News Releases

February 23, 2005

CBC/Radio-Canada Responds to Times & Transcript

Op-Ed

In his February 18 article reporter Jorge Barrera hauls out the old saw about people "not tuning in" to CBC, despite the fact that he had in hand the fall 2004 Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) data. The Times & Transcript, seemingly on the strength of his analysis, followed up with an editorial on February 19 that draws a similar conclusion. The figures cited in both the article and editorial do not at all reflect the fall 2004 BBM data, the most recent data available. Nonetheless, the article and editorial provide us with an opportunity to offer an update on our ratings and to dispel the impression they have left of CBC/Radio-Canada.

While ratings are not the only measure of quality, they do show that Canadians are in fact tuning in to CBC/Radio-Canada, often in record numbers. On average, 62% of the Canadian anglophone population tunes in to CBC Television each week. CBC Television's share in 2003-2004 was up over the previous year both in all-day viewing and in prime time. So far in 2004-2005, CBC Television’s share is again tracking on par with last year. CBC’s prime time share is currently running at 7% for this season. To put that into perspective, compare with Global TV, which is tracking at 8.8%.

Similarly, more Canadians are tuning in to our English radio services, which are seeing record ratings and are in the number one position in many markets across the country, including some centres in New Brunswick. The mornings are prime time for CBC Radio and CBC Radio One’s Information Morning programs are #1 or #2 in Moncton, Fredericton and in Saint John. That means that they are garnering a larger listening audience than most of the private radio stations in each city. For the record, the actual average quarter-hour audience numbers for CBC Radio One's Information Morning programs is 8,500 in Moncton (not 14,200 as Mr. Barrera's article states), 8,900 in Fredericton (not 2,000), and 10,900 in Saint John (not 16,400). That’s a total of approximately 28,300 people every day tuning in to one of our three Information Morning programs on CBC. The BBM surveys also show that these three stations reach more than 80,000 people over the course of a week during the local morning period. Again, these numbers are not CBC-generated numbers, but rather are taken directly from the fall 2004 BBM surveys.

For the record, the audience numbers cited in the article for the Maritime Noon radio show in Moncton, Fredericton and in Saint John also do not accurately reflect the fall 2004 BBM audience numbers.

While Mr. Barrera's article focused solely on our English services, it is important to note that our French television and radio services are also enjoying considerable success in New Brunswick. On a national level, la Télévision de Radio-Canada's audience numbers have not been higher in years. They continue to grow with the outstanding success of programs like Les Bougon — c'est aussi ça la vie (averaging 1.8 million viewers) and Tout le monde en parle (averaging 1.9 million viewers). La Télévision de Radio-Canada is the most watched French television network by francophones in the Atlantic Provinces, drawing 270,000 viewers per week.

Two years ago la Radio de Radio-Canada launched its "Plan Acadie" in an effort to adapt to the changing needs and interest of New Brunswickers. Since then, Le Réveil, our French morning show in New Brunswick, has made gains in each of the last four BBM periods.

The other misconception is that CBC Television costs taxpayers a billion dollars. In fact, CBC Television is one service out of 18 that CBC/Radio-Canada operates. (Others include Radio Canada International, our award-winning Web sites CBC.ca and Radio-Canada.ca, RDI, CBC Newsworld, and Espace musique to name just a few.) More to the point, CBC Television received $281 million, in fiscal year 2003-2004, in funding from the public purse. The rest of its budget is raised through advertising and other sources of funds. Compare this to the approximately US$800 million that US government sources contribute to PBS over and above the money they receive from fundraising drives and other revenue sources.

The fully costed plan to enhance CBC/Radio-Canada’s local and regional coverage referred to in Mr. Barrera's article was developed in response to a specific request for such a plan by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Your editorial contends that this plan is “… something made necessary by the CBC itself when it deliberately cut regional programming in favour of other national efforts based in Toronto,” conveniently neglecting to point out that, in fact, the cuts were made necessary by a reduction in annual government funding of $415 million over the 1990s. There is no doubt, however, that if CBC/Radio-Canada’s plan receives government funding, the result will be much more local and regional programming in New Brunswick, something we would expect the Times & Transcript to support.

The fact is, CBC/Radio-Canada remains an important, relevant source of news, information, perspectives and stories for, by and about not just New Brunswickers but all Canadians, and they're demonstrating that by tuning in. It is unfortunate that the audience numbers quoted for the CBC Radio programs mentioned in Mr. Barrera's article are inaccurate. Had he asked, CBC/Radio-Canada would have welcomed the opportunity to supply him with the correct figures and context. Mr. Barrera and the Times & Transcript are entitled to hold whatever opinion they wish of CBC/Radio-Canada. All we ask is that it be based in fact.

Jason MacDonald
Spokesperson
CBC/Radio-Canada

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. CBC/Radio-Canada reaches Canadians through eight national radio and television networks, its full-service Web sites, local/regional stations and affiliates, as well as the digital television channel Country Canada and the continuous music network Galaxie. In addition, CBC/Radio-Canada has forged partnerships with other broadcasters and is a partner in the satellite radio service SIRIUS Canada as well as in the specialty television services ARTV and The Documentary Channel. Through this array of activities, CBC/Radio-Canada brings diverse regional and cultural perspectives into the daily lives of Canadians in English, French and eight aboriginal languages. (2006)

For additional information, please contact:

Katherine Heath-Eves
Media Relations
CBC/Radio-Canada (Ottawa)
Tel: (613) 288-6235
heathevk@cbc.ca
www.cbc.radio-canada.ca