This web site is one of Canada’s most frequented blogs. But that’s mostly because of the people who frequent it.
But have you ever wondered who’s actually interested in CBC programming? Here are the bios of The Six Most Frequent Contributors to this blog (in Nov ‘06) (note to program producers: these people are your audience!):
KEMPTON LAM
To me the whole JobLoft thing was so sad. My connection to the JobLoft entrepreneurs was my public blog comments on their original successful pitch and deal and the way their deal eventually blowed up badly and the way they have been poorly handling the aftermath. They can only blame their prof so much. (even they are still 100% behind their prof.)
I am a management consultant/entrepreneur (with a background in computer science and an MBA) specializing in assisting startups to find creative solutions to challenging & interesting problems. At the same time, I also produce documentaries.
I started commenting on CBC Dragons’ Den and then moving on to CBC policies and what I think CBC should do. My comments pattern reflects my personal shift in knowledge and interest as I comment and blog more and more about the US and UK media in my personal blog. I commented frequently because I love CBC. It is my naive hope and dream that the CBC senior management team (even none of them blog) is learning from your blog entries and comments left by everyone including myself. It is a “dialogue” (even it is not a visible one at the moment). I think CBC has the potential to be a great broadcaster on par with or even better than the likes of BBC, NHK, and PBS (I list them in the order of my respect to them). I don’t think CBC is there yet. But the hopes and dreams of many CBC fans remain achievable.
At the same time, I also produced documentaries and attended the 2006
Banff World Television Festival on a CTV Fellowship.
PHILLIP HONG
I am currently on a gap year between high school and college, vacationing and working on my hobby, 148.ca (a internet portal that I am building up for fun). I created my first webpage at age 11, and my first internet broadcast at age 13; the term “nerd” as a label for me is grossly understated.
I grew up in a Chinese-Canadian family, who came to Canada during the
Vietnam War. The reason I comment on insidethecbc.com all the time is
because I am a very avid CBC viewer. I’m probably the private broadcasters’ worst nightmare because even in this digital world, all I watch are Canadian programmes. I remember when I was child, racing home from the school bus stop just to watch “The Urban Peasant”. I’m that crazy about the Ceeb.
DWIGHT WILLIAMS
I live in Ottawa. I bounce between fiction writing, commercial illustration and office work. Currently, I’m putting together the artwork for a police drama/super-hero mini-series entitled Local Hero with a gent named Ian Gould from Australia. We’re hoping to hit the specialty shops with the first issue come Spring of 2007. You can get semi-regular progress reports on that and other stuff I’ve got in the works via
my Livejournal blog, On The DEWLine.
I’ve gotten increasingly entangled — for lack of a better word — within insidethecbc.com postings out of old and still-evolving loyalties and interests, some of which CBC’s assorted programs and projects have helped encourage.
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That’s great, really, to have such loyal followers, and good on ya for featuring them!!!
I do of course have a CBC beef (organic, free range)…it’s called ‘what about that Mercer guy?’. Sure, he’s funny, very funny. But he’s in the Canadian Blog Awards , just like ‘Inside the CBC’. So what’s with that…you guys are like the giants and us little guys, well, I want my mommy.
http://cba.myblahg.com . Harper Valley is in three categories, ‘best new blog’, ‘best humour’, ‘best blog post series (if only they were normal)’. Voting ends friday night.
Mercer gets Juno’s….Harper Valley will get an icon saying ‘CBA Winner’. Mercer gets to travel the world…Harper Valley gets to drive to the grocery store. http://harpervalley.wordpress.com
And if you really want to see why you should vote Harper Valley, go here, to the video: http://blogofhavril.blogspot.com/
Come on, give the little guy a chance! Damn Mercer’s funny…but us little guy’s don’t have the CBC.
I hope Kempton, Phillip and Dwight will vote Harper Valley….they could win an all expense paid trip to the grocery store :)….keep contributin guys, we need the voice of the everyday citizen…that’s what blogging’s all about, where you can contribute.
(did i blow it…is everyone going to vote Mercer instead of me?)
Hi Tod,
Thanks for profiling us. I feel honoured to be profiled with the other Most Frequent Contributors to this blog here. Although the really big photo of me makes me hope that you will get my last email really soon. I have provided a smaller version of my photo and a condensed & cleaned up version of the text.
I love CBC. My TV is practically glued to CBC Newsworld but I have to disagree with you that the CBC program producers should aim their programming at us. For one thing, die-hard CBC fans make up a good audience base but there is a much bigger group of people who watch CBC but aren’t die-hard CBC fans. Therefore while it is important to program with die-hard fans in mind, it is definitely more important to cater to the wider audience at the same time.
Now, IMHO, the value of our comments as frequent contributors is that we create a conversation and a dialogue where CBC executives (from junior executives all the way up to the top CBC senior management team) can see what people are thinking, what our concerns are, and hear some of our suggested solutions. The solutions may not be the best but it is worthwhile to read and to understand the reasonings. And I maintain as I previously said, CBC executives should join in the conversations and dialogues by starting to comment on blog entries.
Of course, the obvious concern in every CBC executives’ mind is that “It is too risky to open my mouth. I may get fired for saying the wrong thing so why should I comment?” or “Oh, the news media (Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, etcl) will spin my comments the wrong way.” To address this concern, I suggest checking out the blog of Richard Sambrook, Director of BBC Global News, and see how Richard has done it.
http://sambrook.typepad.com/sacredfacts/
I love to learn by examples. And learning from what our friends at BBC are doing is certainly a great way to start. Richard is a very nice gentleman and if he is willing to correspond with me, Mr. nobody Kempton, then I am sure Richard and our friends at BBC will be very willing to help anyone that actually works for CBC.
In the new media age where people’s attention is severely limited, we have a “Clear and Present Danger”, it is up to someone at CBC to do something. I think it should start at the top level senior managers, but as long as the dialogues and conversations are started, I am less concerned as to where and by whom.
As usual, my comments are too long, too harsh, and may be even unrealistic. But sometimes it takes an outsider to think outside the box, to think and suggest the impossible.
Cheers,
Kempton
P.S. To end on a light note. Everyone hates long line up at Disney’s theme park, right? Well, Disney “solved “the problem a little bit by redesigning the line-up area to include fun things for people to watch and see while they wait. For example, in 2004, one of their consultants was toying with “a Terminator-like skeleton of a forty-foot dinosaur”. Pretty smart “solution” for an “impossible” problem.
Tod, thanks much for this! Glad to be able to help out, in whatever way I can in keeping this whole show ticking over. Since this blog started, it’s so far been by turns fun, sobering, surprising, educational and just plain interesting to keep an eye on and contribute to the festivities here. I hope to continue doing so for a long time yet. Decades, preferably.
PS: Like Kempton, I’ve tried to provide a more recent and useful photo, and I hope it comes in handy for you.
Did you say “The Six Most Frequent Contributors”?
I’m eagerly waiting for the other three shoes to drop.
Yep, they’re coming…
Glad to be a part of it. One of the ceeb’s biggest online fans eh? I sure am big, but I don’t believe I’ve visited the Canadian Broadcasting Centre too many times to earn this honour.
For you bigwig execs out there: Bring back the Urban Peasant! That’s children’s programming at his best, with James Barber insisting to put butter into just about everything.
Hi Tod,
Spotlight?
umm I hear I was on The Hour Wed. night… The only time I missed seeing the show completely because of that Stupid liberal convention!
George was commenting on comments me and lauren left on his myspace page… so there you go. My picture can be found there…
All I can say is I love your blog!