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)

The Great Canadian Songquest, CBC Radio 2′s musical exercise that marries music with iconic Canadian places, has started up again.

This year, instead of celebrating towns and places, fans are being asked to nominate their favourite stretch of Canadian road. From there the audience will vote on the submissions and CBC Radio pairs the winners with a short list of musicians to turn them into road songs.

The submissions run the gamut, for instance a thoughtful submission was recently made to turn the Highway of Tears to music.

The nominating round closes on September 22nd.

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	CBC Radio 2	Posted at 6:20 pm (14 Sep 2010)

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.”

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2, Changes to CBC Radio Two	Posted at 9:40 pm (17 Aug 2010)

^{Science & Sons}

Science and Sons, a Toronto design shop is working on prototype of a radio that only gets two stations – CBC Radio One, and CBC Radio 2. The prototype is called ‘RADIO CANADA’, and is “a homage to the cultural significance of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.” The design was inspired by dedicated CBC listeners who are permanently tuned to CBC Radio.

The prototype also acknowledges two different broadcast eras, on one side is an analogue tuning gauge, while the bottom has an electronic display and dial.

^{Science & Sons}

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2	Posted at 2:31 pm (28 Jan 2010)

The CBC recently dropped the windows file format it was using for its live audio streams and switched to the mp3 file format, an iTunes and iPhone friendly format.

The switch means that tons of CBC Radio One and Radio 2 live feeds are now available on iTunes (under the Radio directory) and the iPhone app.

The switch was made over the last month. “The reason was simple,” Angela Misri, the manager of digital radio, said “we wanted to deliver a more robust, expandable, browser/OS agnostic listening experience.”

Misri added that this is the first step “in making it easier for everyone to listen,” and that they are still working on a few bugs but are happy with the switch so far.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2	Posted at 2:10 pm (19 Jan 2010)

“Hi, I’m Laurie Brown. Welcome to The Signal.”

These are a few of my favourite words. And I can hear them six nights out of seven on what just might be the best show on Canadian radio.

It’s The Signal, like the lady said, on CBC Radio 2. Therein, Brown presents an array of evocative sounds, from the simply pretty to the esoteric and experimental, all with a fluidity and grace that can take you to unexpected places.

Much like Radio 2 these days. The dust has settled following the station’s controversial makeover 16 months back, when it completed the transformation from an almost all-classical format to a more varied programming featuring everything from indie-rock to folk, jazz, world and pop, with a little classical thrown in for good measure. The overarching emphasis is on Canadian content

T’Cha Dunlevy, the Montreal Gazette’s Music Critic, comments on CBC Radio 2, now that the dust has settled on the controversial makeover. The full article is available here.

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	CBC Radio 2	Posted at 6:19 pm (11 Jan 2010)

Today is the last day of voting in the Great Canadian Song Quest, a CBC Radio 2 contest that pairs musicians with Canadian places and turns them into songs. The campaign has attracted entries from across the country, but I’m sure a nudge-nudge favourite is Dildo, Newfoundland.

Despite the awkward name, the small town was named “one of the top 10 most beautiful communities in Canada by Harrowsmith Country Life Magazine,” or so it says on the town’s song quest blog. So if you’re leaning towards Dildo, or any other of the entries, today’s the last day to make your voice heard. Voting closes at midnight.

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	CBC Radio 2	Posted at 7:38 am (23 Oct 2009)

The Strombo Show, George Stroumboulopoulos’ four-hour music radio show, is moving to Radio 2.

The show used to air on CFRB and more recently on Corus. Strouboulopoulos talked about the announcement on his TV show, The Hour, last night. Stroumboulopoulos told a blogger over the summer that “he pulled it from the Corus lineup. He said his schedule was too hectic so he pulled the plug.” He also said that with the new show it is important to him that he be able to play what he wants. The show will begin launch on November 8th from 8 p.m. to midnight.

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	CBC Radio 2	Posted at 12:09 pm (06 Oct 2009)

Yesterday the CBC launched “The Great Canadian Song Quest“, a social media campaign that aims to draw on Canadians’ passion for the landscape and music.

The idea is to ask Canadians to nominate places they would like celebrated in a song, select the winners, then vote on who performs the songs.

Kai Black, the executive producer of daytime programming at CBC Radio 2, thought up the idea this summer while driving up to a cottage. “We were jammed in a tiny little car, with a bag of chips on my lap, and we saw the sign for Bobcaygeon,” and, as Black tells it, everyone in the car burst into the Tragically Hip song “It was in Bobcaygeon…” he says singing.

“So I thought to myself what if you asked Canadians what places you would want immortalized in song?”

Black says the inspiration for the campaign was last year’s Obama’s playlist. “That went really viral,” he says, “and what it told me that Canadians are passionate about music.”

Right now the campaign is focused on building the foundation on social networks. There are templates for creating your own blog, digital badges and banners, Twitter hashtags and bunch of other bells and whistles. Then on Sept 28th the nomination phase opens and Canadians will be able to start nominating their 13 most music-worthy places.

I think someone has to nominate the flying saucer in Moonbeam, Ontario. What’s yours?

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	CBC Radio 2	Posted at 5:43 pm (08 Sep 2009)

CBC radio continued its winning streak with the latest spring 2009 book. Although down slightly from the winter 2009 survey, CBC Radio One’s overall share 19 per cent higher than this time last year.

Of the seven markets surveyed both CBC Radio One stations and their respective morning shows rank either first or second. Both World Report (at 7 a.m.) and As it Happens had an outstanding book, with share increase of more than 30 per cent over this time last year.

Here’s a graph of the CBC Radio One share since last year in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver:

CBC Radio in Vancouver had a particularly good showing, passing CKNW for the market lead. ”This is the highest ranking we’ve had in recent memory, in the last 20 years, and as far as I remember this is the first time we’ve been the top station overall,” said Johnny Michel, managing director of CBC British Columbia told the Vancouver Sun. 

Here is Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg:

BBM defines share as the estimated total hours tuned to one station as a percentage of total hours tuned to all stations. Of course share only captures people who listen to radio.

CBC Radio 2′s share is about the same as the last survey.

The full survey is available here.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2	Posted at 4:40 pm (03 Apr 2009)

In a letter to the Ottawa Citizen, former CBC President Tony Manera, said he objected to ads on CBC Radio.

The possibility of advertising on CBC radio is not a new idea. It has been considered and rejected in the past, for valid reasons.

The traditional distinctiveness of CBC radio would be further eroded by the presence of commercials. That insidious process, unfortunately, has been underway for some time. In a well intentioned, but poorly executed effort to broaden the traditional base of CBC radio listeners, many of its most loyal supporters, upon whom the CBC’s survival as a public broadcaster depends, have become disenchanted, discouraged, disengaged and pretty darn unhappy…

One of the most irritating features, on both CBC radio and television, is the incessant running of “promos” and “trailers” telling us what’s coming up next, or later, or tomorrow, or next week.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2, Executives, People	Posted at 4:24 pm (11 Feb 2009)

In response to Heritage Minister James Moore comments on advertising on CBC Radio, Michel Tremblay, senior VP of corporate strategy said today that advertising on CBC Radio “is not currently being considered.”

But others say that Moore’s comments amount to an invitation for CBC management to look at advertising on CBC Radio as a way to make up the looming budget shortfall.

Charlie Angus, the NDP heritage critic, who raised the issue with on Monday told the Globe that he was surprised by Moore’s comments. “He revealed his government’s inclination to support the introduction of commercials on CBC Radio.”

A CBC press release said Moore’s comments come on the heels of a series of meetings between the CBC and the Feds “to obtain some flexible financial measures” that will help the corp “to alleviate the burden of the recession.”

The CBC has long pressed for more flexible mechanisms to raise revenue, including last year’s failed bid to introduce subsriber fees. A submission to the CRTC in 2007 said “In the Corporation’s view, no service should be subject to regulatory constraints which would preclude it from generating sufficient revenues from the service it provides.”

Advertising on CBC Radio would require CRTC approval, and there’s some speculation that Moore’s comments may have been intended to encourage the CBC to submit a request.

Both the Globe and the Star have more on the subject.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2, Parliament, The CRTC	Posted at 12:05 am (11 Feb 2009)

Heritage Minister James Moore hinted yesterday that advertising on CBC Radio “is an option.” The Minister made the comments during an exchange with NDP heritage critic Charlie Angus, but then seemed to back away from them. Below is a transcript of the exchange:

Charlie Angus: Would you consider opening CBC Radio One and Radio Two up for commercial advertising?

James Moore: Yeah I mean, CBC has a lot of pressure… Look we’re working with Hubert Lacroix and people at CBC in order to get a full sense of the scale of the problems that they have. Commercial advertising is an option  that has been talked about for some time. I would frankly consider anything so long as the end result is to have a strong national public broadcaster that serves Canadians as best as possible.

Charlie Angus: So you would consider opening advertising onto Radio One and Radio Two? That has been discussed?

James Moore: It has not been discussed with CBC – Radio Canada. It’s not something that I’m looking at doing. But we are very conscious of the needs of the CBC – the pressures that they’re facing. I would work with them on any option that they think would work to best serve their mandate in serving Canadians.

The Minister made the comments during a heritage committee hearing that’s online here, scroll along to the 1:12:11 mark to watch it.

Advertising revenue currently accounts for about 20 per cent of total CBC funding. Although some advertising already exists on CBC Radio, such as podcast sponsorships and ads on radio web sites, CBC Radio earns very little money from these deals. CBC Radio’s total budget for 2009 is around $140 million, of which less than $1 million is from self-generated revenue.

Ian Morrison, spokesperson for the watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, told the Citizen Radio One and Two ads could generate up to $95 million a year.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2, Parliament, The CRTC	Posted at 12:44 pm (10 Feb 2009)

CBC Radio cleaned up in the latest audience measurement report released by BBM.

In radio they call it the book, and it was an outstanding showing, overall CBC Radio One:

• Set an all-time record for total audience share of 11.1 per cent, which is up from 9.9 per cent a year ago;
• Achieved a national audience of 3.5 million listerners, which is up almost a quarter million;
• Set records in Toronto. For the first time ever, CBC Radio One is now the top-ranked station, with a reach of 1.1 million listeners, and again producing the top-rated morning show in the largest market in Canada;
  
• Is in the top three of 20 of 22 markets in the morning show slots.

A bunch of shows had historic high points, including The Current, The World at Six, DNTO, Vinyl Tap, Cross Country Check-up.

This latest book is for September and October. For the full BBM results, click here.

Unfortunately the format changes at Radio 2 were not as well received. It saw its share of 2.9 per cent drop slightly.

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	CBC Radio 1, CBC Radio 2	Posted at 8:37 pm (28 Nov 2008)

Download a full-size image suitable for printing.

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	CBC Radio 2	Posted at 12:16 pm (28 Aug 2008)