What to do with Radio Canada and the CBC?

[ssiguy]

As noted on another thread, the CBC wants $400 million in annual increased donations from Ottawa so it can be ad-free.

I think CBC Radio is universally appreciated but far less so the CBC. In it's desperate bid for ad revenue we get our national broadcaster "bringing us together coast to coast to coast" by trying to find "Canada's Smartest Person" and of course what kind of self respecting CBC decade would it be without yet another rendition of Anne of Green Gables.

I think the only way the CBC TV will maintain any relevance is if it sways more towards a PBS platform with extras such as sports. Save a fortune and ditch every local newscast in the country and simply run the National. This would save a king's ransom for a service that is already provided 24/7 including the CBC. Local news can be covered by local private TV stations which nearly universally in English Canada get the higher ratings anyway.

I would like a commercial free CBC with nearly total or all Canadian content but not without a major overhaul of what the CBC and what it sees as it's future and if that means more renditions of Canada's Smartest Person, then they shouldn't get a cent.

Millions of Canadians willingly already pay for quality programming as exemplified by BC's Knowledge Network, Ontario's TVO, and even sending money to the US via PBS. The fact that hundreds of thousands of Canadians are willing to send their money out of country for decent programming says a lot about both the need and how little they feel they get from our national broadcaster.

[speedog]

Got to keep CBC Radio 2 in Calgary, where else am I going to get my classical music while on the job site.

[TorontoDrew]

For anybody who has driven long distances across this great land. CBC radio is a nessesaity. As for CBC TV it needs some help. Crap like Canadian Air Farce, Little Mosque on the Prarie and yes the new Anne of GG are examples of shit we shouldn't pay for. But Schittz Creek is genius.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

For anybody who has driven long distances across this great land. CBC radio is a nessesaity. As for CBC TV it needs some help. Crap like Canadian Air Farce, Little Mosque on the Prarie and yes the new Anne of GG are examples of shit we shouldn't pay for. But Schittz Creek is genius.

And this is why management decisions at the CBC should not be subject to "mob rule". This is simply about your personal likes and dislikes. Other people might have the opposite views on these same programs. It does not mean that they should be cancelled or continued as a result.

[BretttheRiderFan]

It's vogue to complain about the quality and breadth of content on CBC Television, but this is directly rooted in the instability of their funding over the past 25 years or so. It's difficult to run a network and make real commitments to different projects, or take any sort of risks when you don't know if your budget will be cut $100 million next year or not. There is value in public broadcasting, even in the digital age, and I'd love to see stable funding models of some sort. A gradual phasing out of advertisements on the TV network would also be a good thing. On the other hand, I don't believe a BBC-type television license model would be appropriate, because there's no precedent or tradition of this in Canada and I think it would be politically toxic. I also don't think it should just opt for the PBS model of essentially being a minor player in the media landscape. The CBC should be a strong and widely viewed network that focuses on promoting the mandate that already exists in the Canadian Broadcasting Act, and the funding meat to make it happen.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

For anybody who has driven long distances across this great land. CBC radio is a nessesaity. As for CBC TV it needs some help. Crap like Canadian Air Farce, Little Mosque on the Prarie and yes the new Anne of GG are examples of shit we shouldn't pay for. But Schittz Creek is genius.

Air Farce was hugely successful, which is why it ran for decades upon decades, and Little Mosque was one of the most globally acclaimed series to come out of Canada in this century. Ditto for Anne...they'll likely actually make money on that globally.

[SaskScraper]

Even though Poverty in Canadian Children has increased from 15% to almost 20% in the last 25 years, CBC has made a request that for it to go commercial free & it would like to have a boost of almost half a Billion dollars in tax payers money so that instead of $35/year for every man/women/child goes to CBC but an increase to $45/year. How many people in the country pay that amount of money to any single cable or radio station per year?

if you want to say no to these increases, visit http://www.byebyecbc.com/ and add your name to the growing list of Canadians that don't want to pay even more for government workers like the CBC.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Oh look, child poverty started increasing when the CBC's budget started feeling the big cuts.

I therefore conclude that the cause of child poverty is the cuts in the CBC budget.

[dleung]

I might watch this if it's on netflix.

[SpongeG]

I'd like to see it broken down into more radio stations kind of like the BBC.

CBC One - be like a current music station like BBC One with some commercials to help bring in revenue perhaps
CBC Two - an all-classical music station, more like it used to be back in the day
CBC Three - the same as it is as available currently only online or on Sirius/XM
CBC Four - Talk and news current issues, like the current AM Service
CBC Five - kind of like BBC 2 with an eclectic mix of music, sort of an adult version of BBC 1, variety of shows from pop, indie and rock to country

When you live in a rural area CBC is one of the only stations you can pick up, they have some good stuff sometimes.

I used to love brave new waves back in the 80's

[esquire]

What I'd do with the CBC:

-Maintain the English language network more or less as is
-Expand online, TV and radio news and current affairs
-Improve radio service by increasing the programming budget for CBC Radio One
-Shift Radio 2 back to focus a bit more on classical music and arts-related programming
-Roll out Radio 3 stations nationwide, shift it a bit to include some of the more adult-contemporary offerings currently on Radio 2
-Beef up local newscasts
-Build a new broadcast centre for radio and TV in Calgary, which is woefully underserved by CBC

Yeah, it would be expensive but quality costs money.

I have no idea with the French side.

[kwoldtimer]

Today's G&M has an interesting piece by tv critic John Doyle about a new CBC mini-series called Keeping Canada Safe (Thursday, CBC, 9 p.m.) about the day-to-day of first responders in different parts of Canada. It sounds more in the documentary genre than existing "reality" shows about first responders. I don't know that I'll rush to watch it, but it strikes me as the sort of useful programming that CBC is particularly well suited to produce.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/...ticle34292589/

[Echoes]

I would love to see a rejuvenation of programming on Radio One, especially on weekday evenings. That is, ditch the Current and Q condensed reruns from that morning with some fresh content.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Echoes

I would love to see a rejuvenation of programming on Radio One, especially on weekday evenings. That is, ditch the Current and Q condensed reruns from that morning with some fresh content.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking when I referred to improving Radio One. There should be something between As It Happens and Ideas that isn't just a rerun from earlier. These days with podcasts posted online right after airing, there's really no need to do that.

I wish Dispatches came back, or a radio show like it. That was one of the best and most unique shows on the CBC... something with that kind of international focus through a Canadian lens is sorely missed.

[Echoes]

Dispatches is sorely missed!

Getting off track here, but I can't think of a radio program as perfect as As It Happens. Radio magic every night of the week, in my humble opinion.

[eemy]

I too miss Dispatches and love CBC Radio (both Radio 1 and 2).

I'm quite honestly ambivalent about CBC TV. I think it has a place, but with the way the TV landscape is changing, I wonder if they wouldn't be better off producing higher quality content for other distributors to release and just get out of TV broadcasting entirely. I'd probably keep Newsworld in that situation.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan

It's vogue to complain about the quality and breadth of content on CBC Television, but this is directly rooted in the instability of their funding over the past 25 years or so. It's difficult to run a network and make real commitments to different projects, or take any sort of risks when you don't know if your budget will be cut $100 million next year or not. There is value in public broadcasting, even in the digital age, and I'd love to see stable funding models of some sort. A gradual phasing out of advertisements on the TV network would also be a good thing. On the other hand, I don't believe a BBC-type television license model would be appropriate, because there's no precedent or tradition of this in Canada and I think it would be politically toxic. I also don't think it should just opt for the PBS model of essentially being a minor player in the media landscape. The CBC should be a strong and widely viewed network that focuses on promoting the mandate that already exists in the Canadian Broadcasting Act, and the funding meat to make it happen.

CBC English TV has always had difficulty with producing non-sports, non-public affairs content (think fiction and variety) that Canadians wanted to watch, regardless of the ups and downs of its funding levels.

Every era has also had its one or two modest CBC "hits" living alongside a much larger CBC prime time broadcast schedule that is received with wholesale indifference by the Canadian viewing public.

When I was a kid the exceptions to the rule where King of Kensington and Beachcombers. In our era it's Little Mosque on the Prairie and Murdoch Mysteries, I guess...

[GreatTallNorth2]

Hire someone from the BBC to oversee the CBC and fund it so that it is a network that delivers content Canadians will watch. I would be happy to pay a TV tax if we were guaranteed decent channels and programming like they have in the UK. Our current for profit media outlets provide very little decent Canadian content and only focus on profit so they are basically re-broadcasters of US programming. I remember living in the UK, the non-BBC channels competed by also providing high quality homemade shows.

Canada must be have the lowest standards for TV programming in the Western country. It's time to turn that around.

[ssiguy]

Radio 1 & 2 were better before they screwed around with them with Q etc. Still CBC Radio seems to be well respected.

CBC should get rid of any of these "reality" programs and get back to telling Canadian stories whether that be comedies, drauma, investigative programs, documentaries, or the arts.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Lots here complaining about Q, but isn't it one of their biggest shows, and syndicated across the continent? I know it was when he who must not be named was the host anyway.