On a randomly chosen Monday night in January, when Mansbridge was still anchor, “The National” on the main network had an estimated audience of 734,000 viewers during the first half hour of the show, dropping to 584,000 viewers in the second half.
For the debut of the new “The National” — now hosted by Ian Hanomansing, Adrienne Arsenault, Rosemary Barton and Andrew Chang — 739,000 viewers were tuned in for the first 30 minutes on CBC, while 601,000 were still watching for the second half.
But subsequent nights saw ratings peak between the high-300,000 to low-600,000 range.
Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News, says the network is “comfortable with the audience numbers and the anecdotal reaction to the program so far.”
Read the full story here.
cbcexposed is all about exposing the waste of the CBC ... over 1 billion dollars a year of taxpayer money funds the cbc and a lot of that taxpayer money is wasted.
CBC TV is in a fragile position
Curiously, CBC Radio has lately begun competing with private stations, employing pop music on its second radio network and a journalistic style that is starting to sound like private radio. Commercials have even crept in.
Why? One explanation is that CBC has made disproportionate budget cuts to radio, weakening the service and prompting some unsavoury changes. More than $50-million has been lost from radio’s annual budget, which in net terms has been given to CBC TV.
Today, CBC TV is the service in a fragile position. It’s just one among hundreds of channels, almost indistinguishable from private competitors.
Read the full story here.
Why? One explanation is that CBC has made disproportionate budget cuts to radio, weakening the service and prompting some unsavoury changes. More than $50-million has been lost from radio’s annual budget, which in net terms has been given to CBC TV.
Today, CBC TV is the service in a fragile position. It’s just one among hundreds of channels, almost indistinguishable from private competitors.
Read the full story here.
CBC sees its service as a complement to existing services such as Netflix ...
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will stream its live television stations online for free, a move that could further erode the value of traditional TV subscriptions in an era where many consumers are already cutting the cord.
On Tuesday, CBC TV started streaming its 14 regional linear television channels for free and launched a paid over-the-top TV subscription service for $4.99 per month. The premium service includes on-demand episodes without advertisements and CBC News Network, which was previously available as a standalone for $6.95 per month.
“Many Canadians are getting more and more of their content from digital over-the-top services like Netflix. We need to ensure our audiences can get CBC in the same way,” executive vice president of English services Heather Conway wrote in a memo to staff Monday.
Viewers will occasionally see a title card or blank slate if CBC doesn’t have the rights to broadcast content online. For the most part, CBC will substitute commercials on its live TV feeds with ads tailored for the digital experience.
CBC sees its service as a complement to existing services such as Netflix, BCE Inc.’s CraveTV or Amazon Prime Video, especially as consumers increasingly subscribe to multiple services.
Read the full story here.
On Tuesday, CBC TV started streaming its 14 regional linear television channels for free and launched a paid over-the-top TV subscription service for $4.99 per month. The premium service includes on-demand episodes without advertisements and CBC News Network, which was previously available as a standalone for $6.95 per month.
“Many Canadians are getting more and more of their content from digital over-the-top services like Netflix. We need to ensure our audiences can get CBC in the same way,” executive vice president of English services Heather Conway wrote in a memo to staff Monday.
Viewers will occasionally see a title card or blank slate if CBC doesn’t have the rights to broadcast content online. For the most part, CBC will substitute commercials on its live TV feeds with ads tailored for the digital experience.
CBC sees its service as a complement to existing services such as Netflix, BCE Inc.’s CraveTV or Amazon Prime Video, especially as consumers increasingly subscribe to multiple services.
Read the full story here.
Would Canadians be willing to pay for CBC directly
Mélanie Joly, the new minister responsible for the CBC, must decide what to do about our national broadcaster.
What do Canadians want from their public broadcaster? The first thing the minister should do is ask Canadians what they want from a new CBC for the future.
The CBC research project should start by asking a large, representative sample of Canadians to imagine there was no CBC TV or radio. Would people miss the CBC? Would they turn to other radio stations, if CBC Radio were no longer available? Would they just stop listening to radio altogether? Would they be willing to pay to keep it?
Would Canadians be willing to pay for CBC directly via their TV and Internet providers?
The minister should collect relevant industry data on how the CBC spends the public money it currently receives and the commercial revenue it generates. Ask experts for suggestions on how CBC could be more efficient with our money and what incentives could be put in place to increase efficiency. Should CBC be in the business of renting its buildings or airwaves to private interests? Should CBC be competing with newspapers and online media for readers and advertisers? Just how much revenue do all those new CBC Internet services generate, which CBC has never revealed?
Read the full story here.
What do Canadians want from their public broadcaster? The first thing the minister should do is ask Canadians what they want from a new CBC for the future.
The CBC research project should start by asking a large, representative sample of Canadians to imagine there was no CBC TV or radio. Would people miss the CBC? Would they turn to other radio stations, if CBC Radio were no longer available? Would they just stop listening to radio altogether? Would they be willing to pay to keep it?
Would Canadians be willing to pay for CBC directly via their TV and Internet providers?
The minister should collect relevant industry data on how the CBC spends the public money it currently receives and the commercial revenue it generates. Ask experts for suggestions on how CBC could be more efficient with our money and what incentives could be put in place to increase efficiency. Should CBC be in the business of renting its buildings or airwaves to private interests? Should CBC be competing with newspapers and online media for readers and advertisers? Just how much revenue do all those new CBC Internet services generate, which CBC has never revealed?
Read the full story here.
CBC - Are we even making radio anymore?
Since its founding in 1936, the cbc has routinely been accused of stodginess. But as the broadcaster adapts to changing media conditions and grows more elaborate, it harbours ambitions that threaten to outstrip its own ability to define itself. Jeffrey Dvorkin, once a managing editor of cbc Radio News and now head of the journalism program at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, puts it this way: “When media organizations lose sight of their purpose, they embrace technology without really understanding what it is.”
It’s important to note that despite the cbc’s cutback targets—it aims to shed 1,150 full-time positions by 2020—it also plans to hire 300 new employees “in the next years” to improve the company’s digital skills. Whether that will mean more coders, more interactive journalists, or more thought leaders who would help shape the company’s ultramodern ethos remains unclear.
For programmers at the cbc, the message is simple: Think about digital. All. The. Time. But making radio and TV with that in mind is more challenging. A radio producer I know there tells me that, so far, she’s had little guidance about how to, as she puts it, “up the digital game.” The company should appeal to younger listeners, one manager told her. That same manager said, vis-à-vis the vision thing, that in five years people will be using driverless cars, so the cbc needs to think about creating programming for people who are in cars but don’t have to focus on driving. “I have honestly tried to understand our mission or mandate,” she says, “but the message from management has been vague and confusing.”
All she knows, she says, is that every Friday, she gets an email announcing the top digital stories for their division (often the quirky ones), and that everyone wants to be mentioned in this report and are gutted if they’re not. “Our numbers suck,” she says of the radio show she works on. “So a group of us tried to figure out how to better market our show. We’re not marketing experts, but no one else is doing it for us.” They hashed out ways to make Twitter more effective in boosting their numbers. But, she asks, “Are we even making radio anymore?”
Read the full story here.
It’s important to note that despite the cbc’s cutback targets—it aims to shed 1,150 full-time positions by 2020—it also plans to hire 300 new employees “in the next years” to improve the company’s digital skills. Whether that will mean more coders, more interactive journalists, or more thought leaders who would help shape the company’s ultramodern ethos remains unclear.
For programmers at the cbc, the message is simple: Think about digital. All. The. Time. But making radio and TV with that in mind is more challenging. A radio producer I know there tells me that, so far, she’s had little guidance about how to, as she puts it, “up the digital game.” The company should appeal to younger listeners, one manager told her. That same manager said, vis-à-vis the vision thing, that in five years people will be using driverless cars, so the cbc needs to think about creating programming for people who are in cars but don’t have to focus on driving. “I have honestly tried to understand our mission or mandate,” she says, “but the message from management has been vague and confusing.”
All she knows, she says, is that every Friday, she gets an email announcing the top digital stories for their division (often the quirky ones), and that everyone wants to be mentioned in this report and are gutted if they’re not. “Our numbers suck,” she says of the radio show she works on. “So a group of us tried to figure out how to better market our show. We’re not marketing experts, but no one else is doing it for us.” They hashed out ways to make Twitter more effective in boosting their numbers. But, she asks, “Are we even making radio anymore?”
Read the full story here.
CBC criticized for exposure
Former Olympian Nicole Forrester says the live broadcast of the wardrobe malfunction during Sunday night's ice dance competition at the Pyeongchang Games was unfortunate and unavoidable.
Forrester said she felt mortified for French skater Gabriella Papadakis when her costume became loose and revealed one of her breasts while performing on ice with Guillaume Cizeron.
The live performance on CBC was quickly followed by a slow-motion replay.
While some Canadian social media users criticized CBC for airing the footage, which was carried live around 11:20 p.m. ET, the network responded with a tweet explaining that it uses the local feed for the event and that the footage would be edited out of encore broadcasts.
A CBC spokesperson was not available for comment Monday.
Read the full story here.
Forrester said she felt mortified for French skater Gabriella Papadakis when her costume became loose and revealed one of her breasts while performing on ice with Guillaume Cizeron.
The live performance on CBC was quickly followed by a slow-motion replay.
While some Canadian social media users criticized CBC for airing the footage, which was carried live around 11:20 p.m. ET, the network responded with a tweet explaining that it uses the local feed for the event and that the footage would be edited out of encore broadcasts.
A CBC spokesperson was not available for comment Monday.
Read the full story here.
CBC splits single white man’s salary
CBC splits single white man’s salary between two women, two minorities
Following the departure of longtime anchor Peter Mansbridge, CBC executives have decided to hire a diverse collection of hosts, each of whom will receive an equal share of Mansbridge’s previous salary.
While the average pay gaps between white men and white women, and white men and minority men is less than 20%, all four anchors released statements saying that they are contractually obligated to be “thrilled” to be making exactly 75% less than Mansbridge.
Read the full story here.
Following the departure of longtime anchor Peter Mansbridge, CBC executives have decided to hire a diverse collection of hosts, each of whom will receive an equal share of Mansbridge’s previous salary.
While the average pay gaps between white men and white women, and white men and minority men is less than 20%, all four anchors released statements saying that they are contractually obligated to be “thrilled” to be making exactly 75% less than Mansbridge.
Read the full story here.
CBC spent almost $900Gs on outside help to fight lawsuit
Despite having 22 lawyers on staff, CBC spent close to $900,000 on top-flight lawyers from an outside firm to fight a lawsuit that could have been settled with an apology.
As has previously been reported, CBC's legal costs to defend a lawsuit brought by filmmakers Claude Fournier and Marie-Jose Raymond topped $1 million. But new documents released by the state broadcaster show the legal firm Borden, Ladner, Gervais billed $871,769.03 for its services.
Read the full story here.
As has previously been reported, CBC's legal costs to defend a lawsuit brought by filmmakers Claude Fournier and Marie-Jose Raymond topped $1 million. But new documents released by the state broadcaster show the legal firm Borden, Ladner, Gervais billed $871,769.03 for its services.
Read the full story here.
Here’s What CBC Staff Told Their Bosses About The Need For Diversity
Last summer, CANADALAND published a story on the lack of diversity among CBC staff, citing an internal company survey taken between 2011 and March 2016 showing that about 90% of its employees were white.
Now, a year later, the CBC’s union, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), believes there is reason to be cautiously hopeful that things are beginning to change.
In June, the union’s Joint Employment Equity Committee published a bulletin stating that over the previous year, the CBC had renewed its commitment to equitable hiring practices — and crediting the CANADALAND article with sparking the conversation.
The piece “exposed years of virtual inaction,” wrote the CMG, and led CBC staff “from across the country” to send a pair of letters to CBC president Hubert Lacroix and CBC News editor-in-chief Jennifer McGuire demanding changes in hiring practices.
Read the full story here.
Now, a year later, the CBC’s union, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), believes there is reason to be cautiously hopeful that things are beginning to change.
In June, the union’s Joint Employment Equity Committee published a bulletin stating that over the previous year, the CBC had renewed its commitment to equitable hiring practices — and crediting the CANADALAND article with sparking the conversation.
The piece “exposed years of virtual inaction,” wrote the CMG, and led CBC staff “from across the country” to send a pair of letters to CBC president Hubert Lacroix and CBC News editor-in-chief Jennifer McGuire demanding changes in hiring practices.
Read the full story here.
CBC Fifth Estate film found at fault
Fifth Estate film found at fault for unfounded facts and false impressions.
If you thought that headline was a mouthful, try swallowing a damages award of $950,000 and a costs award over $800,000 as the CBC had to in the libel lawsuit brought by Dr. Frans Leenan. After winning his case in Ontario's Superior Court, Dr. Leenen said, 'Four years ago we proposed to settle this law suit for $10,000 and an on-air apology. It was refused...The Fifth Estate persisted and took me through 10 weeks of trial.'
The trial judge awarded very high damages for libel against The Fifth Estate and the CBC as well as individual reporters and producers. The CBC appealed.
Read the full story here.
If you thought that headline was a mouthful, try swallowing a damages award of $950,000 and a costs award over $800,000 as the CBC had to in the libel lawsuit brought by Dr. Frans Leenan. After winning his case in Ontario's Superior Court, Dr. Leenen said, 'Four years ago we proposed to settle this law suit for $10,000 and an on-air apology. It was refused...The Fifth Estate persisted and took me through 10 weeks of trial.'
The trial judge awarded very high damages for libel against The Fifth Estate and the CBC as well as individual reporters and producers. The CBC appealed.
Read the full story here.
CBC The Current Demonizes Israel
Alarmingly, on February 7, CBC Radio’s The Current news program aired a lengthy 40+minute segment which fundamentally demonized Israel.
The program misleadingly presented itself as fair and balanced by featuring two Palestinians and two Israelis on the show, however, all these individuals were extremely hostile to Israel and none represented a mainstream Israeli perspective, nor was there a real exploration of Israel’s security concerns, its painful concessions and many generous peace offers. The program gave short shrift to the daily Palestinian terror attacks, endemic incitement, unilateralism, and corruption. The Current concluded their program by claiming that “We did also reach out to the Likud Youth Party to see if one of their members would like to join our discussion but we did not hear back.” And yet, that doesn’t absolve the CBC of its responsibility to produce balanced programming. Of course, there are hundreds, if not thousands of people who could have been interviewed to provide perspectives from the mainstream, centrist or right-leaning voices of Israel, but CBC did not secure any of these individuals to appear on its program. They could have, and they should have.
Read the full story here.
The program misleadingly presented itself as fair and balanced by featuring two Palestinians and two Israelis on the show, however, all these individuals were extremely hostile to Israel and none represented a mainstream Israeli perspective, nor was there a real exploration of Israel’s security concerns, its painful concessions and many generous peace offers. The program gave short shrift to the daily Palestinian terror attacks, endemic incitement, unilateralism, and corruption. The Current concluded their program by claiming that “We did also reach out to the Likud Youth Party to see if one of their members would like to join our discussion but we did not hear back.” And yet, that doesn’t absolve the CBC of its responsibility to produce balanced programming. Of course, there are hundreds, if not thousands of people who could have been interviewed to provide perspectives from the mainstream, centrist or right-leaning voices of Israel, but CBC did not secure any of these individuals to appear on its program. They could have, and they should have.
Read the full story here.
Stop the taxpayers funding of the CBC network
The CBC takes $1.1 billion annually of taxpayers money and Canadians can not afford this any longer.
What does a television station like the CBC do to deserve our hard earned cash?? There are many Canadian networks that survive on there own, so let's sell the CBC.
The CBC refuses to even tell us what their salaries are, not to mention the pensions they get. They "investigate" themselves for wrongdoings and are not held accountable for their actions. Why are we tolerating this?
Let's send a message to our government that we no longer want to bank role a dying network.
Read the responses to this petition here.
What does a television station like the CBC do to deserve our hard earned cash?? There are many Canadian networks that survive on there own, so let's sell the CBC.
The CBC refuses to even tell us what their salaries are, not to mention the pensions they get. They "investigate" themselves for wrongdoings and are not held accountable for their actions. Why are we tolerating this?
Let's send a message to our government that we no longer want to bank role a dying network.
Read the responses to this petition here.
CBC is the financial elephant in the press room
Just how should the CBC fit in a media world where it is already the financial elephant in the press room, an elephant gaining substantial financial weight with every passing year while other media shrinks?
Should it be competing virtually unfettered in the digital realm, selling $25 million a year in advertising and operating its websites like any private operator, all the while leaning on its substantial and publicly subsidized newsrooms to provide stories, photos and video?
Should it be spending taxpayers’ dollars to purchase and give away CBC-branded material at parades and events like the Regatta?
Should the CBC be in the “personality” business, offering up staff in exchange for public support for the broadcaster?
Should it be using its own airtime to congratulate and promote itself for its role in charity fundraising?
Should the CBC’s digital arm be expanding, as it is now doing, into opinion content, using its hefty financial resources to pay for it?
Should the CBC’s primary function be public service journalism, or ratings competition with private broadcasters?
There’s a huge value in a properly funded public broadcaster — it can do things that no private broadcaster does.
But public funding also means the elephant answering to the public, instead of just sitting wherever it wants to.
Read the full story here.
Should it be competing virtually unfettered in the digital realm, selling $25 million a year in advertising and operating its websites like any private operator, all the while leaning on its substantial and publicly subsidized newsrooms to provide stories, photos and video?
Should it be spending taxpayers’ dollars to purchase and give away CBC-branded material at parades and events like the Regatta?
Should the CBC be in the “personality” business, offering up staff in exchange for public support for the broadcaster?
Should it be using its own airtime to congratulate and promote itself for its role in charity fundraising?
Should the CBC’s digital arm be expanding, as it is now doing, into opinion content, using its hefty financial resources to pay for it?
Should the CBC’s primary function be public service journalism, or ratings competition with private broadcasters?
There’s a huge value in a properly funded public broadcaster — it can do things that no private broadcaster does.
But public funding also means the elephant answering to the public, instead of just sitting wherever it wants to.
Read the full story here.
CBC repeatedly peddling fantastical stories
The CBC’s venerable Fifth Estate has done a lot of good work on important stories over many decades. But its record has been marred by repeatedly peddling fantastical stories about the 1963 murder of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The most recent came on November 17, with “The JFK Files: The Murder of a President.”
It might be tempting to shrug off McKenna and the Fifth Estate’s obsession with Kennedy fantasies as just the eccentricities of a rogue operation within the giant CBC bureaucracy. But somebody higher up the food chain approves their budgets and their programs.
Is this really what Canadians want for news and entertainment from the state-owned broadcaster? At a cost of a billion or a billion and a half tax dollars a year? We ought to be concerned about Canadian voices drowning in a global sea of news and dreck produced elsewhere.
Read the full story here.
It might be tempting to shrug off McKenna and the Fifth Estate’s obsession with Kennedy fantasies as just the eccentricities of a rogue operation within the giant CBC bureaucracy. But somebody higher up the food chain approves their budgets and their programs.
Is this really what Canadians want for news and entertainment from the state-owned broadcaster? At a cost of a billion or a billion and a half tax dollars a year? We ought to be concerned about Canadian voices drowning in a global sea of news and dreck produced elsewhere.
Read the full story here.
CBC wants more privilege and an extra $400 million
The CBC wants to be freed from the need to scrounge for advertising dollars, so it can nurture Canada's "cultural ecosystem" away from the distasteful world of competitive rivalries.
Canada’s public broadcasting network has been under fire for months over its efforts to build a digital presence in direct competition with private newspapers and other media, which are struggling to survive in the face of remorseless technological change. The private operators maintain it’s unfair that the CBC gets generous subsidies to steal business from them. In a world of shifting readership habits and murderous competition, every penny of revenue is vital. The CBC, they note, already enjoys a federal subsidy of more than $1 billion a year, including a $150 million annual boost introduced by the Trudeau Liberals. Private operators, meanwhile, are haemorrhaging money as the strive to keep the wolf from the door.
The CBC’s response: Ask for even more money from the public purse.
Read the full story here.
Canada’s public broadcasting network has been under fire for months over its efforts to build a digital presence in direct competition with private newspapers and other media, which are struggling to survive in the face of remorseless technological change. The private operators maintain it’s unfair that the CBC gets generous subsidies to steal business from them. In a world of shifting readership habits and murderous competition, every penny of revenue is vital. The CBC, they note, already enjoys a federal subsidy of more than $1 billion a year, including a $150 million annual boost introduced by the Trudeau Liberals. Private operators, meanwhile, are haemorrhaging money as the strive to keep the wolf from the door.
The CBC’s response: Ask for even more money from the public purse.
Read the full story here.
The CBC has strayed a long way from its original purpose ...
The online success of the CBC should be laudable. Its website received an average of 6.2-million unique visitors last year, making it the most popular Canadian website. Around 4.3-million people visit the CBC News site each month, besting both The Globe and Mail and Huffington Post.
BUT ...
In doing so, the CBC has strayed a long way from its original purpose: to sustain Canadian culture when and where the market cannot. The problem is, the CBC’s traditional funding model now allows it to build its digital empire unfettered by economic reality. In its last quarter, 60 per cent of the company’s expenses were paid by government subsidies while just 21 per cent of its revenue comes from advertising. All media companies are struggling to adapt to shifting consumer and advertising patterns brought about by the digital age; only the CBC had $1.2 billion in government cash to fund its experiments and ease the transition.
Read the full story here.
BUT ...
In doing so, the CBC has strayed a long way from its original purpose: to sustain Canadian culture when and where the market cannot. The problem is, the CBC’s traditional funding model now allows it to build its digital empire unfettered by economic reality. In its last quarter, 60 per cent of the company’s expenses were paid by government subsidies while just 21 per cent of its revenue comes from advertising. All media companies are struggling to adapt to shifting consumer and advertising patterns brought about by the digital age; only the CBC had $1.2 billion in government cash to fund its experiments and ease the transition.
Read the full story here.
CBC Radio Host Acknowledges that Criticisms of Israel Frequently Anti-Semitic
It’s not too often that we’re in a position to praise CBC for excellent reporting on Israel and the Middle East, but there are exceptions to every rule.
We are pleased to commend CBC Radio Host Michael Enright and The Sunday Edition program for producing and orating an essay on January 28 entitled: “Anti-Semitism is not just going away; it is growing” which acknowledged that criticisms of Israel are frequently used to conceal anti-Semitism.
In his essay, Enright observed (emphasis added):
Read the full story here.
CBC president job posting re-opened
The independent committee leading the selection process for the new president and CEO of Canada’s public broadcaster has asked the federal government to re-open the posting for the job to look for qualified Canadians living abroad and to align the process with new rules on government job postings.
The CBC/Radio Canada position was re-advertised in the latest edition of the Canada Gazette, published last week, with a new deadline of January 29, 2018. The original deadline for applications was August 15, 2017 — after which the first job posting was taken down.
The move comes after the search to replace outgoing CBC president Hubert Lacroix failed to produce a successor by Dec. 31, 2017, when Lacroix was due to step down.
Read the full story here.
The CBC/Radio Canada position was re-advertised in the latest edition of the Canada Gazette, published last week, with a new deadline of January 29, 2018. The original deadline for applications was August 15, 2017 — after which the first job posting was taken down.
The move comes after the search to replace outgoing CBC president Hubert Lacroix failed to produce a successor by Dec. 31, 2017, when Lacroix was due to step down.
Read the full story here.
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