming/YouTube.

Even if Peter Mansbridge was still at the helm of The National, he'd still be onboard a sinking ship. Maybe some would like the sinking ship better, but it still would be sinking. I rarely find myself watching the news like my parents did, because I have online news - both local and national. The idea of sitting and watching a bit piece (whose depth is determined by an editorial decision board) in an age of limitless knowledge at my fingertips seems old-fashioned.

About the only benefit I could see is that I might be exposed to something I'd otherwise miss or overlook.

[memememe76]

Didn't a show on the CBC just sweep the Emmys in the comedy category? I am not sure if CBC is capitalizing on that.

[esquire]

Crazy story out of Winnipeg about a CBC reporter who got in trouble for tweeting his displeasure with Don Cherry's insensitive comments in 2019... his boss and a toady fellow reporter engaged in some reprehensible behaviour when they tried to "get him".

The said toady reporter is getting dragged HARD in social media. It's quite something if you have the patience to wade through this.

https://www.canadaland.com/cbc-fired...stemic-racism/

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by memememe76

Didn't a show on the CBC just sweep the Emmys in the comedy category? I am not sure if CBC is capitalizing on that.

This - you're aware that something from CBC did well (as gauged by Americans) but unclear of it's name or details. (BTW, no offense intended, just using this as an example of CBC's relevancy).

The show "Schitts Creek" is the one you mentioned. Unfortunately (or not) it just ended its run, so not much for CBC to capitalize on. Too little too late??