CBC Insider Criticizes New Schedule
On July 28th the CBC announced a new schedule. The highlight of the schedule is that CBC local news would now be expanded to 90 minute newscast, instead of the current 60.
The new schedule is an expansion of the news coverage, especially local news coverage, but one self-described CBC news staffer criticized the move. The concern is that the under the new schedule the newscast will start in a ratings lull at 5 p.m. and never get out of it, thereby dooming the entire expanded newscast. “In effect moving the local newscast to a dead zone where it will be unlikely to ever get a significant audience ever again,” the anonymous critic wrote yesterday on a new blog Medium Close Up.
The author of the blog then goes on to say “The work that goes into making a daily 60-minute newscast is enormous. The tension, stress and competitiveness is a grind that is every bit as difficult as any in the journalism or entertainment business. Making a 90-minute newscast for a few thousand people will destroy whatever little bit of morale still exists inside the CBC.”
The entire post is here. The cbc.ca story on the new schedule is here. What do you think of the schedule changes?
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He’s not anonymous; if you went to his main page rather than following a Tea Makers link, you would know that.
duh, if you read the blog post you would know that Medium Close up is usually written by Howard Bernstein. However yesterday he had a friend ‘write a guest blog’. So yes he is anonymous.
5 pm isn’t a rating dead zone for news – in fact, what happens is that people start watching CTV news – which begins at 5 – and never leave it, watching the full two hours through to 7 (at which point they watch Corner Gas).
I glad the news is being expanded, but who will actually get to see it?
I am lucky to get home by six, let alone early enough to see 5 pm newscast and I have to wonder in a big city such as Toronto, who is going be home in front of a TV? They will be still in traffic commuting or still at the office!
“I have to wonder in a big city such as Toronto, who is going be home in front of a TV?”
Which, of course, accounts for the entire country!
In Ontario there are 2,400,000 people watching television between 5 and 6 at any given time. Over the course of a week that adds up to over 5,000,000.
Lots of shift workers students, stay-at-homes, etc etc.
I am glad for this. In NB we will get more New Brunswick news and be able to completely ignore the CTV broadcast which seems to have more than 50% from NS and NB and PEI share the rest.
More local is much better IMO. I approve very much with this decision.
The blog post is flawed. It assumes that since CBC has never been able to get ratings at 5pm with The Simpsons and 5:30pm with Wheel, that this means no potential audience exists in that time slot. Give you head a shake. What about all the people watching other stations. In Toronto we have City-TV starting at 5pm with news in three blocks. They do a 5 show, a 5:30 show and a 6 Show.
As an example, in Toronto we will be trying to take away viewers from the competition, not trying to get the people who watch The Simpsons to start watching news. It will take time to build an audience after the schedule change, but I hear positive feedback every day from viewers who say CBC Local News has come a long way. We are headed in the right direction. Don’t be so negative. This is a good thing.
Does the blogger think that since we have not been very successful in this time slot in the past we should never try to develop a better product and increase our ratings? His thinking is flawed. To be clearer, I don’t think he has a clue.
Regards,
Tony
Hey, cool, this means I get to watch more local Toronto news from waay out here in London-Hamilton-Kitchener! Awesome! I’ll have to switch back and forth from listening to Here and Now, another fine Toronto program, but usually there’s one or two mentions of “the regions” a week on CBC 1, so I’m satisfied.
So, Tony, yes, Toronto’s local news sounds just great out here and I’m certain the Ceeb is building all kinds of listening and viewing support by completely abandoning several million potential viewers. I assume there isn’t a camera or a Marantz to spare, what with the budgeting problems and all. I heart the TBC, the soul of southern Ontario.
Sounds good to me, but starting Corrie at 6:30pm sounds a bit akwards. I’d prefer a complete 2-hour news block, but I’m sure there’s some ratings sense in doing what they are doing.
I also hope/wish for a day when we will one day again have weekend local CBC newscasts, an 11:00pm local newscast and perhaps even morning and noon local updates.
Awkward, yes. Corrie at 7:30 PM makes more sense to me.
I don’t like they way they are promoting the “90 minutes newscast”. They should promo it as local news at 5, 5:30 and 6:00. Three destinct shows like City-TV does. Give the impression of three news shows lasting 30 minutes but updated for every show. Saying you are doing a 90 minute newscast tells people not to bother with the end of the show.
I found this quote very telling: “Making a 90-minute newscast for a few thousand people will destroy whatever little bit of morale still exists inside the CBC.”
Which CBC TV newscasts have only a few thousand people watching? The ones in Vancouver. I wondering if the blogger is from Vancouver as well.
If this does not work, will the architects of such folly
fall on their swords?
I have star choice and get here & now at 6pm on the community channel 299 since there is no cbc Newfoundland feed on star choice I wonder if that will change, would star choice drop it?I hope not as it would leave me with 1 local newscast on ntv I like watching the cbc local news at 6 and the ntv news at midnight.
Eldon Shamblin says:
If this does not work, will the architects of such folly
fall on their swords?
***
Don’t be silly. Of course not! They will give themselves a bonus based on meeting their “Core Objectives” even though said objective ended up being ill-advised, expensive and unpopular.
PMSD allow quantity to trump quality.
“A. Felonious Monk says:
Eldon Shamblin says:
If this does not work, will the architects of such folly
fall on their swords?
***
Don’t be silly. Of course not! They will give themselves a bonus based on meeting their “Core Objectives” even though said objective ended up being ill-advised, expensive and unpopular.
PMSD allow quantity to trump quality.”
So let’s see…
- Primetime ETV audience numbers are at all time highs
- For the first time more Canadians are watching home grown productions than American ones
- CBC Television’s share grew last year while both Global’s and CTV’s shrunk
- The National’s numbers grew while both CTV and Global’s news numbers shrunk
- The fifth estate’s numbers grew
- Radio numbers are at an all time high
- CBC.ca is the #1 News and Information website in Canada
So of course, if this strategy works as well as the one’s listed above have over the last 18 months you will be first in line to offer your public congratulations?