CBC Television
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Image:Cbctelevisionlogo.jpgCBC Television is the primary English language television service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Unlike most Canadian television networks, it devotes the vast majority of its airtime to Canadian content, and unlike many public broadcasters it accepts paid advertising.
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Overview
CBC Television provides a complete network schedule from 6:00 a.m. until at least midnight, seven days a week, in most cases feeding the same programming at the same local times nationwide, except to the Newfoundland Standard Time Zone, where programs air 30 minutes "late". Unlike most Canadian TV services which remain on-air 24 hours a day, most CBC-owned stations actually sign off the airwaves during the early morning hours (typically 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.). They do not air infomercials as do most private stations, nor do they simulcast CBC Newsworld as BBC One simulcasts BBC News 24 overnight.
While historically there has been room for regional differences in the schedule, as there is today (see "Stations", below), for CBC-owned stations funding has decreased to the point that most of these stations only broadcast 30 minutes a day of local news, and usually no other local programming. However, the CBC has recently indicated that local programming will be expanded in some markets in fall 2005 as a pilot project.
Until the late 1990s, the network carried a variety of American programs in addition to its core Canadian programming, directly competing with private Canadian broadcasters such as CTV and Global. Since then, it has restricted itself to Canadian programs, a handful of British programs, and a few American movies and off-network repeats.
As of 2002, CBC Television and CBC Newsworld were the only broadcasters in Canada (and very likely the only broadcasters worldwide) required to provide closed captioning for 100% of their programming. On those networks, only outside commercials do not need to be captioned, though a bare majority of them are aired with captions. All shows, bumpers, billboards, promos, and other internal programming must be captioned. The requirement stems from a human rights complaint filed by deaf lawyer Henry Vlug that was settled in 2002.
Programming
News and current affairs
The CBC's flagship newscast, The National, airs weeknights at 10:00. On CBC-owned and operated stations, a second broadcast of the program airs at 11 p.m. This later broadcast includes only the main news portion of the program, and excludes the analysis and documentary segment.
Saturday Report (6:00 p.m.) and CBC News: Sunday Night (10:00 p.m.) are The National's weekend equivalents. Canada Now is a combined local-national newscast that airs weeknights at 6:00. Other newscasts air at 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon. Weekly newsmagazine the fifth estate is also a CBC mainstay, as are documentary series such as The Passionate Eye and Rough Cuts.
- See also: CBC Newsworld
Sports
One of the most popular shows on CBC Television is the weekly Saturday night broadcast of NHL hockey games, Hockey Night in Canada. It has been televised since 1952. However, the NHL lockout and subsequent cancellation of the 2004-2005 hockey season, CBC instead aired various recent and classic movies, branded as Movie Night in Canada, on Saturday nights. Many cultural groups criticized this and suggested the CBC air games from minor hockey leagues; the CBC responded that most such broadcast rights were already held by other groups, but it did base each Movie Night broadcast from a different Canadian hockey venue.
Other than hockey, CBC Sports properties include the Canadian Football League, the Olympic Games through the 2008 edition, and various other amateur and professional events. It was also the exclusive carrier of Canadian Curling Association events during the 2004-2005 season. Due to disappointing results and fan outrage over many draws being carried on CBC Country Canada, the association tried to cancel its multiyear deal with the CBC signed in 2004. After the CBC threatened legal action, both sides eventually came to an agreement under which early-round rights reverted to TSN.
Entertainment
Among CBC Television's best-known primetime series are satirical comedy series Royal Canadian Air Farce, This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Rick Mercer Report; and dramas such as This is Wonderland and Da Vinci's City Hall (the successor to Da Vinci's Inquest). In recent years, British series such as Coronation Street and Doctor Who have been given greater prominence; as noted above, it now carries very few American series -- an afternoon strip rerun of The Simpsons is the only American program currently appearing on the network's regular schedule. In general, ratings have dipped significantly since this shift, leading the CBC to invest more in "high-impact" programming such as miniseries, which have not done as poorly as continuing series.
Daytime afternoon programming is mostly given over to various early-20th century and Canadian-made movies, the British soap Emmerdale, as well as repeats from previous seasons of primetime series such as Air Farce or The Red Green Show.
Children's programming
Children's and youth programming, often marketed as "Kids' CBC" (for younger kids) or "The X" (for pre-teens), occupies a significant portion of the morning and late-afternoon schedules on weekdays, and much of weekend mornings as well. However, despite a number of revamps, its influence is in decline with the continued rise of various specialty services serving the market.
Stations
Most CBC television stations, including those in the major cities, are owned and operated by the CBC itself. CBC O&O stations deviate very little from the main network schedule, although there are some regional differences from time to time. For on-air identification, most CBC stations use the CBC brand rather than their call letters.
Some stations that broadcast from smaller cities are private affiliates of the CBC, that is, stations which are owned by commercial broadcasters but air a predominantly CBC schedule. Such stations generally follow the CBC schedule, although they may opt out of some CBC programming in order to air locally-produced programs, syndicated series or programs purchased from other broadcasters (especially CH) which do not have a broadcast outlet in the same market. In these cases, the CBC programming being displaced may be broadcast at a different time than the network, or may not be broadcast on the station at all. Private affiliates generally opt out of CBC's afternoon schedule, Thursday night arts programming, ZeD and Canada Now. Private affiliates carry the 10 p.m. broadcast of The National as a core part of the CBC schedule, but generally omit the 11 p.m. repeat. Most private affiliates produce their own local newscasts.
Private CBC affiliates are not as common as they were in the past, as many such stations have been purchased either by the CBC itself or by CHUM Limited, becoming A-Channel stations. Two private CBC affiliates in Western Canada, CHBC and CKRD, will join CH in 2005 or 2006. When a private CBC affiliate reaffiliates with another network, the CBC normally adds a retransmitter of its nearest O&O station to ensure that CBC service is continued.
CBC television stations in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon, branded as CBC North, tailor their programming mostly to the local native population, and broadcast in many native languages such as Inuktitut, Gwich'in, and Dene.
CBC Television's presence in the United States
Carriage of CBC News
On September 11, 2001, several American broadcasters without their own news operations, including C-SPAN, carried the CBC's coverage of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. In the days after September 11, C-SPAN carried CBC's nightly newscast, The National, anchored by Peter Mansbridge.
C-SPAN has also carried CBC's coverage of major events affecting Canadians. Among them:
- Canadian federal elections.
- Six days in September 2000 that marked the death and state funeral of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
- The war in Iraq. The National aired on C-SPAN each night for about 3 weeks following the attacks on Iraq.
- The power outage crisis in summer 2003.
- Key proceedings in Canadian Parliament, such as state openings.
- U.S. presidential elections.
- In 2004, C-SPAN picked up The National the day after the election for the view from Canadians.
- State and official visits of American presidents to Canada.
- During MSNBC's coverage of President George W. Bush's visit to Canada, CBC's senior parliamentary editor, Don Newman, appeared on MSNBC.
Several PBS stations also air some CBC programming, especially The Red Green Show, although no CBC programming currently airs on the full network schedule.
Border audiences
In U.S. border communities such as Bellingham, Detroit, and Buffalo, CBC Television stations can be received over-the-air and have a significant audience. Such a phenomenon can also take place within Great Lakes communities such as Ashtabula, Ohio, which receives programming from CBC's London, Ontario transmitter, based upon prevailing atmospheric conditions over Lake Erie.
In northwest Washington State, CBC O&O station CBUT is transmitted to almost one million Comcast cable subscribers in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Olympia, and Everett. CBC Television's U.S. viewers appreciate its news programmes, not to mention its variety of entertainment programmes from Canada and Britain.
Due to a large influence of French Canadian culture in Upstate New York and Vermont, many cable services offer Montreal's CBC Station.
Buffalo is known for its high viewership of Hockey Night in Canada, while most Detroiters prefer CBC coverage of the NHL finals. The CBC's coverage of the Olympic Games has also found a significant audience in American border regions.
Slogans
- 1966: "Television is CBC"
- 1977: "Bringing Canadians Together"
- 1980: "We Are the CBC"
- 1988: "Best on the Box"
- 1996: "Television to Call Our Own"
- 2002: "Canada's Own"
See: List of programs broadcast by CBC, List of CBC television stations
