If you live in any one of a number of medium-sized cities across the country, like say Edmonton, Windsor, or Fredericton, and you happen to be a Bell or Shaw satellite subscriber, you’re likely getting stiffed.

And there are thousands of people just like you.

That’s the message coming from the CBC over the last few days as the corporation ramps up an effort to lobby the CRTC to force satellite companies carry more local signals into local markets.

It’s an odd situation, but under current CRTC regulations satellite providers can decide that they’ll only carry one signal from a broadcaster for each time zone.

Which means that if you happen to live in Edmonton, and you have Bell feeding your dish, you will only get the local Calgary CBC feed. Because that’s all Bell currently carries.

Now if you’re a big fan of the Oilers, sitting down on Saturday nights and having to endure another Calgary game is probably enough to make you want to lose your nuggets. The same situation happens in Charlottetown, Windsor and Regina.

But that’s not all.

What about news? Most of these markets have local news teams dedicated to covering local stories. For instance, Edmonton is about go into an election. There’s a bunch of big, local news stories that demand coverage, which local viewers can’t get from their dish CBC TV channel.

“To me, it’s an important point for democracy,” Judy Piercey, the regional managing director of English radio and TV in Edmonton said. “There are lot of important issues coming up as the city grows,” she said, “when we get into our election coverage… people who don’t get us, won’t get it.”

Piercey said that although there were alternatives to CBC News, both on TV and online, she said loyal CBC viewers are constantly frustrated with being denied the local CBC signal.

She said when she sent a note to her staff on the issue, “people in the office were cheering, because everyone out there has answered the phone from viewers who were complaining.”

Silencing the local signals also hampers the CBC’s efforts to strengthen it’s local news coverage, which is a key plank of the CBC’s renewed mandate to serve local markets that was announced last year.

Since then, CBC has been redoubling its efforts to provide local news coverage, but again, if you are a satellite subscriber with a carrier that doesn’t carry the signal and you live in Edmonton, Fredericton, Saint John, Charlottetown, Windsor or Regina, or almost all of the towns and smaller cities in Quebec outside of Montreal, you won’t get a single frame of it.

In Alberta Bell only carries the Calgary feed. In Quebec Shaw only carries the Montreal feed – for the entire province.

Piercey said in a note to staff “that satellite TV subscribers account for around one-third of viewers across Canada, the current CRTC regulations have left many CBC stations out in the cold across the country.” She added that on Sept 8th the CBC will file a brief with the CRTC to complain about the issue. For more on that go here.

Sorry Oilers fans, but this one’s not the CBC’s fault. If you really want to fix the situation, I suggest you head over to the CRTC web site and leave a comment with them. To do that find the gray button labeled “2010-488″ on this page and write your comment.

By: Paul Mcgrath
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All day today, as I sat in my cubicle at the mothership, I overheard people congratulating their colleagues.

If you work in TV in Canada, or even know people who do, you know what that means.

The Gemini nominations have been announced.

The ceeb picked up a ton of nominations this year, 151 in total, topping last year’s count of 142 nominations.

Surprisingly, given the public reaction to the new format, The National was amongst the top nominated shows with a total of nine nods, the rest of the list includes a number of perennial fan favourites and a couple of docs and mini-series. They are:
The Summit (9);
Guns (9);
Love, Hate and Propaganda (8);
the fifth estate (7);
Keep Your Head Up, Kid (7);
Being Erica (6);
The Tudors (6);
Republic of Doyle (5).

CTV show led the pack in terms of total nominations for individual shows. Their Olympic coverage picked up 13 nods, while the cop drama Flashpoint, garnered 15 nominations. Flashpoint will face off against a couple CBC shows in the best drama category, rookie nominee Republic of Doyle and veteran The Tudors.

The corporate website also said the “CBC swept five categories—guaranteeing wins in best local newscast, small market; best host or interviewer in a news info program or series; best news anchor; best performance by an actress in a featured supporting role in a dramatic program or mini-series; and best news information series.”

Vote For Your All-Time Favourite Canadian TV Show
If you’re feeling left out from this year’s crop of nominations, this year you can still participate in picking your all-time favourite TV show. Starting on September 15, nerdy couch potatoes will be able to vote from a list of 25 shortlisted programs for their all-time favourite pick. You will be able to vote on this site, or on Twitter and Facebook.

Why do I have the feeling that the Beachcombers are going to win this?

By: Paul Mcgrath
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I’ve never seen this kind of overlay advertising on cbc.ca before. It’s obviously something new. As you can see in the picture the ads appear at the bottom of the page.

Anybody know anything about this new feature?

By: Paul Mcgrath
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Tom Harrington, a four-time Gemini nominee, and an all around class act, is moving to Marketplace.

In the news department Harrington has made career out of covering the issues behind the latest sports scores.

Jennifer McGuire, the general manager of CBC News said the department is looking forward to the “rigour” Harrington would bring to the show.

Rigour. That’s a good word to describe his work.

He’s won a bunch of awards, but to me what stands out is a brief conversation I had with him in the elevator a couple years ago.

It was when the Leafs were in total disarray; on the cusp of setting a record for most consecutive games lost. On the sports channels it was a huge story, covered around the clock.

I asked Tom what he thought about it.

He said to me, ‘I could care less.”

Leaving aside the fact that he used an expression that’s always been a thorn in my side, I thought about what he meant after the elevator doors closed.

What he meant was that he wasn’t interested in covering the daily hum and grind of the sports industry. What he cared about, and cares about, is the journalism, which isn’t scores and stats, it’s stories. Yes, Harrington loves sports, and he loves sports journalism, but if he had to pick one, I’d bet it would be journalism.

If you’ve heard him guest hosting the Current or As it Happens or seen any of his numerous pieces on The National, you’ll know what I mean.

He said as much a last year, in a response to Howard Bernstein (a former CBC news exec), who was making the argument that today “sports journalism on television is an oxymoron.”

This is what Tom wrote in response:

Hi Howard:
I must say I found it a bit depressing reading your piece lamenting the lack of broadcast sports journalism in this country. So I just wanted to weigh in on my own behalf because I doubt anyone else will.

For more than 20 years on both CBC Radio and CBC Television, I’ve taken great pride in a body of work that includes 7 seasons as host and lead correspondent of the Gemini-Award winning SPORTS JOURNAL, 5 years as the first ever sports correspondent for THE NATIONAL not to mention the journalistic chops and versatility to host AS IT HAPPENS, THE CURRENT, CROSS COUNTRY CHECK-UP, CBC NEWS SUNDAY and a variety of other important CBC News programs.

I’ve been nominated for 4 Gemini’s, almost all of them for my journalism, had a documentary on the 2nd ever episode of CBC’s Radio’s INSIDE TRACK in 1985…met students who say they want to emulate what I do after watching my career..in fact I might be the only reporter to ever host THE CURRENT and lead THE NATIONAL with a sports story on the same day!!

It’s a solitary line of work because so few in the industry want to do this sort of thing, so few in the sports media seem to value it, and notoriety (as your article shows) is so rare.

Still my record stands and I think what I’ve done matters.

Well said, and best of luck with the journalism Tom. The sports world will miss it.

By: Paul Mcgrath
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It’s almost fall, and our national obsession returns.

The NHL announced the schedule for the HNIC broadcasts today.

All in all the CBC gets 87 regular and pre-season games, including 29 all-Canadian matchups.

The TSN channels have 124 games.

But the CBC gets dibs on a real classic, the Heritage Classic in fact, which hasn’t been played in Canada since 2003 when the Habs faced the Oilers in a freezing rink in Edmonton.

This year the action is in Calgary, and again features the Habs. It should be amazing.

Otherwise the ceeb is ponying up 13 hours of coverage for the 11th Hockey Day in Canada extravaganza including a NHL tripleheader featuring all six Canadian-based teams.

Hockey Night in Canada, now in it’s 58th regular season is considered by wikipedia to be the “world’s oldest sports-related television program still on the air.” So there.

The entire broadcast schedule is after the jump.

[Read more →]

By: Paul Mcgrath
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Alan Neal will replace Adrian Harewood as the host of CBC Ottawa’s afternoon drive show All in a Day.

Harewood left the show to join the local TV evening newscast.

Neal will be a familiar voice to listeners. He formerly hosted Bandwidth and Ontario Today. He has been a ‘guest’ host on All in a Day for some time.

Neal believes in reaching out to his audience, he’s a regular at community events, and connects with listeners through his Twitter account. He says using social media brings immediacy to the show. ”In a world of instant communications, the program needs to reflect peoples’ desire to interact in the moment — and that’s what I try to do from the hosting chair,” says Neal.

Once the news was announced, an number of people on Twitter congratulated Neal. “He was the obvious choice really,” Bob Durie, a local listener, said.

The show is on top-rated drive show in Ottawa.

By: Paul Mcgrath
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A note from Richard Stursberg, the former Vice-President of CBC English Services, was posted on the employee intranet site today.

Here it is in its entirety:

As Duke Ellington would say: “I hope you will not be embarrassed if I tell you that I loved you all madly.” I loved your passion for the work, your belief in success, your hope for the country and your extraordinary commitment to making something exceptional.

What I learned over six years is that the CBC is at its greatest when it focuses on what counts and the only thing that counts is serving Canadians. They vote every day with their viewing, their listening and their reading. When they say yes, you serve them well.

And you have served them well, historically well. They have never come to the CBC in greater numbers, and they come from every part of the country. They say yes to your entertainment shows, your sports, your news, your music, your talk, your documentaries and your current affairs. They say yes to celebrating Canada. They say yes when you show them how funny, clever and interesting they are.

You have also served our clients and partners well. Your revenues are on pace for an excellent year. Your relationships with the advertising agencies and with Apple, Rogers, Bell, the Post, and all our other great collaborators are stronger than ever.

I am sorry I cannot be with you the rest of the journey. It saddens me deeply not to continue. I wish you all the absolute best and even greater success in the future.

Richard Stursberg

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The CBC comedy ’18 to Life’, which was picked up last month by the U.S. network CW, has been dropped.

The web site Digital Spy has the story:

The CW has dropped sitcom 18 To Life from its schedule.

The network picked up the Canadian sitcom last month and was expected to air all 12 episodes of the first season.

However, the series debut on August 3 attracted less than a million viewers. Ratings have continued to drop and the CW has now decided to replace the final six episodes with repeats of family drama Life Unexpected.

By: Paul Mcgrath
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CBC Radio 2 reaches 2.1 million people a week, while Radio One reaches 4.3 million listeners each week

This according to the July audience numbers under the new audience measurement system.

Numbers like these contradict claims that are sometimes made on this blog, which is usually along the lines of ‘no-one watches the CBC anymore.’

These most recent numbers repudiate that claim.

Other highlights from the new book:

• the morning shows in Toronto and Calgary are still the most popular on the dial;
• the morning show in Vancouver is the second most popular;
• Edmonton captured it’s highest afternoon share all year in July;
• Calgary’s noon and afternoon audience continued to grow.

Note Nielsen’s definition of reach is: “The cumulative percentage or total of a population that has been counted as viewers at least once during a specified interval.”

By: Paul Mcgrath
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Twitter announced a new feature last night, called Fast Follow, that could be useful to media companies, especially news organizations.

The Fast Follow feature is a quick way to follow a Twitter account directly from a mobile phone. It essentially cuts out the computer out of the equation. The Twitter blog explains the feature, “Instead of directing viewers or listeners to their laptops with a URL, you can send them to their phones with Fast Follow instructions.”

Here’s how it works, a host would announce instructions on how to follow an account. To subscribe all viewers or listeners have to do is to send a short text: ”follow [account]” to 40404 (that’s the U.S. short code, Canada’s is 21212)

This would subscribe the user to that Twitter account on their phone. Twitter says this is an easier, more direct subscription method because there’s no URL and no computer to boot up, and unlike computers, most people usually have their phone within reach.

You don’t even need a Twitter to subscribe, so it’s totally open-ended.

I could see this being handy for shows like Best Recipes Ever. I could see Kary Osmond saying “To get this recipe text ‘follow bestrecipesever’ to 21212.”

That’s it.

The balance for broadcasters is that you don’t want to bombard the users with too many tweets. No-one wants to get a hundred tweets a day on their cell or smart phone.

Unfortunately, this only works in the U.S. right now. Boo!

By: Paul Mcgrath
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A screen grab from the trailer for ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World.’

You can watch whole trailer here.

Thanks to Mark for the heads up.

By: Paul Mcgrath
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There’s been a lot of speculation about the death of the Tea Makers, a long-running blog obsessed with the CBC, recently.

If you care, I wrote a post outlining what appears to have happened.

The whole post is after the jump.

[Read more →]

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This note is an internal memo from Jennifer McGuire, the General Manager and Editor in Chief of CBC News. Someone (thanks to you!) copied it into the comments on this blog. While I can’t vouch for the accuracy, I can say that usually these notes are verbatim. Without further ado:

From talking to some of you over the past few days, I know that you are wondering how the senior management changes will affect CBC News — the news renewal process, our budgets, the renewal of our journalistic policy book, and how we do our journalism and programming daily.

The short answer is, nothing changes.

It’s important to remember that we’re on a course that we set for ourselves to better serve Canadians. There is still a lot of work to do, but we are already seeing great success. We have had some hallmark moments this year. Here are just a few examples:

On The National, we broke powerful stories about CSIS and about the RCMP mutiny. And who could forget Bob McKeown of the fifth estate chasing down Graham James? Peter Mansbridge landed definitive interviews with newsmakers such as Helena Guergis and British Prime Minister David Cameron. On Radio, The House did an outstanding job with its Quebec special, which resonated across the country. The Charest interview was picked up by all of the major English daily newspapers and much of the French media in Quebec. These are just a couple of examples of journalism that had impact. There are many more.

And we are gearing up for an impressive fall. The investigative unit is delighted to welcome Diana Swain. It is pursuing several stories, and its work will be a high priority in the months ahead.

This will be the second season for the new local news formats and late night newscasts. It will be a great chance to build on our success in these areas. Local programs have seen strong ratings growth, and ensuring that they are able to deliver more original and enterprise journalism will solidify the gains. To support this, we have launched a local investigative initiative out of Winnipeg.

In the fall, we will continue the development of local radio news. We have new research that gives us insight into the radio news programs, and how Canadians use them and feel about them. As you know, local radio is an incredible strength for CBC Radio and CBC News. It is important to invest in the continued success of these newscasts. I will be sharing more details about this work soon.

Fall will also be critical for the renewal of our digital platforms. We plan to launch changes to breaking news online in October, and a more extensive change to CBCNews.ca in January. You can get a glimpse of some of the new territory by checking out some of the impressive work done during the G20: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/g20/index.html

We continue to commit to innovation and have started a push to develop new programming initiatives. We have a series in the works on volunteering. The Marketplace team is working on a project about hospitals and healthcare that will be featured on The National. We will continue to explore new program ideas in current affairs. Make the Minister Work will get a run as a series. The fall will also see CBC News Network going more often to the stories that matter to Canadians, just as it did when Mark Kelley traveled to the Gulf of Mexico to cover the oil leak or when Heather Hiscox was in Vancouver for the Olympics.

In newsgathering, we are looking at how we organize breaking news coverage. The Hub will sharpen its focus on this to better serve CBC News Network, radio hourly newscasts and our digital platforms.

All this to say that CBC News is on track and still moving forward. I hope everyone has been enjoying summer. I look forward to a great fall.

Jennifer McGuire
General Manager and Editor in Chief, CBC News

By: Paul Mcgrath
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Since Richard Stursberg’s departure from the CBC, a lot of people have commented on the former vice-president’s legacy at the corporation.

Some have been less than kind.

Lise Lareau, President of the Canadian Media Guild, called him the “Dick Cheney of the CBC.”

Others celebrated his departure. Friends of Canadian Broadcasting’s Ian Morrison, said he was “hard-pressed to define Stursberg’s legacy.”

That comment seems to caught the attention of Jason MacDonald, Stursberg’s former CBC Chief of Staff at CBC Television. He responded to that in an op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen today.

How about this for a legacy?: In an era when Canada’s public broadcaster receives less than half of the public financial support that public broadcasters in other OECD countries receive, Stursberg was able to turn CBC Television into the second-most-watched network in the country.

In prime time, (the evening viewing period from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. when most Canadians are actually watching television) he was able to secure an audience share of 10 per cent. How significant is that? When he took over as head of CBC Television the network’s share was at an all-time low, at just over six per cent.

MacDonald went on to say:

Sure, the early evening schedule, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., featured two U.S. game shows, something the “Friends” of Canadian Broadcasting make much of, but there is method to that madness: those shows are low-cost to acquire and generate desperately needed funds for a CBC that has been forced to secure more than half of the revenue required to fulfil its mandate from commercial sources.

And finally:

He pushed the CBC to improve its online offering and he challenged CBC Radio to reach even more Canadians than it already does. (Today it enjoys the largest share in its history.)

Hard numbers to argue with. I encourage you to read the entire article. It’s here.

By: Paul Mcgrath
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The Tea Makers, a blog that is almost always critical, sometimes incisive, and usually obsessive of the CBC, may be gone.

“It could be finished,” Allan Sorensen, one of the bloggers who frequently writes on the site said, adding “it’s too early to say.”

Sorensen said the issue was “behind the scenes drama which makes little sense.”

“I hope to see it return but some personal issues need to be resolved.”

The homepage of the site reads cryptically: “2005-2010 – He loved Big Brother.”

Internal disputes are not uncommon with the blog, in the past one of the guys, Fake Ouimet, or Anonymous Fake PoonGirl or somebody like that, deleted a all of their posts in some sort of fight.

By: Paul Mcgrath
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