[cmurray]

The CBC has finally come to its senses and realized that we don't actually need a publicly subsidized commercial broadcaster - we have lots of them in English Canada without the need for taxpayers to support one. Executive Vice-President Richard Stursberg was behind the recent push to makeover CBC TV so that it looked more commercial.
Only six years of damage to undo.
Artcle: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/845000--stursberg-out-as-helm-of-cbc?bn=1

 

[nakedgord]

Thank goodness...

 

[Lindsay649]

The biggest surprise to me was who he is married to. No wonder she kept her job at Newsworld.

 

[Fry1989]

What the CBC needs is to be more like the BBC and Australian ABC. Both are commercial-free, and highly competitive with their commercial counterparts when it comes to programs and viewer levels, while also showing many regional and national programs that you would expect from a public broadcaster. Also, get rid of this Bold and Documentary nonsense, and rename them all CBC 1, CBC 2 and CBC 3, and give each a dedicated role, such as CBC 1 being for news and info, current affairs and ducumentaries and regional things, CBC 2 for a more entertainment perspective, and CBC 3 more for Children during the day, and non-mainstream programming during other hours. Then it would truly be a national service, rather then a national blunder.

That's my take.

 

[Reed Solomon]

Good. I'm not against commercials on public broadcast TV, but I do want our public broadcaster to make an effort into broadcasting to the public. The CBC should have led the way on the digital switchover, like the BBC and PBS have. But the CBC has shown itself to be a useless anachronism instead. Hopefully things can change for the better now. And maybe they can change the name of the news channel back to CBC Newsworld.

 

[PlayitSimple]

What the CBC needs is to be more like the BBC and Australian ABC. Both are commercial-free, and highly competitive with their commercial counterparts when it comes to programs and viewer levels, while also showing many regional and national programs that you would expect from a public broadcaster. Also, get rid of this Bold and Documentary nonsense, and rename them all CBC 1, CBC 2 and CBC 3, and give each a dedicated role, such as CBC 1 being for news and info, current affairs and ducumentaries and regional things, CBC 2 for a more entertainment perspective, and CBC 3 more for Children during the day, and non-mainstream programming during other hours. Then it would truly be a national service, rather then a national blunder.

That's my take.

Sounds like a plan to me but are the powers that be at the Ceeb interested at all in something like this?! I agree about CBC becoming a commercial free broadcaster- it should not be a for profit entity like the commercial broadcasters. Its raison d'être should be to serve the Canadian public by providing, quality programming be it entertainment or news & current affairs.

One key sticking point to your plan Fry1989 is Funding! In Britain the BBC is funded primarily through a license fee that everyone has to pay. The CBC needs a stable source of funding, I don't think a license fee would go over very well here in Canada. They could dedicate a portion of billions they take in from taxpayers to go towards the CBC?!

 

[Fry1989]

Sounds like a plan to me but are the powers that be at the Ceeb interested at all in something like this?! I agree about CBC becoming a commercial free broadcaster- it should not be a for profit entity like the commercial broadcasters. Its raison d'être should be to serve the Canadian public by providing, quality programming be it entertainment or news & current affairs.

One key sticking point to your plan Fry1989 is Funding! In Britain the BBC is funded primarily through a license fee that everyone has to pay. The CBC needs a stable source of funding, I don't think a license fee would go over very well here in Canada. They could dedicate a portion of billions they take in from taxpayers to go towards the CBC?!

Well, true, a television license might not go too popular here, depends on the price. Some European countries, their license is only 100 euros a year, taken out monthly through their electricity bill. To be honest, a license fee in Canada wouldn't have to be that high to fix the CBC's funding issues. I don't think people would be as opposed to a license, IF the CBC was a proper service, giving you quality for your buck, but even if then the public still said no, if the CBC gave more quality, I think the Government would have less qualms about giving it more grant funding.

 

[PlayitSimple]

To be honest, a license fee in Canada wouldn't have to be that high to fix the CBC's funding issues.

I think if some of the waste and mismanagement were cleaned up (its a government owned entity so there is definitely some waste and mismanagement) that would go a long way in helping out with the funding woes.

As for programming, it should focus on what it does best which IMO is News & current affairs, documentaries and entertainment (Canadian series & Canadian films). The only sports I would keep is HNIC (which has been a staple for decades) and the international sports highlights package they air on weekends.

I think more Canadians watch CBC then care to admit- its the network that everyone loves to hate.

 

[nakedgord]

^
Actually, as a result of these changes, I've barely found myself watching the CBC. Just isn't worth watching anymore even with it being only one of three dtv signals that I can always pull in.

 

[vjose78]

Well I for one can't believe they fired the guy that actually boosted viewership and ratings at the CBC and that all of you seem to support it. Yet before CBC had a crappy schedule and many of you complained about that and now it appears we may be heading back in that direction because of this.

 

[Doppelganger399]

What the CBC needs is to be more like the BBC and Australian ABC. Both are commercial-free, and highly competitive with their commercial counterparts when it comes to programs and viewer levels, while also showing many regional and national programs that you would expect from a public broadcaster. Also, get rid of this Bold and Documentary nonsense, and rename them all CBC 1, CBC 2 and CBC 3, and give each a dedicated role, such as CBC 1 being for news and info, current affairs and ducumentaries and regional things, CBC 2 for a more entertainment perspective, and CBC 3 more for Children during the day, and non-mainstream programming during other hours. Then it would truly be a national service, rather then a national blunder.

That's my take.

Agreed remake cbc to be a real public broadcaster.

 

[nakedgord]

Well I for one can't believe they fired the guy that actually boosted viewership and ratings at the CBC and that all of you seem to support it. Yet before CBC had a crappy schedule and many of you complained about that and now it appears we may be heading back in that direction because of this.

I'm sure NBC pulled in way more viewers with Fear Factor than Homicide: Life on the Streets but that doesn't make it a good thing.

When Heartland or Battle of the Blades win a peabody give me a call.

 

[vjose78]

What's wrong with Heartland or Battle of the Blades? They are Canadian shows, isn't that what you all want? That's what it seems like.

 

[jokeDR]

How has the 'revamped' news fiasco worked out ? Last I checked viewership was down %40 and CTV's nightly news was up roughly the same %. They should fire the clown behind that decision. I haven't watched 'The National' since the embarrassing changes nor have I watched Newsworld.

I'm still angry the CBC cancelled Intelligence.

I agree. Go real public broadcaster and get rid of the commercials. Allow corporate sposorship of programs ("The Nature Of Things, brought to you by the generous support of Tim Horton's)

I think Heartland (though I don't watch it) is just the type of drama the CBC should be programming.

 

[vjose78]

Perhaps news viewership is down because people are watching other programs at that time and just tuning into the news later on CTV.

Personally I like CBCNN and find myself watching it more than ever. Who the hell watched all the shows they had on Newsworld before anyway? It's a news channel and that's what it's airing now and they are doing that to compete with CTVs news channel and other news channels.

 

[crossfire]

Change the name to PBS Canada and operate it the same. Let them get there money from corporate Canada and viewers like you thankyou.

 

[nakedgord]

What's wrong with Heartland or Battle of the Blades? They are Canadian shows, isn't that what you all want? That's what it seems like.

Most Canadians live in urban areas and with the high costs associated for infrusture for rural Canadians compared to those who live in urban areas (just imagine how much less our postal service would be if it only serviced major areas...we might even be getting the full Netflix service and not just online) so, no, I don't consider series that glorify the country bumpkin lifestyle to be Canadian.

Plus, frankly, it's pedantic. No artistic redemption in my eyes. I'm usually a big supporter of the CBC but if they're not going to deliver cutting edge series I really wouldn't care if it was privatized.

You'd think the CBC would be more interested in catering to the progressive urban crowd as we're the ones who usually support public broadcasters compared to rural Albertans who privatized their own provinical public broadcaster.

 

[trask]

Change the name to PBS Canada and operate it the same. Let them get there money from corporate Canada and viewers like you thankyou.

Amen. What a collossal waste of money CBC is to taxpayers. First off, maybe 1 tenth of the country actually watches it on a regular basis, and secondly, the main shows they do watch are HNIC or wheel of fortune. The CBC can't even hang it's hat on the National anymore seeing as how it gets trounced by CTV News every night.

 

[Fry1989]

I'm still angry the CBC cancelled Intelligence.

Join the club, I'm still pissed at them for cancelling 11 Cameras

 

[Fry1989]

I really wouldn't care if it was privatized.

That would be a huge, HUGE mistake. Trust me.