Haydain Neale, 1970–2009
Transit City and Transit Cities
Peeve Patrol
Newsstand: November 23, 2009
The Making of a Medley
By the time you read this, you may have already received an email from an online group called Avaaz asking you to "pull out all the stops" by spending a minute to fill out an online petition which will be "delivered to parliament" to pressure the Harper government into granting the CBC's loan request, thereby "saving the CBC."
While ineffective email petitions are as old as the web, there is telling irony in Avaaz, an anti-globalization group claiming to oppose "political elites and unaccountable corporations," taking up the CBC's cause. This is the same CBC (headed by a political appointee) that sought to bring American game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy to the weekday 5:30 and 7:30 time slots, respectively, that flipped CBC Radio 2 from one of the few classical music outlets left on the radio to an adult contemporary station, that spent an enormous amount of money two years ago on an American Idol knock off simulcast on ABC that subsequently bombed.
Of course one could argue the CBC has been pushed into these mandate-bending maneuvers because of its forced reliance on ad revenue, the same depleted revenue that forced CBC President Hubert Lacroix to seek the federal loan to meet its operating budget. But that's the whole point; these issues are complex, they don't fall into ideologically distinct piles to which you can simply add your name and hope for the best.
Rather than petition signatures, Avaaz might accomplish more by reminding Canadians of the recently rejected recommendations made to the federal government by the Standing Committee on Heritage (highlighted by Torontoist in February) and provoking debate about how the CBC should best meet its mandate to inform, enlighten, and entertain both nationally and regionally, especially as more and more local broadcasters face closure. It might send out a set of talking points to discuss with your friends and family and provide the mailing and email addresses of local MPs in case you'd like to send out letters voicing your concerns.
You know, boring old democracy, the kind that takes a more than a minute between Twitter and Facebook.
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Some quick arithmetic:
CBC gets about $1BN from the government. It makes the remainder of its budget from commercial ventures (about another $250-300 million, rough guess.)
If you take commercial revenue away from the corporation, you've still got a relatively constant (and generous) $1BN, give or take - funding fluctuations will occur of course, but not with the same degree of uncertainty as advertising revenue which is at the mercy of fickle TV viewers and the economy. Then this $1BN can be used to produce 100% commercial-free content, whose primary goal isn't grabbing consumerist zombie eyeballs for advertisers.
There are people at CBC who like to think its becoming profitable, and that they're taking it there. But it's obviously not getting any better at playing around in the commercial world. And this commercial mindset has infected virtually all of its programming as it strives to be "just like" every other big network. It's in a constant death spiral toward irrelevancy and being a huge waste of money.
Non commercial, or programming that can't survive on commercial networks - the very thing you have a public broadcasters for in the first place - is at the bottom of the ladder at CBC, even looked at with disdain. It's absurd.
This post makes no sense.
Rather than petition signatures, Avaaz might accomplish more by reminding Canadians of the recently rejected recommendations made to the federal government by the Standing Committee on Heritage (highlighted by Torontoist in February) and provoking debate, etc.:
What are you talking about?
First, we have no shortage of debate -- in fact, it is plentiful, vociferous, and unending. What we do have a serious shortage of is public broadcasting funding. Almost noone funds it less than we do.
Second, when did signing a petition become an either/or proposition? (Oh, sorry, I can't vote this year, and I'm unable to have a lively conversation with you in a manner that will please Torontoist, because I already signed a petition. Uh, what?)
You know, boring old democracy, the kind that takes a more than a minute between Twitter and Facebook.
Actually, sitting and talking about stuff isn't democracy -- it's sitting and talking about stuff. Democracy, boring or otherwise, is the part where you create a link between those conversations and actually-existing governance.
Can petitions help do that? Yup. Hey, remember McGuinty and the teen driving law?
This is the same CBC (headed by a political appointee) that sought to bring American game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy to the weekday 7 to 8 p.m. slot...
Yup. Cheap programming. Big audiences. Sell ads. Easy money. Use it to produce programming.
Then this $1BN can be used to produce 100% commercial-free content, whose primary goal isn't grabbing consumerist zombie eyeballs for advertisers.
Right. And if the CBC had ten bucks, then it could use that to produce 100% commercial-free content.
But if you're going to ask it to run local news in a whole bunch of towns, and regional and national and international news on top of that, and then to do drama that people want to actually watch -- well, maybe it's revolutionary to consider hiring a scriptwriter or actors at as much as a tenth of what Hollywood pays. But there you have it.
Who thinks the CBC should be producing expensive drama shows??
Is the commercial programming on CBC a net gain or loss? How much has this devalued its overall output?
Who thinks the CBC should be producing expensive drama shows??
You said you think that $1BN can be used to produce 100% commercial-free content, whose primary goal isn't grabbing consumerist zombie eyeballs for advertisers. Drama is by far the most popular kind of content with Canadians. It is expensive when you compare it to, say, buying dumped episodes of Jeopardy. What kind of programming did you think the CBC should be producing?
Is the commercial programming on CBC a net gain or loss? How much has this devalued its overall output? Do you really not get this? When the CBC buy bottom-priced American fare Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune, it makes money. Then it uses that money to pay for the programming on which it loses money (the stuff you call "non commercial, or programming that can't survive on commercial networks").
The CBC would dearly love to run an all-Canadian, no-dreck line-up. It has said this over and over again. But, for the CBC to axe the programming that makes money and substitute for it programming that loses money, it will need more money.
What kind of programming did you think the CBC should be producing?
Non-fiction.
But, for the CBC to axe the programming that makes money and substitute for it programming that loses money, it will need more money.
Are you sure? Don't underestimate their ineptitude at making money.
Non-fiction.
But not drama? So that leaves sitcoms. Canadian sitcoms.
I don't think "non-fiction" means what you think it means.
If you think Radio 2 is an adult contemporary station, you haven't been listening to adult contemporary stations. This is fortunate for you, but still...not a great part of the argument.
@Joe Clark Yes sir, WOF airs at 5:30 PM, not at the pre-prime time slot of 7 pm (anything after 5 feels the same to me).
As for The One, while ABC spent a wad on the show, the CBC put a fair chunk of money into promoting and refused to disclose the dollar amount it spent on the simulcast after later controversy...although in retrospect it would have been much better for me to point out furor over the National overlap instead.
@joe and valerie: "Contemporary music"—this was more a dig than anything else. I for one, along with many others, would have welcomed Radio 3 to the CBC dial and had Radio 2 go hardcore on classical and new compositional music. Ear of the beholder I suppose.
I just made the change about Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy's time slots now (5:30 and 7:30, respectively).
Defining CBC Radio 2 as "adult contemporary" may be contentious but I'm not sure it's wrong. In any case, here's our article from August when the switchover officially happened.
that flipped CBC Radio 2 from one of the few classical music outlets left on the radio to an adult contemporary station
Whoever wrote this either hasn't listened ever listened to the new Radio 2 or has never listened to adult contemporary radio. The two aren't really similar at all. I understand that there are legitimate debates out there over whether the change to Radio 2 was a positive development or not, but adult contemporary radio isn't playing what's on Radio 2 these days, or vice versa. Spend a day listening to CHUM FM or CHFI, then a day listening to Radio 2, and then get back to us.
You're dead right about Wheel and Jeopardy, though. Surely they is better international programming that can bring in the advertisers, without replicating syndicated programming that private stations already provided.
Mentioning The One is like beating a dead horse, and that travesty is a bit in the past, but still a valid point.
Of course, no one is mentioning CBC TV's primary purpose, the one that best serves the public interest -- to air Coronation Street daily.
TVO does a better job informing and entertaining us with less money and ad free.
How about getting the NHL to pay the CBC for promoting their business instead of the other way around?
TVOntario does no journalism. Want CBC to get out of that game, then?
Your correction is still incorrect. The two game shows air discontiguously and occupy two 30-minute timeslots, not two straight hours.
"...sought to bring American game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy to the weekday 5:30 and 7:30 time slots, respectively"
I'm not certain how this correction implies a two hour contiguous run, joe.
It doesn't.
Does anyone else see a storm drain when looking at the top photo?