Going, going gone

Toast the CBC. It's not proper for Government to be in the broadcasting business, or any business.
They have always been a socialist propaganda machine. And their recent blitz on " Man Made Global Warming" ( it's not a logical, fair process )
is deplorable.
Who believes any of the CBC propaganda anymore?
By the ratings, I can only assume that they are irrelevant.

We need the CBC

The CBC has been an integral part in helping forge Canada's national identity. It plays a very important role in our society. Every nation uses its media and many other institutions to shape its society. Witness the US's use of its military. To eschew Canada's right to operate a public broadcaster is a view not shared by any other nation. The question is, why would Canada seek to diminish or terminate its own voice? Answer: for those who prefer the American brand of social control. Rather sad. I hope the CBC can resist efforts to dumb it down, and I hope it will be around for another 70 years. Great article.

Jeffrey J

I couldn't agree more that we need a vibrant, vital CBC. Canadians who care about that need should be speaking up, LOUDLY, to let management know that what's going on now is slow suicide.

Far too many Yahoos out there couldn't care less about the artistic, the cultural and the information needs of this country.

Many of these folks are little more than Fox news junkies and, bad as the CBC is right now, it's still better than that train wreck.

CBC is the worst offender? Oh please

if there was an alternative I'd be happy to bash the CBC. But there isn't. Sure there's some dumb shows now as they try to appeal to the "kids" but if running dumb programming was a crime CTV and Global would be serving 5 to 10 years.

I mean c'mon, CTV and Global buy US shows and air them with Canadian commercials and yet I don't see an article asking why these guys are allowed to broadcast.

Ratings??

Sit-coms- Have'nt watched one on a steady basis since Lucy was cramming her face of a conveyor belt. Could'nt stand the canned audience responses.

Late night- Carson wore thin and Leno's jaw reminds me of Lyin' Brian. Open a book or sleep.

Reality- A competition to find out who can lie, and back-stab for financial gain. Nah! Reminds me of our politicians or captains of industry.

Soaps- Never!

Music- I'd rather listen than watch.

Commercials- Now, they really insult one's intellegence. Liars all!

I want news in depth with balanced commentary, history, travelogues, astronomy, archaeology and future speculation(scfy fiction.)

Clueless is right, that government should'nt be in business. But, it should be governing and informing the voters with balanced FACTS without spin.
This where future voters should learn what they will be responsible and paying for.

This is where CBC, radio or tv should be.

For entertainment I chose books. All manner of books. Every type of author. Fact of fiction. Past or present.

Think Differently, Think "the Sixth Estate"

When we are in the middle of a revolution I think it is difficult to see beyond the parameters of the old regime. The above posted views comment on the symptoms but not the fundamental changes to the world which is the consequence of a new medium. With our extraordinary propensity for distraction many young are shifting to the internet for our sources of information and entertainment. I know I have and I'm over 50. Just look at what we are doing here - choosing how to get the news without advertisement or commercials AND giving input while exchanging ideas. It's as radical a shift from our reliance on traditional electronic/typographic media as the invention of the printing press was on the Catholic Church in Europe. You may enjoy curling up to a good book in bed or watch the TV for its appeal to the senses (but little in information) but how many of you have gone to your computer to get more depth and detail on something you've read,viewed or heard? I do it all the time which means less time for other mediums.

Grumpy

We need the CBC, only we do not need this crap TV/Radio that passes for entertainment etc. CBC is embarrassing, dull-witted and certainly 1950's junque! Well pretty well describes Canada.

The CBC is a reflection of the country, no purpose, no game plan, but hey, keep the paychecks coming!

and for the Record Strombo is a Poseur

The Hour's Strombo is in no way "Punk Rock" - he's a straight up mainstream poseur.

As well, the cbc took a fetid safe approach to programming straight from the bowels of the United Church and that's why - the pathetic politcally correct nature of it's ethos is what has killed the cbc.

I'd rather have HBO and hardcore reality than the garbage that is currently beinjg produced and presented by the CBC.

but I agree with the author's comments

more than not.

Good article- bang on. I've

Good article- bang on. I've slowly and regretfully been giving up on my once beloved CBC, for the very reasons given in the article. Some years back I wrote CBC Radio and told them they were dead wrong in going after the younger demographic. My argument was that CBC is where you go when you've grown up, and that attempts to chase youth were doomed to failure because kids already have many other choices for that sort of programming. And further that by chasing the young, CBC would only lose their current adult listeners. Certainly I'm not interested in Sheila's "fluff", or George's "hipper than thou"- in fact, I rarely listen to CBC radio anymore, except for "The Current". I don't think I'm alone in this, either...

And where oh where did CBC's

And where oh where did CBC's reporters disappear to? Has anyone told them about the Basi/Virk trial?

The Self-Destruction of the CBC

The rural hinterland has been the lifeblood of the CBC, and the CBC has been the cultural and educational lifeblood for rural residents. The present CBC administrators have arbitrarily decided that CBC TV has no responsibility to provide over the air broadcasting to the hinterland. First location for applying this ill-advised policy is Kamloops, with Prince George being next on their agenda. The myopic policy has been exaggerated with Prime Minister Harper vetoing the CBC plan to establish a dozen new CBC hinterland radio stations, including Kamloops, and that ultimate hinterland location, Hamilton. CBC radio is important for providing possible national exposure for the towns and their residents. We pay the same taxes, we should receive the same services. We subsidize the large urban infra-structures. The least that the urban residents can do is at least let us have the same access to CBC TV and a continuous open door to national radio with a local CBC outlet.

Remember when Avi Lewis

Remember when Avi Lewis hosted "Counterspin" in the same time slot, I believe, as George Stephonopoulos' "The Hour"?

There were similarities: Both hosts
had once been Much Music VJs,
- and large differences -

Avi left MM behind him and always tackled important issues, national and international, with well chosen guests. He was informed, intelligent and articulate with a eccentric and wicked sense of humour I liked.

George, by comparison, has brought MM along with him, frequently relies on pop music/pop culture segments (I agree with MyBrainIsOnFire that George is very mainstream, not punk), and has dumbed down the time slot significantly. His show is kind of "Much Music Interviews, with occasional real issues tossed into the mix". He's no intellectual heavyweight, and
isn't well informed the way Avi was.

I see George has finally learned to smile though, something he scrupulously avoided on MM ("who will take me seriously if I smile?").

I will say this for George: he's developed a talent for putting guests at ease (the late June Callwood said to him at the end of their recent interview "you're so good at your job").Too bad he too often wastes his talent on irrelevant guests.

-I believe CBC Radio1 has mercifully cancelled that inept national afternoon show with the two hosts who relied on lame scripted banter, amateurishly delivered.
The worst CBC radio show in memory.
Gian Ghomeshi's in the slot now, somewhat of an improvement, as at least he's able to speak extemporaneously. Yet I believe it's largely another dumbed down CBC show emphasizing pop culture...

but without the cbc where

but without the cbc where would we get our governor-generals from?

relayer wrote: "And where

relayer wrote:

"And where oh where did CBC's reporters disappear to? Has anyone told them about the Basi/Virk trial?"

Ask Carole Taylor.

Does anyone think that she no longer keeps tabs on her former CBC minions?

Red Green

G West, your comments on the Gill Deacon show sum it up completely. Is this a spoof of a daytime talkshow? If so they forgot to inject the humor. Brutal! Are you listening CBC? Re-runs of the Beachcomers, or the Littlest Hobo would be a 100 fold improvement. Where do they find these people????

The CBC is just another extension of our country trying to make everyone happy. Including everyone and everything and giving everyone an equal shot. So we get the best and worst and that seems to be the CBC's fate. When they do it good it's the best! HNIC, Saturday AM radio, Fifth Estate, The Hour, Stuart McClean, DaVinci. Don't forget your guilty pleasures, Beachcombers, King of Kensington... Airfarce, Ok maybe that's going too far, sorry. But Rick Mercer has his moments and I'll tune into a Bob and Dougs 24th anniversary if time permits! Grab a beer eh? Todays topic is the two four!

But please take that Deacon show off the air ASAP, it's really embarassing.

Pandering to the youth?

While I agree copying the trash that is on other networks is a bad idea....
What is wrong with putting time into some content for younger people...? I listen to radio3 on the net all the time(like right now)...as do a bunch of under-30 folk I know.
When they had 'Zed tv' i thought that was great programming that I could never see anywhere else....CBC is not just for old people and little kids... So, like, take off eh!

shmendrick

You're right, Radio 3 IS cool!

But I bet it's not paying any bills and ZED tv undoubtedly lost more support from traditional CBC viewers than it gained from your demographic. If the Govt were prepared to take CBC-TV non commercial I think there are plenty of new things it could do like ZED TV.

But under the current regime that's about as likely as teaching pigs to fly. The current crop of bureaucrats in Toronto don't seem to have a clue about what works for the whole country beyond HNIC any more.

They've managed to cancel the best of CBC's drama efforts and replace them mostly with schlock and re-runs. The comedy channel does comedy far better than CBC with the exception of Mercer (who's very uneven) and that Gags show from Radio-Canada in Montreal - which is really good.

For gosh sake, they're now screening re-runs of Arrested Development, if they are going to pick up something, why not THE WIRE?

CBC

The story concentrates on TV, but the comments are as much about radio.

The CBC does NOT need to be all things to all persons,and certainly should not court a specific demographic, or try to be popular. We need a distinct Canadian voice in all media, to avoid being swamped by the behemoth just south of us whose main export is media.

The change which affects me the most has been the disastrous "modernising" of Radio 2 - which was non commercial, and a source of good music all day and much of the evening. Though it got a bit weird at weekends.

Why did it have to change?

If the CBC needs a role model it should look at the BBC. I would happily pay a license fee for a Canadian commercial free broadcaster. And it could presumably be a lot cheaper than these new cable tv and satellite radio stations people are paying for. And the new CBC could make money by selling programs: of course to do that it would have to be distinctive and high quality. But we can do that. And we need the investigative journalism that breaks stories like the Ontario Lottery scandal, and reporters like Terry Milewski.

CBC 'specialnes'

Small game called follow the tax dollars. Everyone pays taxes: everyone pays something for the CBC: why should the CBC not appeal to everyone? Because the CBC is elitist, operating with a prescriptive dogma of what it means to be Canadian, So the CBC self-identifies it's specialness, sends it out and be apreciated only by the special people who watch/listen to it. For the people who pay but don't like the CBC and no longer feel special, don't worry, the CBC has identified you as really special, you pay but don't watch, denying the CBC of ratings needed for more money, you nasty person. Convert and be special for therein lies the path to true Canadianness, which the CBC has helpfully defined. All special Canadians pay taxes and swear allegience to the CBC. The really special Canadians merely pay taxes.

Maybe the ratings are suffering because the whole project has lost its way, and Canadians are now happy to be Canadian on thier own terms, not because the outdated idea of cohesive government branding says they are Canadian. Could be because the programming sucks too.

I'd say first thing, fire

I'd say first thing, fire the top so-called plagiarizing brains(less)!
Then bring back the original George Strometc as he was very good in the beginning with his nose gear, as some idiot at CBC didn't like it I surmise, and since then George was different.
On the Road Again was a great way for Canadians to connect in a layman’s language!
Get rid of the US garbage, WE have so much talent in Canada, CBC doesn’t have to go outside of "OUR HOME AND NATIVE LAND WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE"

Can't imagine life without Canada or Canada without CBC

Sometimes there's an event and CBC stops everything and goes there, watching and reporting and drawing the country together. No commercial broadcaster would ever do that.

Once there were many Inuit hunters marooned on drifting ice, way far into the north. At first nobody could find them. Then there was the issue of weather and distance and could they be rescued in time. These men were the strength of their communities and there was heartache in their villages as they waited.

CBC was there and so we were there with them. It made the whole vast northern landscape part of our lives. The hunters were rescued. We were part of the rejoicing. No commercial broadcaster would have stopped to do that. Where's the profit in that?

Another time there was a pilgrimage of Canadian veterans back to Holland where the Dutch celebrated them for days and days. CBC was there and so we were there with them. We laughed, we cried, we learned a lot.

We wouldn't be the people we are, without CBC. And that's the biggest compliment I can imagine.

But when the wrong people get into management, well, I guess we have to let them know that this isn't the way to run things; and that they don't call it The Mother Corp for nothing.

I scream, you scream, we all scream ...

The CBC receives government funding to continue its operations.

CTV and Global receive government funding too! They offer redundancy in prime time since you can always tune in the US stations they simulcast or watch the show at a different time in the week on the US station. They cry when they have to produce genuine Canadian shows for prime time despite of the fact they can do it well and garner large numbers of viewers when they do.

If the privates got off the taxpayer teat, there would be more funds available for quality CBC programming -- à la BBC -- without the commercials that tell us how smelly, insipid or incompetent we are unless we buy some particular product.

We, (Canadian citizens and immigrants) OWN the CBC and we should be able to enjoy programs that tell our stories to our communities and to the world without this constant threat of abolishment or censorship from the private sector. We are valuable human beings who do not need the crap that pretends we are incapable of making decisions for ourselves.

Bring back the old CBC

At age 55 I'm likely a dinosaur, but one who's paid taxes lo these many years, lived all over this country and always felt "connected" through CBC Radio. I still don't own a TV, and wish I could still read and listen to quality classical or jazz, with sophisticated, erudite commentary in the evening, after my labours. Now my CD collection is expanding.

Where did it all start to go so wrong? With the "gushing girls" (Sheila Rogers), the pompous pseudointellectual (Michael Enright), or the juvenile 13-going-on 29 Jian Gomeshi? Maybe when the CBC stopped using real experts and instead obtained their commentary from other journalists?

I've given up finding any sophisticated analysis on CBC any more (well, what can one expect, when all the commentators are other journalists, with nary a History 101 course among them?) And the music - I so desperately miss going to sleep to Northern Lights (the music program).

My apologies for my rant. I'd love to tell someone at CBC what I think, but they've fiendishly cleverly deleted the directory off the website. Now one can only complain to a "communications officer" (you know what that means). Ah, well.

Eliminate the CBC

It is irrelevant.

The best ratings CBC had in recent years was when there was a hockey strike and instead of hockey, it showed blockbuster american movies. It's ratings were never higher!

Remember when it paid a bundle for the last winter olympics, or was it the one before that and CTV got back by showing the Sopranos every night and it had higher ratings than the olympics on CBC!

CBC is irrelevant since the internet just keeps getting better and better. And in the era of the internet, who really watches TV anymore? Old crumblies and children at 6:00 in the morning, that's who.

I got rid of cable and have dog ears with two channels, and the TV is off all the time anyway. CBC is irrelevant! CTV is irrelevant! The only thing that matters now is the internet. Move on and forget your pathetic nostalgia for the beachcombers people! It is expensive, obsolete technology.

Pudding

I'm in agreement with the basic thesis here. The CBC should not be chasing ratings. If quality equals elitism, then the CBC should go back to being elitist. I was so irritated by Promo Girl that I used to turn the radio off when she came on. On the other hand, I do like George and The Hour.

But Ira Wagman, "the proof is in the pudding"?? Please. It's disheartening when even a professor of Mass Communication can't get that expression right.

flatrax you really are that

flatrax you really are that "nieve" brain dead as Canada is now very aggresivley being turned over to Cheney and gang.
Bring on the CBC as I'd give 10-20 a month for a commercial free real investigative reporting, starting with the Whole BC Legislature Raid and BC Rail scandal, ALR, BC Ferries, BC Hydro, clearcut logging on Van Island and so much more?

BC Dude

Stop with the anti-american garbage. It is not Cheney or the US that controls Canadian Broadcast and print media.

It is the Aspers, Shaws and Rodgers.

And CBC is Canada's Pravda. Do we really need it? I don't think so.

The CBC

At its best the CBC is the only thing that protects the real interests of all Canadians from the Fox News lookalikes flattax seems to prefer.

Fund the CBC so it doesn't need advertising - like the BBC in England - but keep all the politicians hands off it.

Without a viable public broadcaster this country might as well BE the United States.

Apart from Quebec and the CBC there isn't any Canadian culture and that's truly sad.

podcasts

I may loathe all the loathesomes on CBC, but when there's something excellent, now I can share it with the zillions as a podcast.

Case in point: Friday, April 27, As It Happens, super interview with Cherif Bassiouni. This goes where the rest of the press didn't.

Detainees handed over by Canadian forces can be then handed over to the US-controlled NDS, Afghan secret police, officially but not really controlled by Karzai. You knew it, I knew it, this former UN independent expert on human rights in Afghanistan, says it! He talks about US$ private homes, "black holes", "ghost houses", where torture and unlimited, otherwise unmonitored etc. detention are the game. He calls this "daisy chain" a move that gives the Canadian military "plausible deniability".

http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/asithappens_20070427_2174.mp3

This makes up for Rex Murphy, for fatuous cheerleading from the Panjwai catastrophe, for the current drivel about Mother's Day (missing the point entirely that it was day for mothers to protest war):

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts,
whether our baptism be that of water or of fears!

Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by
irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking
with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be
taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach
them of charity, mercy and patience.

We women of one country will be too tender of those of another
country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From
the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says "Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance
of justice."

So much for "slave" chocolates and serving her a cholesterol special in bed. Realmothers revolt!

The CBC has never been perfect, but I'm losing what I loved, Between the Covers in midafternoon, just before I walked my dog. It went to much too late at night, then off to satellite! Shame. Ah well, at the end it was all repeats anyway, but I'd listen to In the Skin of a Lion five times with awe.

The censorship is usually upsetting. Hosts who've just learned to say "fart" seem unable to pronounce Caspian Sea oil and gas. With great exceptions, like Terry Milewski, most reporters, particularly in Afghanistan, just sound like Hillier's hand-puppets.

For entertainment, the Da Vinci series, with real roots in real information, left anything like it in the dust. Even when Haddock let the LA pace take over in Intelligence, the CBC won again. Sure it was a soap, but in a class by itself.

It's our radio, our TV. We need to praise and trash with passion. And now we can skip great dollops of less than thrilling stuff, and just check out the podcasts. Check out Bassiouni!

Here is a subject that had a

Here is a subject that had a very short life, but a truly free CBC might bring out to Canadians!

Detainees handed over by Canadian forces can be then handed over to the US-controlled NDS, Afghan secret police, officially but not really controlled by Karzai. You knew it, I knew it, this former UN independent expert on human rights in Afghanistan, says it! He talks about US$ private homes, "black holes", "ghost houses", where torture and unlimited, otherwise unmonitored etc. detention are the game. He calls this "daisy chain" a move that gives the Canadian military "plausible deniability".
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/asithappens_2007042
Weare not holding S Harper's feet to this outragous "War Crimes Against Humanity"as he is the so called leader!
We are just as guilty for going about our selfish daily lives while these humanbeings are being tortured.

CRTC reducing regulations

combine cbc having difficult time with deregulation. Worthy of at least a 10 second sound bite - the death throes of a country's broadcast culture being swallowed by Hollywood and Wall Street will probably be seen in newsprint alone
so that executives might speculate upon the value of the assets assigned to a crippled and blinded former Canadian icon.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070510.wrcrtc0511/BNStory/robNews/

oops

I'm so new to high speed and streaming, I'd missed that BTC is still available --- as a podcast. However, the most appreciative audience for BTC tends to have a slow or no computer, and is definitely not packed with satellite subscribers.

I also forgot to mention excellent documentaries on Sunday nights and on The Passionate Eye.

Coverage of big pharma HIV has been grovelling. Stephen Lewis says such wonderful stuff about the needs of women and children in African countries, drops horrible stats, and then wham, it's all been a Nevirapene commercial. Again and again.

Save the CBC from Itself

I fully agree that the CBC should unabashedly focus on its strengths as a public broadcaster and not attempt to ape the inane offerings of its commercial counterparts.

Unfortunately, the CBC has already inflicted a lot of damage on itself. The latest victim is Radio Two, which has lost two of its flagship classical music programmes--"Music for a While" and "In Performance". These programmes featured complete orchestral works, instead of the bits and pieces of classical top 40 played by other programmes.

I share the chagrin of an earlier commentator about the "gushing girls" who host Radio Two shows these days. Until recently, Radio 2 was mercifully free of the execrable "Promo Girl" sound. But no more--it now has a male version of this irritating voice. The sound of it acts on me like a gag reflex, causing me to hit the off button.

I've been listening to CBC radio since my teens in the mid-1970s. Now I rarely listen to it. I've sought refuge online with BBC Radio 3.

G West

I find Shaw TV actually has more community and Canadian focus than the CBC these days.
Agreed, CBC is to be kept around it should be like PBS...and supported by donations only, not our tax dollars.

Quote:
Apart from Quebec and the CBC there isn't any Canadian culture and that's truly sad.

Response:

That is the most negative statement I have heard all week. A TV channel and couch potatoes that watch it is not something that defines us as Canadians. It is only a TV channel....Get over it!

flattax

Well, that's the most depressing thing I've heard all week.

However, if you're getting your cultural programming on Shaw community channel, I guess it's not a surprise you might say something that foolish.

I said, and believe that Canada should follow the BBC model and charge every household an annual fee; then stop the adverts and the political interference.

Nothing negative about what I said - Quebec has a thriving culture and much of the rest of Canada has Hockey Night in Canada - now that is depressing!

flattax

PBS has a hard enough time raising capital - even though it has a population base egual to 9 or 10 times that of Canada; and, many Canadians also donate to support PBS. There are only so many donation dollars around. I would much rather enjoy a revitalized CBC than a two-week Olympic hoopla that the Feds are helping throw for all of the wealthy. Yes, there is some spin-off going to construction workers. A few T-shirt hawkers would be selling something to someone anyway. CBC can help us maintain democracy if we fund it to do so.

Starving the CBC

Seems to me that CBC needs an adequate budget and a guaranteed budget instead of this awful strategy of tension which has been going on.

When little Gary Lunn was first elected in Saanich and the Islands, I immediately wrote to him about CBC. I said I knew he wasn't an admirer of CBC but that many people were ... and to remind him that he had been elected to serve all the people of his riding. I asked him to think of this whenever discussions or a vote came up on the issue of adequate CBC funding.

Well ... you shoulda seen the nasty letter I received in reply. Couldn't believe it. One line I particularly remember: it began "In future you would do well to remember ..." Lecturing me! Telling me I was ba-a-ad for being a CBC fan. God I was angry.

All I had wanted to do was to politely make our new M.P. aware that his constituents were not all opposed to CBC; that we did not share his bias against the public broadcaster; and to ask that he consider this during budget talks. And he yells at me. Hopeless bastard.

So, no, CBC isn't killing itself. It's being deliberately and maliciously starved to death. People should bombard their MPs with complaints, and the CBC with advice, suggestions, compliments. Don't let them die abandoned completely.

All politicians seem to

All politicians seem to forget how they got to where they are now!
They talk about the government as if they own it, but they always seem to forget that the taxpayer is their employer and their job is to look after the best interests of US the general tax paying public!
The CBC is a publicly owned Corporation “OURS” and as such should be the public watchdog with all the BS that's going on, especially here in British Columbia!
As it is now, they are playing along with mainstream media by protecting all those guilty in the biggest criminal scandal in the History of "OUR" British Columbia!
They have become like CanWest co-conspirators in this great conspiracy to cover up Gordon Campbell's Dirty Tricks Team!
How can Gordon Campbell and his band of merry cowards (being threatened by fascist gord) still be in power after three half years of having a criminal investigation into the B.C. Liberal Party’s Dirty Tricks with the BC Legislature Raids/ BC Rail in 12/28/2003?
Come on CBC get your backbone and bring back the respect you once had!
WE THE PEOPLE OF BC and CANADA DEMAND IT!
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SUNA_enCA219&q=ken+Dobell+

The history behind Mother's

The history behind Mother's Day.
http://vastleftwingconspiracy.net/