Coming soon: The battle for Vancouver
As just about all CBC employees know, for more than a year now the corporation has been working on the development and implementation of “My CBC” – a renewal of local news and a move toward “Web 2.0″ online initiatives.
The test bed for this has been Vancouver, with “myCBCvancouver” – described as
“a strengthened and innovative integrated local news service in Vancouver” designed to create “a more accessible news service that encourages people to interact with the CBC in various ways everyday.”
The project is known internally as the “Vancouver incubator.” It launched this fall, with a significant expansion of local radio and TV news (including new noon and 11pm TV newscasts; local Saturday and Sunday TV newscasts were added last month.) According to a recent update from project manager Joan Andersen, “We’re not done yet, but we’re well over the hump.”
Good thing, too. Because the competition is about to heat up.
According to a source, CTV News is declaring war in the Vancouver market, making it a ratings battleground leading up to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, to which it holds broadcast rights.
For the past several months, CTV’s news division has been reportedly working on plans to boost their morning programming by combining the Canada AM and CTV Newsnet teams. In the new year, the source says, they are planning to air Canada AM live, nationwide, six hours a day (three hours a day in each time zone and all six hours on CTV Newsnet.)
Johnny Michel, CBC’s regional director for British Columbia, thinks the changes can only benefit B.C. viewers.
“I think this is great news for the viewing public,” he told Inside CBC. “For many, many years, CTV has been serving Western Canada with a three hour tape delayed morning news. Global (at the time BCTV) took advantage of that fact about 10 years ago and established its now dominating local Morning News, however up to now, viewers had no other choice.”
Among the things CTV apparently wants to improve is western coverage – more live programming, more voices from the western provinces, and a greater focus on Vancouver. There will also be a new focus on breaking news.
Michel welcomes the competition, and believes the CBC and CTV initiatives will make the entire market more lively.
“I believe the ultimate winner with any increased competition is the consumer,” he says. “MyCBC was built on the philosophy of putting viewers and consumers first.
“While I agree that the morning timeslot will be extremely competitive, I believe that in today’s environment any news organization needs to be available 24/7, delivering accurate and reliable information in more ways and places and on more platforms that ever before. I know that MyCBC brings us closer than anyone else in the Vancouver market to accomplishing this goal.”
So it looks like the gauntlet that CBC has thrown was picked up.
What do you think of the changes in the Vancouver media landscape? How will the battle for viewers unfold?
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I don’t work in the Vancouver newsroom, but I’ve watched their Six o’clock show online and they are doing an amazing job. The show is now the best supper hour show in Vancouver (and I wouldn’t have said that before). If all the supper hour shows across the country look as good as they do we will be back on top. It will take years for our audiences to come back though; local news is a habit. We need to set it and forget it for at least a year and then we’ll know how successful we’ve been.
OMG! They are finally making Canada AM live throughout the whole morning. It sure took them so long.
Something bout him that I don’t like.
I used to watch AM when I was young. Call me silly but I favored Rod Black as co-host but until Seamus took over. It’s just me but I am not big on Seamus.
Didn’t AM once go LIVE in different regions back in 1997 when they aired the Hong Kong handover?
Tod you seem to paint the battle over B.C. as being CTV vs. CBC. But the reality is more like CTV vs. Global. Global is the ratings leader for news in Vancouver and CTV is probably more focused on Global than on CBC. Over the years I’ve worked for many CBC bosses who believed the private stations watched our every move. The sad reality is that many private newsrooms don’t even notice us. We can build a new set, cross promote our web sites, change the music and add a new show at 11 p.m. But then the privates can buy another helicopter, add a new fleet of live satellite trucks and plaster any market with more bus ads than we can afford.
So what the hell is myCBC anyway?
I realize that it is a cross-platform strategy that paves the way for multimedia convergence in newsrooms across the country,
but I’m not sure what any of that bureaucratese means outside of a press release?
Is it anything like MySpace?
I do hope CBC throws some money at its Edmonton TV news operations… I’ve tried watching their 6pm news, but really it is such a mess. Too many on-air mistakes, seemingly inexperienced reporters, and getting beaten by CTV and Global when it comes to breaking news (ie. breaking into regular programming to bring viewers something important, local election coverage, etc).
If the CBC plans to expand the amount of local newscasts CBC Edmonton produces, I really do hope they address these problems. Or else they’ll be stuck in 3rd place while CTV and Global continue to dominate the 5th/6th largest television market in the country.
…and to add to my previous post, the battle for Vancouver is REALLY about Global vs. everyone else – NOT CBC vs. CTV as you paint it to be.
MB and Vancouver are right about Global dominating the ratings, which is what Johnny Michel said in the piece. Unlike CBC and CTV, I haven’t seen anything about their future plans for the region – sure would like to, though….
Obviously CTV will dominate this like they do everything else.
CTV appeals to the younger demographic, where CBC still holds reigns on the aging population that grew up watching them in the early days and still don’t know what’s best for them.
I like the CTV broadcast style better… more intriguing and exciting. Not to mention their promos and on air imaging and graphics are top notch. The CBC is too conservative in my opinion. I tend to fall asleep. ‘Nuff said.