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CBC Television is the primary English language television service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

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 mid-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. Sunday Night airs in the 10:00 slot on Sunday nights, while there is only a short news update, at most, late Saturday evenings -- during hockey season, this update is usually found during the first intermission of the second game of the doubleheader on Hockey Night In Canada.

Early evenings are filled by local news, titled CBC News at Six in most markets, followed by the national Canada Now at 6:30. Saturday Report airs at 6:00 p.m., while there is no early Sunday-evening newscast. Other newscasts air weekdays at 6:00 a.m. and noon. Weekly newsmagazine the fifth estate is also a CBC mainstay, as are documentary series such as The Passionate Eye.

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. However, as of June 15, 2006, the Canadian Curling Association announced that TSN/CTV will obtain exclusive rights to curling broadcasts in Canada as of the 2008-09 season*, shutting the CBC out of the championship weekend for the first time in 40-plus years.

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 — two afternoon strip reruns, The Simpsons and Frasier, are the only American programs 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.

In a controversial decision, the CBC announced in 2006 that for the summer months, The National will be bumped to 11 p.m. on Tuesday nights in the Eastern Time Zone, in order to simulcast the American airing of Making a Music Star over the summer. A Canadian version of the series will launch in the coming season in another time slot, but a condition of the CBC's franchise deal for this production was to simulcast the ABC production. This also represents the first time in over a decade that the CBC has scheduled an American-produced series in prime time. CBC Television reportedly passed on an earlier opportunity to air Canadian Idol, which instead went to CTV, in part because a similar arrangement would have required the network to air American Idol as well.

Aiming for youth?

The CBC has recently announced radical changes to its fall lineup, including the following new series:

Many were surprised by these changes to the CBC schedule, and a Senate committee has even called for the CBC to be a true public broadcaster and to air no commercials (although this was contained in a report being prepared prior to the schedule announcement). Another note of criticism was made when the network decided to move The National in some time zones to simulcast the American version of The One over the summer.

Children's programming

Children's and youth programming, often marketed as "Kids' CBC" (for younger kids) or "The Void" (formerly 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, not identfying themselves specifically until sign-on or sign-off (though some, like Toronto's CBLT, don't ID themselves at all).

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. One private CBC affiliate in Western Canada, CHBC, will join CH on February 27, 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. However, due to an agreement between CHBC and CFJC in nearby Kamloops, CFJC will also disaffilate from the CBC on February 27, 2006, but no retransmitters will be installed in the licence area.

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, Gwichʼin, and Dene.

CBC Television's presence in the United States

Carriage of CBC News

From 1994 through July 2005, CBC news programming was aired in the United States on Newsworld International.

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 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:

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 Maine, Adelphia Cable carries CBMT-TV in Bangor; cable viewers along the border can receive CBAT-TV. The Bangor Daily News carries listings for CBAT (and CKLT-CTV Saint John as well).

In northwest Washington State, CBC O&O station CBUT-TV is transmitted to almost one million Comcast cable subscribers in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Olympia, and Everett.

In northern and central Michigan, Montreal CBC O&O station CBMT can be seen on Charter cable systems in cities like Alpena, Bay City, Midland, Mount Pleasant and Marquette.

In addition, many cable systems in northern Minnesota and northern North Dakota carry CBWT, CBC's Winnipeg affiliate.

Some communities in the US, such as Alexandria, Minnesota, offer CBC North on low-powered repeaters, courtesy of the local TV association.

CBC Television's U.S. viewers appreciate its news programmes, not to mention its variety of entertainment programmes from Canada and Britain.

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

  • 1966-1976: "Television is CBC"
  • 1977-1979: "Bringing Canadians Together"
  • 1980-1987: "We Are the CBC"
  • 1988-1989: "Best on the Box"
  • 1990-1991: "CBC and You"
  • 1992-1994: "Go Public" / "CBC: Public Television" (that season, the CBC emphasised the fact that they are a public broadcaster)
  • 1995-2001: "Television to Call Our Own"
  • 2002: "Canada's Own"

See also

External links

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Canadian television networks

CBC (télévision)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "CBC Television".

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