Fed up with repetitive CBC TV ads

Can anybody tell me why the hell CBC TV is constantly advertising it's own shows such as Being Erica, The Week the Women Went, etc.?

Dear God is the CBC trying to get rid of the few faithful viewers like myself that remain?

I have read in the media that advertising revenues at the CBC have fallen. It appears that the CBC TV is therefore now replacing paid ads with their own ads begging viewers to watch CBC programs. They are showing the same ads over and over and over and over and over again. ARRRRGH!

Is it not time for the CBC to become another PBS where those of us that reaaaallllly like the CBC can send in our money to support the network but also have a say in terms of what kinds of programs we want to see? CBC TV shows like JPod and MVP have already flopped and have been pulled from the air (although, just to drive the screws to viewers, they re-ran those programs again last summer). Air Farce was kept on air even while it was sinking in the ratings.

And CBC ads claim they have "all new" shows for Just for Laughs. The Just for Laughs Festival has been on the go for 26 years but it seems the CBC only has video of a couple dozen comedians doing their routines -- and CBC keeps showing them over and over again.

CBC must be the only TV network in North America -- if not the world -- where management and employees get paid regardless of how many of their programs flop or regardless of how few viewers are watching.

Does anyone know how I can compare the ratings of CBC TV programs with other Canadian programs such as those on CTV?

Apparently there is a Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) in Canada that tabulates ratings of TV shows? Does anyone know how I can see those ratings? Do I have to pay a fee to join the BBM?

Please help. I am getting so fed up with the CBC that I am ready to put my TV in a box and mail it to the president and CEO of CBC, Mr. Lacroix, and tell him to keep it for a door stop.

Comments

Submitted by Boom Boom on February 11, 2009 - 8:57pm.

I'm not that fed up with CBC programming (yet) but I do hate that insurance company commercial that runs constantly - the one where the woman drives up behind another car at a stop sign and starts honking her horn and yelling "let's go already!!!". That commercial really pisses me off because CBC shows it about 100 times a day, and it's annoying as hell.

Submitted by Michelle on February 11, 2009 - 9:03pm.

I like Rick Mercer's take on that ad, although I do realize it's kind of problematic from an ageism perspective...

Anyhow, no, I don't think it's time for CBC to go the PBS route, but I agree that it's getting REALLY tiresome watching the same stupid ads over and over and over again.

Welcome to babble, EJSmith!

Submitted by laine lowe on February 11, 2009 - 9:14pm.

Last thing I want is for CBC to follow the PBS model. Lots of the stuff PBS runs that I like can be easily rented at a major video store (all the BBC dramas for example). And for the life of me, I can't understand why they would abandon top notch programming like Intelligence or This Is Wonderland. When I saw such shows on their roster, I thought that the brain trust was actually paying attention to HBO or BBC.

And those annoying self-promotion ads are increasingly aired on CBC Radio. More and more air time is being devoted to cross-promotion. The latest from Friends of Public Broadcasters is the Conservatives want to introduce paid advertising to CBC Radio. Just shoot me now.

Submitted by Agent 204 on February 11, 2009 - 9:23pm.

The idea has come up:

Quote:

The federal Heritage Minister says he'd consider allowing advertising on CBC Radio to help the broadcaster deal with revenue issues, but the CBC itself denies it has plans to place commercials on its radio services.

“Airing ads on CBC Radio is not being currently considered,” CBC corporate spokesman Marco Dubé said yesterday, adding the CBC expects to have a balanced budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year ending March 31.

However, speaking to the Heritage Subcommittee on Monday, Heritage Minister James Moore acknowledged during questioning that he isn't ruling out any option that could help the CBC or any other broadcasters, all of which are facing challenging economic times.

During the meeting, Moore appeared open to the idea of ads on CBC Radio if the CBC were to show interest, but he made it clear the issue has yet to be raised. “It has not been discussed with CBC and Radio Canada. It's not something that we are looking at doing but we are very conscious of the needs of the CBC, the pressures that they're facing and I would certainly work with them on any option that they think would work to best serve their mandate in serving Canadians,” Moore said.

Globe and Mail

Submitted by EJSmith on February 12, 2009 - 10:03am.

Thanks all for your comments about my rant on the repetitive ads on CBC TV.

I am surprised that no one mentioned the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBN) which apparently tracks TV ratings in Canada. If I could get CBC TV ratings from the BBM, the ratings would be clear evidence as to whether anyone is indeed watching the new CBC TV programs like Heartland, Being Erica, Wild Roses, etc.

I currently live in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador but once lived for 10 years in downtown Toronto. The word on the street when I lived in Toronto was that out-of-work producers and writers were always dragging CBC executives to lunch begging them to pilot their programs.

If that is true, I think that's how we ended up with shows like MVP and JPod which were pulled off the air because they were flops.

Oh well, maybe one day I will be president of the CBC and will fix everything that's broken.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Submitted by George Victor on February 12, 2009 - 3:46pm.

From Friends of Canadian Broadcasting:

Dear George, Heritage Minister James Moore confirmed today (Feb. 9) that his government would support placing ads on CBC Radio One and Two. Responding to a question from Charlie Angus, the NDP Heritage Critic, Moore confirmed a Conservative policy position that Stephen Harper has kept under wraps since 2004. This confirms our long-standing and well-founded suspicions!

And in the meantime, all goes downhill because of the budget being pared away continuously be succeeding administrations.

You see Charlie Angus hard at work, exposing the bastards. But if Canadians keep electing conservative governments - of whatever nominal persuasion - the CBC is gone.

I don't understand the inability to connect the dots on this one.

Submitted by George Victor on February 12, 2009 - 3:50pm.

Why does this 8&#2(* program not allow one to complete a paragraph anymore?

Submitted by laine lowe on February 12, 2009 - 10:45pm.

By introducing ad revenues to CBC Radio 1 and 2, the Conservatives make the CBC more lucrative for privatization.

Submitted by al-Qa'bong on February 12, 2009 - 10:51pm.

I've heard theories claiming that CBC management is deliberately churning out dismal programming (and hence advertising this dismal programming) as part of a Reformatory government scheme to destroy Canada's public broadcaster.

On a vaguely related note, I have a couple of thoughts as to why rabble.ca brass has made babble such a difficult medium to use.

Submitted by Alternative Gir... on February 13, 2009 - 2:18am.

You can check the weekly BBm ratings here: http://www.bbm.ca/en/top_programs.html

As you can see, other than hockey, The Mercer Report, and the Reality series "The Week the Women Went" there is not one single Canadian scripted series that makes the Top 20. I'm not including Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy because they are not Candian programmes, the CBC just paid tonnes of money to air them even though we can catch them on American Stations at the same time.

I wish more people would become aware that the CBC receives 1 BILLION dollars of Tax Payer Funding a year and really, we dot not get that back in quality.

Kirstine Layfield, head of programming of the CBC is really not in touch with what viewers want, and until more Canadians take a stand for quality Canadian content, you just aren't going to get it. jPod, in my opinion, was the best thing to come out of the CBC in years, and they never gave it a chance, but Sophie gets picked up. I'll just never understand it. And oh, all that money they spent on advertising "Being Erica" on Monday Nights is all for naught - they've switched it to Wednesdays because it was getting it's butt kicked by the American "Two and a Half Men" and rookie hit "Worst Week".

If you like, read my blog, I have a bunch of CBC related posts, you'll see whst I mean. ;)

Submitted by laine lowe on February 13, 2009 - 7:15pm.

Like many others, I have been writing to the CBC (Radio and Television) to lodge my complaints for what seems like close to a decade. I believe it was in 2002 that the CBC embarked on a revamping of all their assets (Radio, TV and Internet) with the aim of trying to make the CBC relevant to younger audiences. There were some mechanisms for public consultations.

I think they basically ignored feedback from their core followers and plowed through with what they thought were commercially viable changes to capture a larger market share of younger audiences. What's more pathetic is that I think their youth oriented thrust was mostly a failure and instead of abandoning it and shoring up solid support, they seem to have just adopted a policy of diluting and dumbing down overall programming/content. It really makes you wonder if the objective is to make their assets more appealing to potential private sector buyers.

Submitted by George Victor on February 14, 2009 - 10:42am.

The Globe and Mail says CBC television is not getting the hoped-for advertising dollars and is, like ALL networks, in debt - maybe $90M - for the programs it bought.

Soon, it may be that the conservatives, always lurking to pounce on government expenditures in what should be private territory, will use this as an excuse to force CBC to carry ads on radio.

This will destroy it as a listenable medium, a place of marketing, like television.

But, then, all the carping about CBC programming, spewed forth without consideration for the phenom's political roots would also be brought to a merciful end. And that would be something.

Submitted by Lard Tunderin Jeezus on February 14, 2009 - 11:19am.

al-Qa'bong wrote:

On a vaguely related note, I have a couple of thoughts as to why rabble.ca brass has made babble such a difficult medium to use.

There's no mystery there. babble was barely an afterthought. The software was chosen to facilitate site management for rabble.ca without consideration of its impact on babble.