Despite having been cut back to half a season, the CBC comedy series 22 minutes is drawing big audiences this fall.

As Bill Brioux, the Canadian Press television critic, said on his blog, last week’s episode drew 925,000 viewers.

Brioux  says this surprising given that the show is not a promotional priority for the corporation. He says the cast has come to describe the show as “the series between two shows CBC promotes.”

“Being backed into a tight corner seems to have emboldened the cast and writers,” Brioux wrote yesterday. With little promotion coming from the corporation, they’ve taken matters into their own hands.

In October they released a video of 80 year-old Gordon Pinsent reading bits of teen-sensation Justin Bieber’s memoir. That video has 60,000 views.

This week they were quick to react to Danny Williams’ resignation and put together another Pinsent bit. They uploaded this clip in advance of tonight’s show:

The show airs tonight (Tuesday) at 8:30.

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	This Hour Has 22 Minutes	Posted at 8:21 am (30 Nov 2010)

CBC.ca launched a new home page today this is way different from the last design.

The massive image rotator that used to consume the top of the screen is gone replaced by much more news and sports content. The new page packs in more stories, and longer headlines. Shockingly, it’s also aligned in the centre of the page.

With the renewed newsy feel to the page, Radio and Televison programming has been given less prominence.

Check out the new page here. What do you think?

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	CBC.ca web site	Posted at 8:30 pm (25 Nov 2010)

Today the CBC posted tens of thousands of documents released under the Access to Information Act since 2007 to its corporate website.

The index of all the documents is available here.

Posting the documents online makes them available to the general public, not just the person who made the request. The CBC also committed to updating the site as new documents are released.

CBC President and CEO, Hubert Lacroix said of the announcement ”we’re taking yet another step in our efforts to give Canadians the information they need to understand the way we manage their money.”

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	Under the Hood	Posted at 8:09 pm (25 Nov 2010)

A bunch of CBC employees are taking part in Movember, which according to Wikipedia is “an annual month-long event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November… to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer and depression.”

Ryan Couldrey, a CBC employee who also works as a photographer, wants to capture the hair-raising results.

He’s organizing a photo shoot for Toronto employees next Tuesday, Nov 30th, from 10am to 3:30pm.

Here’s the flyer for the event.

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	Asides	Posted at 10:58 pm (23 Nov 2010)

Norman Spector, Brian Mulroney’s former chief of staff, says Sun Media is waging a war against the CBC.

In a piece in the Globe’s blog today, Spector says to the long running feud between Quebecor and Radio-Canada in La Belle Province, “now includes Anglo journalists who’ve been drafted in support of Quebecor’s war against Radio-Canada.”

The piece was prompted by an article in the Sun today about the CBC’s efforts to fend off a bunch of access to information requests, some of which were filed by Sun Media.

In case you were uncertain about Sun Media’s stance on the issue, the online article was accompanied by this clever little graphic.

Spector didn’t point out that this war of words with Sun Media has been going on for quite some time now.

In April last year, Sun Media published a series of articles on expenses of senior CBC executives.

Prior to that in February, CBC President Hubert Lacroix got into a tit-for-tat with Greg Weston, a reporter with the Ottawa Sun. At the time Lacroix accused Weston of “horrendously distort[ing] the facts,” saying his reporting of issues were “distortion of facts or are flat-out wrong.”

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	The Media Landscape	Posted at 10:45 pm (22 Nov 2010)

In an effort to address the “the challenges of the social media universe,” as Esther Enkin, the executive editor of CBC News, put it, CBC News has released new guidelines for all of its journalists.

The new guidelines, officially known as the CBC Journalistic Standards and Practices, was released this afternoon after having been approved by the board of directors.

The document entirely reorganizes the previous edition. It’s now loosely organized around beats, but there are number of sections around the use of social media.

First off, the document states that the CBC won’t give in to the urge of other news organizations and many blogs in posting first, and verify later.

It says “We are consistent in our standards, no matter what the platform, in disseminating information. If we would not put the information on air or on our own website, we would not use social media to report that information.”

Many CBC News staffers will be surprised to learn that these guidelines also apply to their personal use of social media.

In our personal social media activity, we are mindful of our professional association with CBC, and ensure what we do conform to CBC social media and conflict of interest policies.

These new standards are not dramatically different from other employee conduct documents that have been released in the last few years. However given the proliferation of social media, they represent a renewed effort by the corporation to protect the CBC brand when employees are using social media in their personal lives.

Implicit in this effort is the acknowledgement that social media is public and ever-present and that the lines between personal and professional lives are becoming non-existent.

Enkin said that the guidelines are not set in stone. “Our goal is to make this a living document. It is a tool to help our journalists make smart, ethical decisions in situations where there are many shades of grey, and to guide them to carry out the best public-service journalism we can provide,” she said this afternoon.

The new guidelines are available here. What do you think of them?

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	News & Journalism	Posted at 9:26 pm (17 Nov 2010)

By simply sending an email, CBC employees can support military families that have been afflicted by war.

To support a family all you have to do is send an email to remembrance.souvenir@cbc.ca with your name and employee ID number (it’s on your security pass).

When you send the email a one-time donation of $11 will be made to the Canadian Military Families Fund (MFF). Your donation will be deducted from your December 2nd paycheque and a charitable tax receipt will be sent to your home address.

Founded by General Rick Hillier, the fund helps children who have lost a parent or whose parent has been seriously wounded while serving this country.

The deadline is this Friday, Nov 12th.

Fred Parker, the chief director at The National, is the man behind the initiative.

“Throughout the years I’ve spent covering Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, I never cease to be touched by the faces of the victims of war and by those who are wounded by the loss or the injury of a loved one.

Up until last year, I kept thinking that there had to be a way to show support to the families of those who make the ultimate sacrifice and put themselves in harm’s way for the love of their country. Thinking back, I wonder why no one ever thought of supporting the families of the victims of war in this way, sooner.

It’s such a simple initiative – all it takes is 11 dollars to begin to make a difference in the lives of those families touched by war – but its impact is profound,” Parker explained on the internal employee portal. “I really feel that this could help military families heal in a way they otherwise might not be able to. And we would have a hand in that recovery.”

The funds go to after school programs, counseling services, or any other program designed to help a child who has lost a parent or whose parent has been seriously wounded while serving this country.

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	Community Events	Posted at 10:39 am (11 Nov 2010)

Scott Moore, a dynamic executive who wore two hats at the CBC, is leaving.

Since the departure of Dave Scapillati in 2009, Moore has been serving as the Executive Director of CBC Sports and the General Manager of the marketing and sales department.

In a note to staff this afternoon, Kirstine Stewart, the interim vice-president of English CBC, said “I know this wasn’t an easy choice for Scott to make, as he believes deeply in the mandate of the public broadcaster and has been a strong supporter of our current strategies. He’s made a “next step” career decision, which is not uncommon among talented people. I want to thank Scott for his contributions to the organization over the past four years.”

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	Executives	Posted at 3:37 pm (09 Nov 2010)

^{Dan Tavares, senior producer for digital content at CBC sports, poses with the hardware on Tuesday night. I stole the image from Facebook, he said in the caption “Winning a Gemini as part of a great team. Thanks Lauren, Dayton and Mike. Be proud gang. I am.”}

The CBC picked up 32 Geminis in the first two nights of the industry awards this week, and also won the Canada Award for Reel Injun.

The whole list of award winners is available below.

[Read more →]

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		Posted at 9:53 pm (04 Nov 2010)

This is a copy and paste of an article on the internal employee portal from this afternoon. I’m copying it here because I thought it would be of interest the wider public:

November 4, 2010 – CBC Radio fans can now listen to CBC Radio One, Radio 2 and Radio 3 on iPad thanks to the latest update to the highly popular CBC Radio app. The new universal app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is available now on the Apple App Store.

“It’s truly exciting to be able to offer the full slate of CBC Radio’s diverse program excellence in such accessible and innovative ways via the iPad. It feels like a whole new rich content experience,” said Denise Donlon, general manager, CBC Radio.

Listeners can listen live to any CBC Radio station across Canada or program favourite CBC Radio shows on-demand such as The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti, Q with Jian Ghomeshi, The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers, the new Day 6 with Brent Bambury, Writers & Company with Eleanor Wachtel, As it Happens with Carol Off and much more.

Enjoy live streams of CBC Radio 2 including Radio 2 Morning hosted by Bob Mackowycz, Tempo hosted by mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah and Drive with Rich Terfry. Plug into CBC Radio 2’s live streams of Canadian composers, Canadian songwriters, classical and jazz channels or catch CBC Radio 3 with all genres of new music including indie rock, hip hop and electronica.

The updated CBC Radio app brings iPad users the full range of CBC Radio content already available to those with iPhone or iPod touch. Users can also access the CBC Program Guide to find out what’s playing now or to plan their CBC Radio listening schedule.

As well, the updated app also offers audio sessions from CBC-TV favourites, letting listeners enjoy audio-only versions of George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, Mansbridge One on One and the CBC News At Issue panel.

CBC Radio content accessible through the CBC Radio app includes:

• CBC Radio One: A wide range of local, national and international news, current affairs, documentaries, arts and culture including 63 on-demand programs and 22 live streams.

• CBC Radio 2: The best Canadian music, commercial-free: classical, jazz, singer-songwriters, pop, R&B, world, soul and much more. Four on-demand programs and nine live streams.

• CBC Radio 3: A ‘Best Online Radio’ nominee at the Webby awards two years in a row, CBC Radio 3 is THE place to discover the best new Canadian indie acts. Five on-demand programs and one live stream, plus access to more than 100,000 tracks from more than 20,000 artists via the now embedded in-app CBC Radio 3 website.

The app also lets users run CBC Radio content as multi-tasking background audio while tending to other tasks on iPhone or iPod touch. For iPhone, the app also remembers episode playback positions if listening is interrupted by an incoming phone call.

The CBC Radio app is available for free from the Apple App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

More info:

CBC mobile services

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	CBC Mobile, CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2, CBC Radio 3, Platforms	Posted at 9:28 pm (04 Nov 2010)

An article in the NetNewsledger, an online paper in Thunder Bay, explored the roots of the CBC, here’s a snippet:

The CBC has its real roots in then Port Arthur, and now Thunder Bay. It was C. D. Howe, as a Minister in the King Government who brought forward the legislation needed to create the CBC. Howe is likely better known for the creation of other crown corporations, including Air Canada. However it was as Minister of Minister of Railways and Canals that Howe was responsible for the CBC.

In the early days of the CBC the network broadcast on trains, and thereby came under the responsibility of the Minister of Railways and Canals.

The whole post is here.

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	Platforms	Posted at 8:08 am (04 Nov 2010)

The CBC unveiled a new logo this afternoon to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the national broadcaster.

CBC President and CEO, Hubert Lacroix said he wanted to provide “a space where Canadians can have a voice,” as part of the celebrations. “We want Canadians to talk to us,” he said.

He said the 75th celebrations would start on August 22 2011 and run for 75 days to November.

^{An the image of the CBC’s logos as they’ve evolved over the last 75 years.}

As part of the celebrations, employees are being asked to share their stories of why they choose to work  for CBC-Radio Canada. Employees that submit their stories will have a chance to win a t-shirt.

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	Programming	Posted at 12:43 pm (02 Nov 2010)