250 Lanark Avenue
P.O. Box 3220, Station C
Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 1E4
Canada
Company Perspectives:
As Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC provides services in English and in French, and is accountable to all Canadians. The CBC: tells Canadian stories reflecting the reality and the diversity of our country; informs Canadians about news and issues of relevance and interest;
supports Canadian arts and culture; builds bridges among Canadians, between regions and the two linguistic communities.
History of The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Cbc)
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is Canada's public broadcaster. Created by an Act of Parliament in 1936, the government-owned company provides services in both of Canada's official languages, English and French. All told, the CBC operates two television networks, four radio networks, a cable television service, an international shortwave radio service and a commercial-free audio service. CBC operates approximately 100 radio and television stations across Canada.
Background
To understand the role that CBC plays in Canada, it is important to first understand the three uniquely Canadian issues that have played a major role in its creation and growth. First, Canada is a country with a large landmass and relatively low population, distributed unevenly, with the majority living in the South, within 100 miles of the U.S. border. Canada's remote northern communities are separated from the southern population by mountains, tundra, rough terrain, and by hostile weather conditions throughout several months of the year. Consequently, Canada has always striven to develop communication structures to connect these widely separated communities. Throughout its history, CBC has responded to the challenge of providing services and programming to all Canadians, regardless of location. Second, since Canada has two official languages, French and English, the CBC provides services in two languages. In addition, since many of Canada's northern Aboriginal peoples speak neither English nor French, CBC has made programming available in Aboriginal languages. Finally, the need to present programming with Canadian content has played a major role in CBC's development. Canada has always struggled to maintain its own identify separate from that of its larger neighbor to the south. From the earliest days of the CBC's history, Canadians have demanded that the broadcaster provide Canadian news, sports, cultural broadcasts and other national content.
CBC's Early Years: 1919--36
CBC's roots stem back to 1919, when Canada's first licensed radio station, the Marconi station XWA, began experimental broadcasts. Throughout the 1920s, many radio stations sprung up across the country. However, stations tended to be situated in larger cities while smaller, isolated communities received no service. National programming and content was limited. Distribution from east to west was costly. Only a few frequencies were uniquely Canadian, and there was ongoing interference with large Mexican and U.S. stations. Public discontent increased steadily.
Consequently, in 1928, the government-commissioned Aird Report recommended establishing a publicly owned and funded network that would provide coast to coast service and would provide Canadian content. Implementation was delayed until 1932, when the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act was passed establishing the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC).
Within four years, the CRBC acquired radio stations, broadcast Canadian content in two languages, and solved many of the previous problems. However, the Commission was handicapped by limited funding, limited authority, and by organizational challenges. In 1936, a new Broadcasting Act was passed, creating the CBC to replace the CRBC. The CBC was to be publicly owned but modeled along the lines of a private corporation.
Prewar and War Years: 1936--45
In 1936, the CBC took over the CRBC's staff and facilities. Initially, only 49 percent of the population were being served, and areas around Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton were experiencing interference from outside of Canada. By 1939, the CBC had addressed the problems by building four high-powered regional transmitters situated in strategic spots across Canada.
In 1937, an international conference involving Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba resulted in an agreement for the redistribution of North American frequencies. Canada gained 11 clear channels and the shared use of 43 lower-power channels--thereby eliminating most of the former problems created by outside interference.
As the decade ended, national coverage was close to 90 percent. The national network had grown to 34 stations with optional programming on another 26. Studies were underway to examine service provision in difficult reception areas in remote regions of British Columbia. Regional farm broadcasts were available in both official languages, and school broadcasts were underway in several regions.
In 1939, the CBC performed its biggest broadcasting task to date--daily coverage, in two languages, of the Royal Tour of Canada. During this time, the CBC observed the experimental television that was underway in several countries, including Canada. When World War II broke out in 1939, worldwide development of television slowed to accommodate wartime priorities. However, wartime requirements were the impetus for the expansion of radio broadcasting.
In 1939, CBC implemented a small overseas unit of one technician and one reporter. In cooperation with England's BBC network, this unit began two-way broadcasting to Canadian troops in Britain as well as broadcasting wartime programming to Canadian listeners at home. During the war years, this small unit increased in size and was first among the wartime broadcasters to use mobile equipment to make on the spot recordings. The CBC's recordings were often used by the BBC and by movie newsreel companies.
Meanwhile, at home, the CBC News Service was established in 1941 to bring regional programming to the country. Many of these initial programs were war related, but others were of more lasting nature. CBC won its first international programming awards at this time, in competition at Ohio State University.
Despite the short supply of technical equipment during wartime, the CBC managed to extend or improve coverage in communities in Northern British Columbia, Ontario, and New Brunswick. In 1944, the Toronto transmitter was linked with 34 private stations to form a second English network called the Dominion. The original English network was renamed the Trans-Canada.
Wartime also brought CBC into international shortwave broadcasting. The CBC International Service, operated by the CBC but financed separately, was officially opened in 1945. Services were in seven languages and were beamed to Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Postwar Era: 1945--75
With the end of World War II, the CBC obtained a loan from the Federal government and pursued a number of urgent capital projects intended to improve radio service across the country. Over the course of the next two decades, CBC radio service expanded to include programming for the two millions square miles in Canada's north. Programming was made available in French, English, Inuit dialects, and a selection of Indian languages.
In the early 1950s, the CBC International Service began broadcasting to Canadian forces in England and Korea, and later to Canadian service men and women situated in France and Germany. In 1968, all International Service operations were an important part of CBC, and a system was implemented for emergency broadcasting in case of a national emergency.
During the same period, television broadcasting was underway. In 1949, a Canadian television service was authorized. By 1962, the role of television was such that in 1962, the Dominion and Trans-Canada networks consolidated into one network with 160 outlets--both CBC and private. In 1969, color television was introduced in Canada, and CBC was given authorization for a C$15 million first stage conversion. By the early 1970s, much of CBC's television programming was in color.
In Canada's centennial year, 1967, the CBC broadcast 1,500 hours of Centennial programming, in addition to building and operating a C$10 million broadcasting center at Expo '67 in Montreal. Also in 1967, the CBC became the official broadcaster for the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg. By the end of the decade, CBC was providing television coverage to 96.6 percent of Canadians, and satellite coverage was in the planning stages. Moreover, the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC) had been established to regulate and license the broadcasting industry.
A Period of Challenge and Growth: 1975--2000
As CBC personality Knowlton Nash observed in his book The Microphone Wars, the 1960s heralded in a period of turmoil for CBC--turmoil that would reoccur for decades and reach national proportions. As Canada struggled with a shaky economy, budgetary cutbacks were commonplace among all government-funded entities. The CBC was no exception. Like many companies during this time, the CBC was faced with the need to do more with less. Meanwhile, periodic labor disputes disrupted service provision, and internal conflicts took their toll on morale and productivity. A group of CBC radio and television personalities, known as 'The Seven Day Rebels' battled so bitterly with CBC management that John Diefenbaker, Leader of the Opposition, called for an emergency debate in the House of Commons. In his official request, Diefenbaker wrote, 'I do not think that there has ever been a matter that in such a short time has brought about so much antagonism in all parts of Canada.' The call for debate was rejected, but the Prime Minister called for an investigation.
Meanwhile at the CBC, life went on, and the public broadcaster continued to provide services. In 1972, the Report of the Special Senate Committee, chaired by Senator Keith Davey, offered a voice of confidence in CBC radio. Davey noted that 'CBC radio was a national medium in a country unable to support a national press.' In that same year, the CRTC issued network licenses to CBC for the first time.
Also in the early 1970s, the CRTC introduced Canadian content regulations, stipulating that 60 percent of private and public television programming on the network had to be Canadian. Two years later, the CRTC invited proposals for the future development of pay television. In 1972, CBC contracted for three channels with the newly launched Anik-1 satellite, developed by the Telesat Corporation (now Telesat Canada). This brought new or improved broadcasting services to 99 percent of Canadians, including many of the remote communities above the 60th parallel.
Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, CBC activities included the opening of La Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal; the introduction of a new CBC logo or symbol based on 'C' for Canada; the opening of French and English FM stereo networks; and the opening of a Global Network. CBC was the host broadcaster for the Summer Olympics held in Montreal in 1976. Later in the decade, CBC designed and installed broadcast facilities in the House of Commons. Live TV coverage commenced from the House of Commons in 1979. Also during this time, CBC began operating its first production facilities in the North in the Northwest Territories town of Yellowknife.
The 1980s brought about other significant events in the CBC's history. In 1980, the BC Knowledge Network was established, and in 1981 the CBC introduced closed captioning for the hearing impaired on Canadian television programs. The network was also asked to manage the installation of a telecommunications system called OASIS in Parliamentary offices.
During this time, the CBC received a highly critical report from a government commission known as the Cultural Policy Review Committee. According to Microphone Wars, the Applebaum-Hébert report recommended diverse changes with grave implications for the future of CBC. The Canadian government did not implement the recommendations but it did announce a broadcast strategy for Canada, emphasizing the need for a stronger CBC.
However, in 1984, a national election brought about a change in government. The newly elected Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced massive budget cuts to CBC, cuts that, according to Knowlton Nash, far exceeded cuts made to other government-funded bodies. These cuts forced staff layoffs, the discontinuing of programming, and the introduction of commercials to content that had previously been commercial-free. Despite what appeared to be a lack of support from the Mulroney government, public support for the CBC remained high. In 1986, a commemorative postage stamp was issued to mark CBC's 50th anniversary.
Also in 1986, the Federal Task Force on Broadcasting Policy (Caplan/Sauvageau) published recommendations supporting CBC's role as public broadcaster and recommending increased financing to pay for enhanced services and programming. Most of these recommendations were not acted upon.
Despite a much smaller operating budget, CBC operations continued. Ten new specialty channels were licensed by CRTC; The Cabinet approved the development of the CBC Broadcast Centre Development in Toronto and also approved the CBC license application to operate an English all-news channel (Newsworld.)
In 1990 the CBC published a corporate vision entitled Mission, Values, Goals and Objectives, and CBC Engineering began working on the development of Digital Audio Broadcasting. In 1991, a new Broadcasting Act was passed, removing wording that defined the CBC's role in fostering national unity. Fearing that the provision was a constraint on freedom of expression and that the former wording might pave the way for propaganda distribution, legislators replaced the wording with, 'contribute to shared national consciousness and identity.'
In 1994, the CBC and Power Broadcasting Inc. partnered to launch two new specialty channels to the United States (Trio and Newsworld International), and in 1995, CBC was licensed to operate a new digital audio music service known as Galaxie.
1997 was a year of good news and new growth for the CBC. The Minister of Canadian Heritage announced stable funding for the CBC for a five-year period. CBC Radio received an additional $10 million dollars per year, and Radio Canada International received stable funding of $15.5 million annually. During this time, English Information Radio Service was renamed 'Radio One,' and the Stereo Service 'Radio Two.' CBC's French radio services were renamed Première Chaîne and Chaîne culturelle. Galaxie, a pay audio service was launched, and the CBC enriched content to bring its English Television prime-time content almost 100 percent Canadian. The year 1997 also brought a significant change to CBC management processes. The board of directors approved Project Evolution, an integrated management system called SAP (Systems/Applications/Products). Under the SAP program, administrative functions were streamlined and made more efficient.
In 1998, the CBC provided 700 hours of programming at the Nagano Olympics. Partnered with Sympatico Internet Provider and the Stentor group of phone companies, the CBC offered instant access to Olympic results via the Internet. The International Olympic Committee awarded CBC, in partnership with NetStar, the broadcast rights to the next five Olympic Games. In April 1998, the CBC was awarded an honorary Golden Rose from the Montreaux Festival, recognizing the quality of its programs.
Not all news was good, however. Canada's Heritage Minister announced that CBC would no longer be guaranteed access to the Canadian Television Fund after the year 2000. Most alarmingly for CBC, the CRTC announced intentions to hold a serious of public consultations prior to renewing CBC's license in 1999. Since the licenses for CBC's Radio and Television networks, its 24 TV stations, RDI, and Newsworld, were up for renewal at the same time, the outcome was critical.
In response, the CBC invited feedback from the Canadian public. When the CRTC held the planned public consultation sessions, most of the 600 participants expressed strong support for the CBC. The CBC itself received 54,500 letters and emails offering support, suggestions, and feedback. As the year neared its end, CBC won an Emmy in the technical category from the National Academy of Television Arts and Science in the United States.
New Year's Day, 2000, found CBC services uninterrupted with no Y2K problems in evidence. In early January, the CBC received word that the CRTC had renewed all its licenses for a seven- year term. However, the CRTC imposed certain conditions on television programming that would create additional expenditures of $50 million. CBC management opted not to appeal the decision. At the beginning of the new century, the CBC appeared to be fairy stabilized following the traumatic years that went before. CEO and President, Robert Rabinovitch announced plans to create a Reengineering Task Force, a body that would examine all aspects of CBC's operations with an eye on refocusing resources on programming.
Principal Divisions: CBC Radio One; CBC Radio Two; La Radio de Radio-Canada; La Chaîne culturelle FM; CBC Newsworld; Le Réseau de l'information (RDI); Radio Canada International; Galaxie.
Principal Competitors: CanWest Global Communications Corp.; Rogers Communications Inc.; Shaw Communications Inc.
Related information about Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
|
network_type = Broadcast radio network
Television
network |
available = National, available on terrestrial and cable systems in
American border communities, international via shortwave and
Internet |
owner = Government of Canada
(Crown
Corporation) |
key_people = Robert Rabinovitch, president |
launch_date = November
2, 1936 (radio)
September 6,
1952 (television) |
past_names = Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission |
website = www.cbc.radio-canada.ca
www.cbc.ca
www.src.ca |
}}
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a
Canadian crown corporation, is
the country's national radio and television broadcaster. Radio services include CBC Radio One, CBC Radio Two, La Premi竪re
Cha樽ne, Espace musique and the international radio service
Radio
Canada International. Television operations include CBC Television,
T辿l辿vision de Radio-Canada, CBC Newsworld, le
R辿seau de l'information, Documentary
Channel and CBC Country Canada. The CBC also operates digital audio
service Galaxie and two main websites, one in each official
language, and owns 40% of satellite radio broadcaster Sirius Canada, which airs
additional CBC services including CBC Radio 3 and Bandeapart.
As a Crown
corporation, the CBC operates at arm's length (autonomously)
from the government in its day-to-day business. The corporation is
governed by the Broadcasting
Act of 1991, and is
directly responsible to Parliament through the Department
of Canadian Heritage.
History
The Aird
Commission on public broadcasting had recommended in 1930 the creation of a national
radio broadcast network. Graham Spry and Alan Plaunt lobbied intensely for the project on behalf
of the Canadian Radio League. On November 2, 1936, the CRBC became a full Crown corporation, and
gained its present name. Television broadcasts from the CBC began
on September 6,
1952, with the opening of a
station in Montreal, Quebec (CBFT), and a station in Toronto, Ontario
(CBLT) opening two days
later. The CBC's first privately-owned affiliate television station, CKSO in Sudbury, Ontario,
launched in October 1953.
(At the time, all private stations were expected to affiliate with
the CBC, a condition that relaxed in 1960-61.)
From 1944 to 1962 the CBC operated two English
language AM radio services known as the Trans-Canada
Network and the Dominion Network. (In the late 1990s, CBC Radio was
rebranded as Radio One, and CBC Stereo as Radio Two.)
On July 1, 1958, CBC TV was linked from coast
to coast. Colour television broadcasts began on July 1, 1966, with full colour service being achieved in
1974. Today, the CBC
operates several radio,
terrestrial
television and cable television networks, in both English and French, as well as a
number of Aboriginal languages in the North.
The CBC?s cultural influence, like that of many public
broadcasters, has waned in recent decades.
Viewership on the CBC's French TV network has also declined, mostly
because of stiff competition from the private French-language
networks and fragmentation, since French Canadians prefer home-grown television
programming (there is a vibrant Quebec star system) and there is little American or
foreign content on the French-language networks, public or private.
On the other hand, the CBC's French-language radio network is sometimes first
in the ratings.
In the case of breaking news, including federal
elections, the CBC may still hold a slight edge. The plan
allegedly called for a violent takeover of the Canadian
Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, among other violent actions.
In September
2006, Chairman Guy
Fournier resigned
following harsh comments on Lebanon concerning bestiality and comments made in May about the "joy of
bowel
movements".go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=13545140&src=rss/oddlyEnoughNews
Logos
Image:CBC_Logo_1940-1958.png|This is the original logo of the
CBC, used between 1940
and 1958. line-height:
125%;">This logo was designed for the CBC by Hubert Tison in
1966 to mark the CBC's
progressing transition from black-and-white to colour television
(much in the manner of the American NBC Television Network's peacock symbol). The large shape in the middle
is the letter "C", which stands for Canada, and the radiating parts of the "C"
symbolize broadcasting.
Image:CBC_Logo_1986-1992.png|The logo was officially changed to
one colour (generally dark blue on white, or white on dark blue)
in 1986.
Image:CBC Logo 1992-Present.png|The logo was simplified in
1992, and now looks like
this.
CBC television stations in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon tailor their programming
mostly to the local native population, and broadcast in many
native languages, such as Inuktitut, Gwich?in, and Dene.
One of the most popular shows on the television networks of both
CBC and Radio-Canada is the weekly Saturday night broadcast of
NHL
hockey games. The
French edition was discontinued in 2004 only in Quebec, although
Radio-Canada still simulcasts some games from RDS outside
Quebec.
Ratings for CBC Television have declined in recent years, perhaps
due to an increased focus on Canadian content, programming that rarely does
well in English
Canada against sleeker American productions. The language
barrier, in addition to other cultural differences, keeps viewers
from tuning to American channels in as large numbers as in
English-speaking Canada.
Both terrestrial networks have also begun to roll out high-definition
television feeds, with selected NHL and CFL games produced in HD for the English
network.
Cable services
The CBC operates three specialty
television channels窶任BC Newsworld, an English-language news channel,
RDI, a French-language news channel, and CBC Country Canada,
a Category 1 digital service.
Radio
CBC Radio has four separate services: two in English, known as
CBC Radio One
and CBC Radio
Two, and two in French, known as La Premiティre
Chaテョne and Espace Musique. One, Radio Nord Quebec,
broadcasts domestically to Northern Quebec on a static frequency
of 9625 kHz, and the
other, Radio Canada International, provides broadcasts to the
United States
and around the world in eight languages. Some have suggested that CBC/Radio-Canada create a new high
power shortwave digital radio service for more effective coverage of
isolated areas.
In November, 2004, the
CBC, in partnership with Standard Broadcasting and Sirius Satellite
Radio, applied to the CRTC for a license to introduce
satellite
radio service to Canada. The CRTC approved the subscription radio
application, as well as two others for satellite radio service,
on June 16, 2005. Sirius Canada launched
on December 1, 2005, with a number of CBC Radio channels,
including the new services CBC Radio 3 and Bandeapart. One is in English, at www.cbc.ca, which was established in 1996 www.cbc.ca/10th/ and the other is in French, at
www.radio-canada.ca (or www.src.ca). Both services launched as full channels
on Sirius Canada
in December 2005, and are also available to US Sirius
subscribers.
In 2001, cbc.ca finished a major redesign that modernized the
news portal, which involved re-coding and organizing
approximately 20000 pages and involved a team including Krista Harris, Sean
Burke-Gaffney, Fabio Gelsomini, Paul Buen, John Fortin, Marlyn
Persaud, and Khal Shariff. They and other members of the team
were recipients of an English Television Award.
In 2003 CBC launched a web portal specifically
for preschoolers.
In 2004, CBC began offering RSS feeds, and in 2005, it launched a
new online arts and entertainment
magazine.
CBC/Radio-Canada also offers an extensive, free Archives service, available on the Internet,
showcasing pivotal moments in Canadian history from the 1930s on.
Podcasting
In 2005, CBC began podcasting some of its
programs as a pilot project, including CBC Radio One's national
science and technology program,
Quirks and
Quarks, CBC Radio 3's
Canadian Music Podcast as well as
limited podcasting of CBLA's popular
Metro Morning show. Some cable companies, as
well as direct broadcast satellite service provider StarChoice, carry only 20
of these 45 channels, together with a separate 20-channel digital
music service offered by Corus Entertainment, known as Max Trax.
CBC in other countries
Newsworld International
From 1994 to 2000, the CBC, in a joint venture with Power
Broadcasting (former owner of CKWS-TV in Kingston, Ontario), also owned Newsworld
International (or NWI), an American cable channel which rebroadcast much of
the programming of CBC Newsworld, and Trio, an arts and
entertainment channel. Diller's company was later acquired by
Vivendi
Universal, which in turn was partially acquired by NBC to form NBC Universal. However,
the CBC continued to program NWI, with much of its programming
simulcast on the domestic Newsworld service.
As a result of a further change in NWI's ownership to the
INdTV consortium -
including Joel
Hyatt and former Vice-President of the United States Al Gore - in late 2004, NWI ceased airing CBC
programming on August
1, 2005, when it
became Current TV.
US border audiences
In U.S. border communities such as
Bellingham, Detroit, and Buffalo, CBC radio
and television stations can be received over-the-air
and have a significant audience. Such a phenomenon also takes
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. For
example, CBET, Windsor is
available on cable systems in the Toledo, Ohio
area.
CBC television's U.S. viewers appreciate CBC's news programs
including
The
National and
the fifth estate, comedy programs including
Royal
Canadian Air Farce,
The Red Green
Show and
This is Wonderland, and British programs
Coronation
Street,
Emmerdale, and the 2005 series of
Doctor Who, before it
aired in the US. CBC's Olympic coverage is also live, compared to
NBC's tape delay.
At night, the mediumwave (or "AM radio") transmissions of both CBC
and SRC services can be received over much of the northern
portion of the United States, from stations such as CBE in Windsor, CBW in Winnipeg, CBK in Saskatchewan, and
CJBC in Toronto.
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 attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. Among them:
- Canadian federal elections
- Six days in September 2000 that marked the death and state funeral of Pierre Elliott
Trudeau
- The September 11, 2001 attacks and key events
surrounding them
- The war in Iraq. The National aired on C-SPAN
each night for about 3 weeks following the start of the war on
Iraq
- The power outage crisis in summer 2003
- Key proceedings in Canadian Parliament
-
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
Several PBS stations
also air some CBC programming, especially The Red Green
Show. However, these programs are syndicated by
independent distributors and are not governed by the PBS "common
carriage" policy.
CBC Radio
Some CBC Radio One programs, such as
Definitely Not the Opera and
As It Happens, also
air on some stations associated with American Public
Media.
With the launch of Sirius Canada in December of 2005, the CBC's radio
networks (including Radio Canada International and
Sirius-exclusive Radio Three and Bandeapart channels) are
distributed on Sirius Canada.
Caribbean and Bermuda
Several cable TV services in the
Caribbean region also carry feeds of CBC TV:
- Bahamas -
Channel 8, on the CoralWave ("Cable Bahamas") TV system in the
Northern Bahamas
- Barbados -
Channel 703, on the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (no relation to
Canada's CBC) "Multi-Choice TV" Cable system
-
Trinidad
and Tobago, the Columbus Communications Trinidad Ltd. The
CBC, was, however, forced to
remove repeats of This Hour Has
22 Minutes and Royal
Canadian Air Farce from the Newsworld schedule in
1997.
The CBC had directly intervened in every application by CTV
to change the restrictions on Newsnet up to the final decision by
the CRTC, which largely removed the restrictions in
2005.
Closed captioning
CBC Television was an early leader
in broadcasting programming with closed
captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, airing its first
captioned programming in 1981 www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/history/1980s.shtml. Most
sources list that event as occurring in 1981 collections.ic.gc.ca/cbc/radiotv/decades/1980/br.html,
while others list the year as 1982 (PDF: www.cab-acr.ca/english/social/captioning/captioning.pdf#search=%22%22clown%20white%22%20captioning%22).
In 1997, Henry Vlug, a deaf lawyer in Vancouver, filed a
complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission alleging that an
absence of captioning on some programming on CBC Television
and Newsworld infringed on his rights as a person with a
disability. In a negotiated settlement to avoid appealing the
ruling to the Federal Court of Canada, CBC agreed www.chrc-ccdp.ca/client/site/includes/print.asp?lang=en&print=1&url=%2Fmedia%5Froom%2Fnews%5Freleases%2Den%2Easp&id=247
to commence 100% captioning on CBC Television and Newsworld
on 2002-11-01. The report www.chrc-ccdp.ca/client/site/includes/print.asp?lang=en&print=1&url=%2Fmedia%5Froom%2Ftoc%5Ftdm%2Den%2Easp,
which was the subject of some criticism joeclark.org/access/captioning/CBC/background/Gauthier/,
proposed an arragement with Citテゥ
Collテゥgiale, a community college in Ottawa, to train more
French-language real-time captioners.
English-language specialty networks owned or co-owned by CBC,
including Country Canada and the Documentary
Channel, have the lower captioning requirements typical
of larger Canadian broadcasters (90% of the broadcast day by
the end of both networks? Think tanks such as the Fraser Institute
have frequently criticized this arrangement, and say it
results in journalism that favours the political party
willing to allocate it the most funds.
Numerous members of the Canadian Alliance Party complained of biased
CBC reporting against their party in the 2000
Canadian federal election. www.playbackmag.com/articles/magazine/20000807/29764.html).
A popular satirical nickname for the CBC, commonly used in
the pages of Frank, is the Corpse.
There is an urban
legend that a CBC announcer once referred to the network
on the air as the Canadian Broadcorping Castration,
which also sometimes remains in use as a satirical nickname.
Quotations of the supposed blooper are wildly variable in detail on what was
said, when it was said or even who the announcer was, and
there is no evidence to confirm its existence.
Many people, including Conservative Party candidate Joe Spina referred to it
as "the Communist Broadcasting Corporation" for the
supposed left-wing bias in its news coverage.
Labour problems
On 15 August 2005, 5,500 employees of the CBC (about 90%) were
locked out by CBC
CEO Robert
Rabinovitch in a dispute over future hiring practices.
The locked-out employees were members of the Canadian Media
Guild, representing all production, journalistic and
on-air personnel outside Quebec and Moncton,
including several foreign correspondents. On September 23, the
federal minister
of labour called Robert Rabinovitch and Arnold Amber (the
president of the CBC branch of the Canadian Media
Guild) to his office for talks aimed at ending the
dispute.
Late in the evening of October 2, 2005, it was announced that the CBC management and
staff had reached a tentative deal which resulted in the CBC
returning to normal operations on October 11. Some
speculated that the looming October 8 start date for the network's most
important television property, Hockey Night in
Canada, had acted as an additional incentive to
resolve the dispute.
The CBC has been struck by a number of other labour disputes
since the late 1990s:
- In early 1999,
CBC technicians in all locations outside Quebec and Moncton,
New Brunswick (for both English and French networks),
members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union
of Canada, went on
strike. Just before the Canadian Media
Guild, which represented on-air, production and
administrative personnel in those territories, was set to
strike as well, the CBC settled
with both unions.
- A similar dispute, again involving all technicians
outside Quebec and Moncton, occurred in late
2001 and concluded
by the end of the year.
- In spring 2002,
on-air staff in Quebec and Moncton (again, on both English
and French networks) were locked-out by local management,
leaving, among other things, NHL playoff games without commentary
on French television.
While all labour disputes resulted in cut-back programming
and numerous repeat airings, the 2005 lockout may have been
the most damaging to CBC. BBC World (television) and World Service
(radio) and Broadcast News feeds were used to provide the
remainder of original news content, and the CBC website was
comprised mainly of rewritten wire copy. The CMG questioned whether, with its
limited Canadian news content, the CBC was meeting its legal
requirements under the Broadcasting Act and its CRTC licences.
Galaxie supplied some music content for the radio
networks. Selected television sports coverage, including that
of the Canadian Football League, continued, but without
commentary.
As before, French language staff outside of Quebec were
also affected by the 2005 lockout, although with Quebec
producing the bulk of the French networks' programming, those
networks were not as visibly affected by the dispute apart
from local programs.
The unions represented at CBC/Radio-Canada
include:
- Canadian Media Guild - CMG - Three
units: 1. Administrative and Support;
- Association of Professionals and Supervisors
- American Federation of Musicians of the United States
and Canada - AFM
- Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio
Artists (Performers) - ACTRA
- International Alliance of Theatrical, Stage Employees
and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States
and Canada (Stagehands) - IATSE
- Writers Guild of Canada - WGC
- Association des rテゥalisateurs - AR
- Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada - SCRC
- Sociテゥtテゥ des auteurs de la radio, de la tテゥlテゥvision et du
cinテゥma - SARTeC
- Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique - Conseil des
sections locales (Groupe des employテゥ(e)s de bureau et
professionnel(e)s - SCFP
- Sociテゥtテゥ professionnelle des auteurs-compositeurs du
Quテゥbec - SPACQ
- Syndicat des technicien(ne)s et des artisan(e)s du
rテゥseau franテァais - STARF
- Union des artistes - UDA
Source: About CBC's
Unions
CBC Bureaus
CBC has reporters stationed in the
following cities:
(Main cities are in boldface)
-
St. John's, Newfoundland and
Labrador
-
Halifax, Nova Scotia
-
Moncton, New Brunswick
-
Montreal, Quebec
-
Quebec City, Quebec
-
Toronto, Ontario
-
Ottawa, Ontario
-
Winnipeg, Manitoba
-
Regina, Saskatchewan
-
Edmonton, Alberta
-
Calgary, Alberta
-
Vancouver, British Columbia
-
Yellowknife, Northwest
Territories
- Victoria, British Columbia
- Kelowna, British Columbia
- Fredericton, New Brunswick
- London, Ontario
- Thunder Bay, Ontario
- Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Island
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- Whitehorse, Yukon
- Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Gander, Newfoundland and
Labrador
- Sydney, Nova Scotia
International
-
London, United
Kingdom
-
Paris,
France
-
Washington, D.C.
-
New
York, New York
-
United Nations headquarters, New
York
-
Jerusalem,
Israel
-
Moscow,
Russia
- Beirut, Lebanon
- Beijing, China
- Shanghai, China
CBC also uses satellite bureaus, with reporters who fly in
when a story occurs outside of the bureaus. In the late
1990s, the CBC and
other media outlets cut back their overseas
operations.
Presidents
- 1936-1939: Leonard
Brockington
- 1940-1944: Renテゥ
Morin
- 1944-1945:
Howard B.
Manera
- 1995-1999:
Perrin
Beatty
- 1999-Present: Robert Rabinovitch
Personalities
Past
- Dan
Aykroyd, Coming Up Rosie, as Purvis Bickle
- Denise
Bombardier, hosted, among others, the shows Prテゥsent
international, Le point, Noir sur blanc
(1979-1983) and Trait-d'union (1987-1988)
- Bill
Cameron, correspondent and anchor
- John
Candy, Coming Up Rosie, as Wally
Wypyzypywchuk
- Adrienne Clarkson - former Governor
General of Canada hosted shows such as Take 30 and
the
fifth estate.
- Joan
Donaldson - former journalist and producer of CBC
Newsworld
- Dave
Foley, Kids in the Hall, from 1989-1994
- Michael
J. Fox, The
Master, in The Magic Lie series, 1978
- Barbara
Frum, host of As It Happens (1971-1981) and The Journal
(1982-1992)
- Lorne
Greene, CBC's chief radio announcer (1939-1942),
covering much of World War II
- Jay
Ingram hosted Quirks and Quarks from 1979 to
1992
- Judith
Jasmin started working for Radio-Canada in the late
1940s, co-hosted Carrefour with Renテゥ
Lテゥvesque on Radio-Canada/Radio, hosted Reportage
and Confテゥrence de presse, she became the first woman
named foreign correspondent for Radio-Canada at the
UN (1966), and then
in Washington, DC.
- Michaテォlle Jean, Governor
General of Canada Hosted the documentary series
The
Passionate Eye and Grands
Reportages, and produced and hosted individual
documentary films
- Peter
Jennings - At age nine he hosted a kids' program called
Peter's People on CBC Radio in Ottawa www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1123500770880_17/?hub=CTVNewsAt11.
- Kristen
Kreuk, Laurel Yeung, in the teen soap
Edgemont, 2001
- Renテゥ Lecavalier, war correspondent (WWII), then hosted
La soirテゥe du Hockey from its beginning on
Radio-Canada television on October 11, 1952 (Montreal
Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings) until the
1970s
- Renテゥ Lテゥvesque - Worked as journalist for
Radio-Canada from after WWII (during which he served as war
correspondent for the US Army) to 1960, covering such events as the
Korean War
(1951-1953) and hosting Point de mire. He moved on becoming a
prominent cabinet minister in Quebec' Jean Lesage Liberal Government (1960), and
later Premier of Quテゥbec (Parti
Quテゥbテゥcois, 1976).
- Mark
McKinney, Kids in the Hall, from 1989-1994
- Lorne
Michaels, The
Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour (1970-1971)
- Anne
Murray, on Singalong Jubilee, in the
1960's.
- Mike Myers, Range Ryder and the Calgary Kid, 1977, and a guest role on
King
of Kensington
- Catherine O'Hara, Coming Up
Rosie, as Myrna Wallbacker
- Christopher Plummer - starred in a CBC TV
production of Othello in 1951 www.christopher-plummer.com/astor327.html.
- Lloyd
Robertson - Hosted CBC Weekend in 1969 and then
anchored CBC's The National from 1970 to 1976.
- Fred
Rogers - His Misterogers (1962) CBC show became
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on NET (later PBS)
in 1968 www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/02/27/rogers_obit030227.
- Percy
Saltzman - Weatherman
- Jeanne
Sauvテゥ - The late Governor
General of Canada was a freelance journalist for CBC
Radio starting in 1952.
- Lorne
Saxberg - Original CBC Newsworld anchor
- Martin
Short, Peep Show guest in "Goldberg is Waiting"
episode
- Cy
Strange was the host of As It Happens and Fresh Air for many
decades.
- Donald
Sutherland - Started at age 14 with CBC Radio in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Jan
Tennant was the first woman to host The National when
she appeared as a substitute newsreader.
- Scott
Thompson, Kids in the Hall, from 1989-1994
- Alex
Trebek, Reach for the Top co-host, Strategy host, 1969
-
Pamela
Wallin - Worked as a producer on CBC Radio. lines in
the right place to space the columns evenly.
- Gillian Deacon
- Christina Lawand
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