WHICH LOST MOST, RADIO OR TV? Guy Dixon – Globe and Mail From editorials to comments by neighbours, the sentiment seems the same: What people missed most during the lockout was their regular CBC Radio.
Some undoubtedly pined for normal CBC Television programming such as The National. Tod Maffin, a CBC Television and Radio contributor, who has been running the highly popular Internet blog cbcunplugged.com during the lockout, even produced a promo imitating Apple Computer's "switch" ads. But in this case, the message was how he wouldn't switch from CBC's Peter Mansbridge to CTV's Lloyd Robertson.
Still, there's a lingering sense out there, even within the CBC itself, that radio was doing well and that most of the lockout (with all the debates over contractual versus permanent workers and even the larger relevance of the CBC) had more to do with TV than radio. The CBC morning radio show in Ottawa, for instance, has consistently been top-rated, and Toronto's Metro Morning had shot up to Number One before the lockout. Now radio will have to work to regain that audience.
Neither CBC management nor the Canadian Media Guild distinguished between radio, television or the Internet when presenting their sides to the public. But many of the issues raised (such as whether the CBC can remain competitive) were directed more toward television. Has CBC Radio been unfairly burdened by TV during the lockout and the damage the lockout may have done to audience loyalty?
Arthur Lewis, executive director of the advocacy group Our Public Airways, addressed this question at a recent pro-CBC rally in Ottawa. "I'll bet a lot of you," he told the crowd, "are supporters of CBC Radio."
"But you've probably said, 'CBC Television? I'm not so sure. . . . I could live without it.' And I hear this from people all the time.
"I reminded those people that there was a time when CBC Television was much more central to the lives of Canadians than it is now. I suggest to them that it's not just because we now have the 500-channel universe. But rather, it's because so many years of government cuts have impoverished CBC and driven it -- particularly CBC Television -- to be so dependent on commercial revenue, that it has skewed programming choices," Lewis argued. "I suggested to those people that CBC Television is the canary in the mine of public broadcasting."
In other words, if CBC-TV is allowed to diminished, would CBC Radio suffer the same fate?
Locked out CBC staff have said candidly that they haven't noticed any rift between radio and television workers. Most were concerned with the same issues.
Yet some point to hints of resentment on the radio side that the lockout was called just when ratings for certain morning shows, for instance, were particularly strong.
One CBC insider added that CBC Radio managers were not as militantly behind the lockout as their TV counterparts. Of course there were dissenting opinions all around -- some in favour of the lockout, some not. But most TV managers appeared to have fallen in line and performed "struck work" when asked to keep the TV network running.
The mood on the radio side, however, was more relaxed, with radio managers at times given more choice about whether they would work, the insider said.
From the audience perspective, the consensus seems to be that loyal listeners will quickly get into the habit of tuning into CBC Radio again. However, "I would be concerned if I was a CBC Television executive" with the fall season now well under way, said Michael Nolan, an industry veteran and professor emeritus at the University of Western Ontario.
But the lockout raised questions, even about CBC Radio. "I was a little surprised there wasn't a greater groundswell of public opinion upset about the lockout," Nolan said. "And if I was the CBC I would be very worried about this, because over these seven weeks they have lost position. And they are going to have to get that back some way -- or try to get it back." |