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Front Page, Industry News
CBC kills ‘Canada Now’
Friday December 01st 2006TORONTO (CP) _ CBC-TV is doing away with its national suppertime newscast "Canada Now" to return to hour-long local newscasts. The rollout begins in Vancouver this winter and will be implemented in other local markets over the next two years.
"This 21st-century media world that we’re in is incredibly dynamic and changing and audiences are moving all over the place," Tony Burman, CBC News editor-in-chief, told The Canadian Press on Thursday.
"We’ll be looking at a more strategic multi-platform treatment of stories that moves audiences from radio to the web, readers of the web to television, and so on," Burman said.
"We’re heading into a world where we’re all going to become content providers, not TV stations, not newspapers, not radio stations."
Ian Hanomansing, host of "Canada Now," will become an "incredibly important" co-anchor of the new Vancouver program, Burman added, and all the staff and resources devoted to "Canada Now" will be redirected to the new show.
"Canada Now" will go off the air in early February to be replaced by the new show in Vancouver, while local newscasts in other Canadian cities will be expanded to an hour from their current 30 minutes _ a move that had critics scratching their heads Thursday since there was no word of a cash infusion to pay for the longer newscasts. The union representing CBC workers, the Canadian Media Guild, raised workload concerns.
"We’re happy the CBC is getting back into local news on television," said Lise Lareau, guild president.
"But I am very concerned that no new money is being devoted to the expanded local programs. Despite everyone’s best intentions, you have to wonder whether it will be possible to do this right."
Ratings for the CBC’s supperhour newscasts have been abysmal, CBC president Robert Rabinovitch said recently. Local CTV and Global newscasts attract far more viewers. Ian Morrison of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting lobby group said the move is puzzling given it was Rabinovitch himself who killed a lot of regional news programming six years ago.
Regional operations took a serious hit 16 years ago when the public broadcaster shut down 10 stations to save money. In 2000, Rabinovitch cut the surviving newscasts from 60 minutes to a half-hour, did away with late-night local newscasts and created "Canada Now."
"This moving back to a one-hour local supperhour newscast is just a return to something that existed in 2000 when Mr. Rabinovitch came along," Morrison said. "In a way it’s like a deathbed repentance."
Rabinovitch’s three-year term as president of the public broadcaster ends next November, prompting many CBC staffers to wonder if the new moves will even end up happening.
"We know that the rest of his term is measured now in months and since this is something that’s being announced for the future, it will depend on a new president of CBC liking this plan enough for it to go ahead," Morrison said.
"So is this really going to happening? There’s an element of skepticism."
There’s no question Canadians want their local CBC newscasts back, Morrison added.
"The idea is popular, but I don’t think they’ll be able to flip a switch and turn the audience back on. They’ll have to earn it. CTV does a very good job on local news, so the CBC is going to have to be very special in order to get some of those viewers back."
The goal is to roll out the Vancouver initiative _ entitled "My CBC" _ to markets across Canada over the next two years. Burman delivered the news to staff Thursday afternoon. Integrating services, he told them, is key to the future health and vitality of the public broadcaster.
"Our reporters will no longer be radio reporters or TV reporters
_ that particular T-shirt will be put aside and there will be far
more contributions to the web, far more mixing and movement among the various networks and platforms," he said.
Front Page, Industry News
CBC kills ‘Canada Now’
Friday December 01st 2006TORONTO (CP) _ CBC-TV is doing away with its national suppertime newscast "Canada Now" to return to hour-long local newscasts. The rollout begins in Vancouver this winter and will be implemented in other local markets over the next two years.
"This 21st-century media world that we’re in is incredibly dynamic and changing and audiences are moving all over the place," Tony Burman, CBC News editor-in-chief, told The Canadian Press on Thursday.
"We’ll be looking at a more strategic multi-platform treatment of stories that moves audiences from radio to the web, readers of the web to television, and so on," Burman said.
"We’re heading into a world where we’re all going to become content providers, not TV stations, not newspapers, not radio stations."
Ian Hanomansing, host of "Canada Now," will become an "incredibly important" co-anchor of the new Vancouver program, Burman added, and all the staff and resources devoted to "Canada Now" will be redirected to the new show.
"Canada Now" will go off the air in early February to be replaced by the new show in Vancouver, while local newscasts in other Canadian cities will be expanded to an hour from their current 30 minutes _ a move that had critics scratching their heads Thursday since there was no word of a cash infusion to pay for the longer newscasts. The union representing CBC workers, the Canadian Media Guild, raised workload concerns.
"We’re happy the CBC is getting back into local news on television," said Lise Lareau, guild president.
"But I am very concerned that no new money is being devoted to the expanded local programs. Despite everyone’s best intentions, you have to wonder whether it will be possible to do this right."
Ratings for the CBC’s supperhour newscasts have been abysmal, CBC president Robert Rabinovitch said recently. Local CTV and Global newscasts attract far more viewers. Ian Morrison of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting lobby group said the move is puzzling given it was Rabinovitch himself who killed a lot of regional news programming six years ago.
Regional operations took a serious hit 16 years ago when the public broadcaster shut down 10 stations to save money. In 2000, Rabinovitch cut the surviving newscasts from 60 minutes to a half-hour, did away with late-night local newscasts and created "Canada Now."
"This moving back to a one-hour local supperhour newscast is just a return to something that existed in 2000 when Mr. Rabinovitch came along," Morrison said. "In a way it’s like a deathbed repentance."
Rabinovitch’s three-year term as president of the public broadcaster ends next November, prompting many CBC staffers to wonder if the new moves will even end up happening.
"We know that the rest of his term is measured now in months and since this is something that’s being announced for the future, it will depend on a new president of CBC liking this plan enough for it to go ahead," Morrison said.
"So is this really going to happening? There’s an element of skepticism."
There’s no question Canadians want their local CBC newscasts back, Morrison added.
"The idea is popular, but I don’t think they’ll be able to flip a switch and turn the audience back on. They’ll have to earn it. CTV does a very good job on local news, so the CBC is going to have to be very special in order to get some of those viewers back."
The goal is to roll out the Vancouver initiative _ entitled "My CBC" _ to markets across Canada over the next two years. Burman delivered the news to staff Thursday afternoon. Integrating services, he told them, is key to the future health and vitality of the public broadcaster.
"Our reporters will no longer be radio reporters or TV reporters
_ that particular T-shirt will be put aside and there will be far
more contributions to the web, far more mixing and movement among the various networks and platforms," he said.
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Front Page, Industry News
CBC kills ‘Canada Now’
Friday December 01st 2006TORONTO (CP) _ CBC-TV is doing away with its national suppertime newscast "Canada Now" to return to hour-long local newscasts. The rollout begins in Vancouver this winter and will be implemented in other local markets over the next two years.
"This 21st-century media world that we’re in is incredibly dynamic and changing and audiences are moving all over the place," Tony Burman, CBC News editor-in-chief, told The Canadian Press on Thursday.
"We’ll be looking at a more strategic multi-platform treatment of stories that moves audiences from radio to the web, readers of the web to television, and so on," Burman said.
"We’re heading into a world where we’re all going to become content providers, not TV stations, not newspapers, not radio stations."
Ian Hanomansing, host of "Canada Now," will become an "incredibly important" co-anchor of the new Vancouver program, Burman added, and all the staff and resources devoted to "Canada Now" will be redirected to the new show.
"Canada Now" will go off the air in early February to be replaced by the new show in Vancouver, while local newscasts in other Canadian cities will be expanded to an hour from their current 30 minutes _ a move that had critics scratching their heads Thursday since there was no word of a cash infusion to pay for the longer newscasts. The union representing CBC workers, the Canadian Media Guild, raised workload concerns.
"We’re happy the CBC is getting back into local news on television," said Lise Lareau, guild president.
"But I am very concerned that no new money is being devoted to the expanded local programs. Despite everyone’s best intentions, you have to wonder whether it will be possible to do this right."
Ratings for the CBC’s supperhour newscasts have been abysmal, CBC president Robert Rabinovitch said recently. Local CTV and Global newscasts attract far more viewers. Ian Morrison of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting lobby group said the move is puzzling given it was Rabinovitch himself who killed a lot of regional news programming six years ago.
Regional operations took a serious hit 16 years ago when the public broadcaster shut down 10 stations to save money. In 2000, Rabinovitch cut the surviving newscasts from 60 minutes to a half-hour, did away with late-night local newscasts and created "Canada Now."
"This moving back to a one-hour local supperhour newscast is just a return to something that existed in 2000 when Mr. Rabinovitch came along," Morrison said. "In a way it’s like a deathbed repentance."
Rabinovitch’s three-year term as president of the public broadcaster ends next November, prompting many CBC staffers to wonder if the new moves will even end up happening.
"We know that the rest of his term is measured now in months and since this is something that’s being announced for the future, it will depend on a new president of CBC liking this plan enough for it to go ahead," Morrison said.
"So is this really going to happening? There’s an element of skepticism."
There’s no question Canadians want their local CBC newscasts back, Morrison added.
"The idea is popular, but I don’t think they’ll be able to flip a switch and turn the audience back on. They’ll have to earn it. CTV does a very good job on local news, so the CBC is going to have to be very special in order to get some of those viewers back."
The goal is to roll out the Vancouver initiative _ entitled "My CBC" _ to markets across Canada over the next two years. Burman delivered the news to staff Thursday afternoon. Integrating services, he told them, is key to the future health and vitality of the public broadcaster.
"Our reporters will no longer be radio reporters or TV reporters
_ that particular T-shirt will be put aside and there will be far
more contributions to the web, far more mixing and movement among the various networks and platforms," he said.
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