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CBC planning for failure
Wednesday May 23rd 2007ST. JOHN’S, CBC’s plan to expand supper hour news programs from 30 to 60 minutes without increasing local news budgets seems doomed to fail, according to the media watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
"We know from the St. John’s experience that you can’t produce a 60 minute news program that people will want to watch on a 30 minute budget.
CBC management in Toronto should know this well," said Noreen Golfman, chair of Friends’ Steering Committee.
The CBC regional TV news show in St. John’s was expanded from 30 to 60 minutes in November 2005, but the budget for the local show remained static. New data released this morning by Friends reveals that audience share for the show dropped 15% one year later (16.3 in Fall 2005 vs. 13.8 in Fall 2006).
"Audiences tuned out when the program was initially cut to 30 minutes and have stayed away even with the 60 minute format working as it is with such a
limited budget," Golfman said.
CBC plans to expand 16 local supper hour news programs across Canada to a full hour on a half-hour budget starting in September.
"Knowing the outcome of asking local producers to mount a 60 minute show on a 30 minute budget, CBC management can only be on a mission to destroy CBC’s local and regional news franchise. Private broadcasters, who have long advocated that CBC quit local news, must be thrilled by this," Golfman said.
The expansion decision follows CBC President Rabinovitch’s move in 2000 to gut the supper hour shows. New data released by Friends this morning show CBC’s local news audience has been in decline ever since, especially in Atlantic Canada.
Between the Fall of 1999 and 2006, audience share for the supper hour program in St. John’s has declined 49%; in Charlottetown where CBC offers the only local TV news, audience has declined 31%; in Halifax, audience share has declined 68%; and in Fredericton, CBC’s audience share has plummeted 91%.
Appearing before the House of Commons Heritage Committee later today as part of the Committee’s review of CBC’s future mandate, Golfman will urge MPs to make it clear to CBC that regional programming is a priority.
"Your Committee should make it clear to CBC that regional programming is a priority and recommend that it be funded accordingly. This means that the government should be asked to increase CBC’s budget accordingly," Golfman will say.
Headline, Industry News
CBC planning for failure
Wednesday May 23rd 2007ST. JOHN’S, CBC’s plan to expand supper hour news programs from 30 to 60 minutes without increasing local news budgets seems doomed to fail, according to the media watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
"We know from the St. John’s experience that you can’t produce a 60 minute news program that people will want to watch on a 30 minute budget.
CBC management in Toronto should know this well," said Noreen Golfman, chair of Friends’ Steering Committee.
The CBC regional TV news show in St. John’s was expanded from 30 to 60 minutes in November 2005, but the budget for the local show remained static. New data released this morning by Friends reveals that audience share for the show dropped 15% one year later (16.3 in Fall 2005 vs. 13.8 in Fall 2006).
"Audiences tuned out when the program was initially cut to 30 minutes and have stayed away even with the 60 minute format working as it is with such a
limited budget," Golfman said.
CBC plans to expand 16 local supper hour news programs across Canada to a full hour on a half-hour budget starting in September.
"Knowing the outcome of asking local producers to mount a 60 minute show on a 30 minute budget, CBC management can only be on a mission to destroy CBC’s local and regional news franchise. Private broadcasters, who have long advocated that CBC quit local news, must be thrilled by this," Golfman said.
The expansion decision follows CBC President Rabinovitch’s move in 2000 to gut the supper hour shows. New data released by Friends this morning show CBC’s local news audience has been in decline ever since, especially in Atlantic Canada.
Between the Fall of 1999 and 2006, audience share for the supper hour program in St. John’s has declined 49%; in Charlottetown where CBC offers the only local TV news, audience has declined 31%; in Halifax, audience share has declined 68%; and in Fredericton, CBC’s audience share has plummeted 91%.
Appearing before the House of Commons Heritage Committee later today as part of the Committee’s review of CBC’s future mandate, Golfman will urge MPs to make it clear to CBC that regional programming is a priority.
"Your Committee should make it clear to CBC that regional programming is a priority and recommend that it be funded accordingly. This means that the government should be asked to increase CBC’s budget accordingly," Golfman will say.
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Headline, Industry News
CBC planning for failure
Wednesday May 23rd 2007ST. JOHN’S, CBC’s plan to expand supper hour news programs from 30 to 60 minutes without increasing local news budgets seems doomed to fail, according to the media watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
"We know from the St. John’s experience that you can’t produce a 60 minute news program that people will want to watch on a 30 minute budget.
CBC management in Toronto should know this well," said Noreen Golfman, chair of Friends’ Steering Committee.
The CBC regional TV news show in St. John’s was expanded from 30 to 60 minutes in November 2005, but the budget for the local show remained static. New data released this morning by Friends reveals that audience share for the show dropped 15% one year later (16.3 in Fall 2005 vs. 13.8 in Fall 2006).
"Audiences tuned out when the program was initially cut to 30 minutes and have stayed away even with the 60 minute format working as it is with such a
limited budget," Golfman said.
CBC plans to expand 16 local supper hour news programs across Canada to a full hour on a half-hour budget starting in September.
"Knowing the outcome of asking local producers to mount a 60 minute show on a 30 minute budget, CBC management can only be on a mission to destroy CBC’s local and regional news franchise. Private broadcasters, who have long advocated that CBC quit local news, must be thrilled by this," Golfman said.
The expansion decision follows CBC President Rabinovitch’s move in 2000 to gut the supper hour shows. New data released by Friends this morning show CBC’s local news audience has been in decline ever since, especially in Atlantic Canada.
Between the Fall of 1999 and 2006, audience share for the supper hour program in St. John’s has declined 49%; in Charlottetown where CBC offers the only local TV news, audience has declined 31%; in Halifax, audience share has declined 68%; and in Fredericton, CBC’s audience share has plummeted 91%.
Appearing before the House of Commons Heritage Committee later today as part of the Committee’s review of CBC’s future mandate, Golfman will urge MPs to make it clear to CBC that regional programming is a priority.
"Your Committee should make it clear to CBC that regional programming is a priority and recommend that it be funded accordingly. This means that the government should be asked to increase CBC’s budget accordingly," Golfman will say.
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